Making Sure That the Privacy & Security Policy of Facebook Works for Your Business

It is no secret that Social Media is a must for social living in today’s world. Everyday, thousands of businesses launch their Facebook pages in order to generate tremendous online exposure for brands. It helps them identify and connect with their target audience, deliver better customer service, build reputation and trust, and utilize business’ advertising campaigns.

However, with these benefits comes a number of legal issues when it comes to privacy and security of business & customer data.

The web is full of tips and tricks on how to protect your privacy on Facebook for regular users, however there is a lack of advice on how to protect business privacy on social media platforms.

Let’s go back to 2014 when Facebook claimed that they clarified their privacy policy by two-thirds, so that average users would be able to understand it more easily. However, while the new policy was easier to understand, it did not mean that your information was more or less private.

According to the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities 2016

• “You grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it”
• When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are allowing everyone (including people off of Facebook) to access and use that information, and to associate it with you (i.e., your name and profile picture).
• Facebook also allowed cancelling or deleting any profile if you do not obey the Facebook policy…

What your account can be punished for:

• If you repeatedly infringe other people’s intellectual property rights, we will disable your account when appropriate.
• You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law.
• You will not post anyone’s identification documents or sensitive financial information on Facebook.
• You will not use our copyrights or Trademarks or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage Guidelines or with our prior written permission. . .

There is still no information saying that Facebook rejects keeping your personal information. Thus, while you are 1) building your social media campaign online, 2) searching for the right and specific audience, and 3) sending out Facebook ads – all the information is gathered by Facebook and can be sold to a third party. Think about it!

So how do businesses stay transparent and protect their privacy on Facebook?!

Step 1. Understand what information you consider as private.

The very first step that should be taken towards protecting your private information is determining which information you want to keep private. There is tons of information about keeping your password private, or posting images and photos. The answer is simple;you can decide what pieces of information you actually care about keeping private. In case you are a privately held institution, I would definitely recommend not to share internal information such as financial statements.

Step 2. Understand what information Facebook can use which you consider as private

According to the statistics portal Statista, Facebook privacy policy in 2015 was around 2,702 words. With the average person reading 200 to 250 words a minute, it will take you about 15 minutes to read the Facebook Security and privacy policy. In case you are looking forward for a prosperous and successful business use of Facebook I would insist on reading it. And one more little thing, keep in mind that Facebook can change their privacy policy without notifying you. So you should probably go through this process once every quarter, just in case.

Step 3. Watch your employees

Although, companies are trying to protect their business it is very hard to control your employees. This is due to the fact that whatever an employee says outside of work publicly, can affect the organization’s reputation. Employees, for instance have their private life.
Let’s take for example Justine Sacco – PR executive for major media company IAC who tweeted a racist ‘joke’. Once she landed in Cape Town airport, she got fired, ouch!

Even though you follow all steps above and feel safe, don’t forget, everything you share online is public.

Tips on how to treat your co-workers so they talk positively about you on Social Media:

• Sign up no-disclosure agreement
• Educate your employees on Social Media Awareness
• Grow your company’s best advocates – employees
• Treat your employees; organize special events to boost team work, so they can talk about it online
• Implement a workplace social-media policy
• Make them feel proud about working for your company

Thoughts? You are more than welcome to challenge me with your questions!

ABOUT ANNA TYMOSHCHUK

Getting into Digital Marketing was quite a ride for Anna – especially coming from a Financial Banking Systems background. It was her passion for travel that turned her towards Digital & Social Media marketing. When on the road, the only way to stay connected with the world and share your story is via social channels. Once settled in Toronto, she simply got hooked on understanding the interconnected nature of social media outlets, site optimization, and understanding how to stand out in all that noise of the web.

She is currently a Social Media Coordinator at Click Armory tasked with engaging influencers and growing their SM presence. She is always up for challenge, as, no challenge is boring.