Facebook will no longer let advertisers use third-party data to target ads

Facebook will be shutting down Partner Categories as it aims to tighten up privacy protections.

The firm told advertisers yesterday in a post:

We want to let advertisers know that we will be shutting down Partner Categories. This product enables third party data providers to offer their targeting directly on Facebook. While this is common industry practice, we believe this step, winding down over the next six months, will help improve people’s privacy on Facebook

Partner Categories allowed companies like Experian et all to provide advertisers with data that could be used to target users with advertising.

This means that firms like Microsoft for instance if they participated, could use data from Facebook, and data from Experian which could include product purchasing history to target more effective ads.

With Partner Categories, it would be a win win win for everyone but the consumer.

Experian would take a cut of Facebook’s revenue,  Facebook would receive more data, and the advertiser would be able to target users more accurately.

This change is likely prompted by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as are Facebook’s other privacy moves. While partner categories are not necessarily going to lead to a data breach, Facebook appears to be banking on Bruce Wayne’s  1% chance logic for a preemptive CYA.

Via Recode.