Facebook launches UK privacy campaign

Facebook is launching a national consumer marketing campaign to try and improve people’s knowledge of how to control their privacy settings on the social network.

The latest move from Facebook to try and rebuild trust with users following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, ‘Privacy is Personal’ will aim to increase awareness of the variety of privacy features it offers, from sharing on its news feed to ad preferences.

“We often hear that people aren’t aware some of these features exist, or don’t know where to find them,” says Aaron Hoffman, UK marketing manager for Facebook. “We have a responsibility to get the word out so that people know how to manage their privacy settings.”

The campaign, created by Possible, looks at how everyone has their own ‘privacy settings’ and preferences, and how this is true in ‘real-life’ as well as on Facebook.

This is highlighted with observations about how these preferences can vary for different people in different environments, such as on the beach or during a busy commute, while always linking back to the features and controls people can access to customise their settings.

Media will run across various channels in the UK over the next 10 weeks, including Facebook and Instagram, video-on-demand, digital, out-of-home, cinema, print and audio.

“There is no better way to reach our users than through our own platforms, so Facebook and Instagram are a central part of the campaign,” Hoffman adds.

“A mix of Stories and short videos will help communicate our overall campaign message, and we’ll also share information about more specific features with direct links for people to update their settings directly from the ads.”

Would you take privacy advice from Facebook?

Facebook is also launching a series of Facebook Cafes inside independent coffee shops across the country between now and 5 September. They will enable people to get a free coffee in exchange for completing a ‘privacy check-up’ with someone from Facebook.

According to a survey of 2,000 Facebook users, only half know how to control who sees their photos on Facebook and more than a fifth (22%) don’t know how to customise their privacy settings on any social media platform.

Generation Z (people born after 1997) has the highest number of people who have customised their Facebook privacy settings (44%), compared to just 32% of users over the age of 55.