LAHORE    -   Meta, the parent company of Face­book and Instagram, organised a virtual briefing session on its ap­proach to privacy for Pakistani journalists in Islamabad. Arianne Jimenez, Privacy Policy Manager at Meta in the Asia Pacific, ap­prised the reporters about the company’s policies to protect user data and information safety on its platforms. The program was part of its endeavour to foster aware­ness regarding user privacy and tools available to users to exercise greater control over their informa­tion on Facebook and Instagram. 

The Meta representative said protecting people’s information is central to Meta’s vision which is why it designs privacy controls into its products with guidance from experts in areas like data protection and privacy law, secu­rity, interface design, engineering, product management, and public policy. She said Meta gives people more control over their privacy and security choices through spe­cialized tools and features. 

Arianne Jimenez emphasized that Meta doesn’t sell user infor­mation. Partners and third parties who have access to certain data are required to follow rules about how they can and cannot use and dis­close the information. She further said Meta strives to help people understand its data practices by giving them more information and controls on its products, content, and ads. She said Meta’s privacy center serves as the educational surface for Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger and provides help­ful in-depth information on privacy. 

She said Facebook and Insta­gram show ads so that the plat­forms are available to everyone free of cost, however, people can take control of their ad preferenc­es by clicking and managing their preferences right on the ad and the same can be done with posts. 

She said Meta gives users tools for deleting anything they’ve post­ed or even transferring data to oth­er services because Meta believes that part of having a free and open internet means that people should be able to transfer their data to oth­er apps and services they use. She stated that the process of refining the privacy and security system is on-going at Meta and the company will continue to invest and inno­vate to give its customers the best user experience.