privacy policy: Explained: Meta’s new Privacy Policy update and why Indian users can skip it

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, owns multiple messaging and social media platforms that include — Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. The parent company of these services has now announced new changes that will be added to its privacy policy. According to Meta, these changes will focus on conveying users how the company utilises collected information more clearly.
Meta’s new Privacy Policy availability
The new Privacy Policy, previously known as Data Policy, will be effective starting July 26. However, the updated privacy policy only includes some Meta products like — Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and others. The company has left out platforms like — WhatsApp, Workplace, Free Basics and Messenger Kids from the new Privacy Policy.
The company has also mentioned that it has started sending out notifications to users about the new policy. To review changes and get more details, users can click on the notification. However, users doesn’t necessarily needs to to act on these notifications and can also choose to ignore them.
Importance of Meta’s new Privacy Policy
Meta has emphasised that the updated Privacy Policy won’t introduce new ways for the company to collect, use or share user data. Instead, the company has simplified the words and has also provided more detailed and clearer explanations of the policy and various data practices in the new Privacy Policy.
The company’s chief privacy officer, Micheal Protti wrote, “We’ve rewritten and re-designed our Privacy Policy to make it easier to understand and clearer about how we use your information.” Protti claims that the company has also included more details about the types of third-parties with whom it shares and receives information. Among other changes, Meta has also explained how and why people’s information is shared across its products in the new Privacy Policy.
Meta updates Terms of Services as well
Apart from the new changes in its Privacy Policy, Meta is also updating its Terms of Services. The company explains that updating the Terms of Services will help it to “better explain what is expected from” the company and the users with accounts on its platforms.
Is accepting Meta’s new Privacy Policy and Terms of Services mandatory for users?
Meta has mentioned that users in some select countries (that includes India) will have the option to not accept the updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. A Meta spokesperson issued a statement saying, “For most countries, our Privacy Policy is informational”. This is why the company is sharing a prominent notice to highlight the change to users, however, the notification doesn’t invite users to click on an option to agree to the updated Privacy Policy. Moreover, Meta has also confirmed that if users choose not to accept the updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, it won’t impact their access to the company’s products.
New privacy setting on Facebook
The company is also rolling out a new privacy setting for Facebook users. This new setting will allow users to control who sees their posts on Meta’s social media platform by default. Moreover, Meta has also announced that the company’s Privacy Center dashboard is now available to everyone on Facebook and it connects directly to the updated Privacy Policy.