Facebook introduces new Privacy Shortcuts menu, simplified settings menu on mobile, and tools to find, download, and delete your Facebook data
and its money problems may just be beginning Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer.com : Facebook Reveals the “Access Your Information” Data Tool and New Privacy Shortcuts Larry / LarrysWorld.com : Are Facebook's new privacy tools enough to calm users and regulators? Rob Thubron / TechSpot : Playboy deletes its Facebook accounts following Cambridge Analytica scandal Reuters : Amid global outcry, Facebook will introduce new features allowing users to download and delete their data Curtis Silver / Forbes : 3 Ways To Move Forward With Facebook And Your Data Privacy Mike Shields / Business Insider : Facebook is shutting down the use of third-party data for ad targeting as part of its Cambridge Analytica cleanup Chris Smith / BGR : Playboy and Will Ferrell #DeleteFacebook Jamie Smyth / Financial Times : Regulator says Facebook breached New Zealand privacy act Nathaniel Mott / Tom's Hardware : Facebook Stops Playing Hide-And-Seek With Its Privacy Settings Anmol / MSPoweruser : Facebook delays its Smart-Speaker in the wake of ongoing Data crisis Aaron Mak / Slate : Facebook Reportedly Doesn't Think Now Is a Good Time to Launch a Smart Speaker Scott Adam Gordon / Android Authority : Three Messenger users suing Facebook over alleged privacy violations Taylor Kerns / Android Police : Facebook working to simplify privacy controls in wake of recent controversies Bill Roberson / Digital Trends : Can Apple's iPad/Pencil combo and education software banish Chromebooks? CBS San Francisco : Facebook Is Making Its Privacy Settings Easier To Find Jean-Pierre Chigne / Tech Times : Facebook Makes It Easier To Access Privacy Settings: How This Affects You Evan Selleck / Android and Me : Facebook is making it easier to find its privacy tools Emily Sullivan / NPR : Facebook Down $80 Billion In Market Value; Playboy, SpaceX, Tesla Hit Delete New York Times : Wylie testimony: Palantir employees helped build psychographic models, Eric Schmidt's daughter urged Cambridge Analytica's parent, SCL, to work with Palantir Alex Wagner / PhoneDog.com : Facebook to roll out simplified data privacy settings on mobile Sarah Frier / Bloomberg : Facebook Fallout Spreads With Product Delay, Privacy Overhaul Sarah Frier / Bloomberg : Sources: Facebook will not unveil its smart speakers at F8 while it deals with data misuse scandal but still plans to launch speakers later this year CircleID : Facebook Announces New Privacy and Security Settings Amid Outcry Over Data Collection Practices Mark Zuckerberg : A lot of you are asking how to control what information you share … Tweets: ICO / @iconews : Our guide to the GDPR is for those who have day-to-day responsibility for data protection. https://ico.org.uk/... pic.twitter.com/o2zf6op2sI Brenden Wood / @brendenwood : Privacy Tools: @facebook moving very fast with their changes. “We've worked with regulators, legislators and privacy experts on these tools and updates.” http://bit.ly/2E0aR5d Cory Weinberg / @coryweinberg : More Facebook hardware news: After showing previews of facial-recognition-powered"Portal" to privacy experts, FB will store/process video data on the device, not cloud. Facebook has one of the most powerful databases of faces in the world. http://go.theinformation.com/ ... Matt Rosoff / @mattrosoff : A good reminder from @robotodd that Facebook $FB owns Instagram (800m+ users) and WhatsApp (1.2B+ users) - today's privacy announcement did not mention them. http://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands at the peak of the Cambridge Analytica fallout: Playboy has deleted its accounts, a New Zealand regulator has found Facebook in breach of its privacy act, and Messenger users are suing over privacy violations. The Privacy Shortcuts and Access Your Information tools are Facebook's first product-level answer — moving find/download/delete controls out of buried settings and onto mobile.
First-order effects
- Users gain one-tap access to locate, download, and delete their Facebook data from mobile, directly answering the 'what does Facebook have on me' question driving account deletions like Playboy's.
- Facebook's ad business takes an immediate hit on the targeting side, since it is simultaneously shutting down third-party data for ad targeting as part of the same cleanup.
Second-order effects
- Advertisers who relied on third-party data segments lose inventory precision, pushing spend toward Facebook's own first-party signals — which the new transparency tools make more visible to users.
- Rivals and regulators now have a template: weeks later Facebook extends enhanced privacy controls globally starting in the EU ahead of GDPR (GDPR-era controls), effectively exporting the compliance standard worldwide.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, privacy tooling becomes recurring product work rather than crisis response — visible in the 2020 Privacy Checkup overhaul that turned these controls into a standing central hub — and platform trust itself becomes infrastructure that must be continuously maintained.
- Data portability and deletion rights shift from differentiator to baseline expectation across consumer platforms, raising the cost of opaque data practices for every social network.
The trend: Consumer platforms are being pushed by scandal and regulation alike to treat user data control as a permanent product surface, with GDPR-style rights becoming the global default.