Social Media Surveillance: Facebook Prohibits Developers From Using Data For Surveillance Programs

Facebook announced Monday that it will add a clarification to its developer policy that will prohibit developers from using Facebook and Instagram data in surveillance tools. The updated policies for Facebook and Instagram developers now explicitly states that developers cannot “use data obtained from us to provide tools that are used for surveillance.”

The change comes following pressure from a number of privacy advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Color of Change and the Center for Media Justice. The organizations worked with Facebook to develop the new policy.

Read: Facebook, Twitter Change Data Access After ACLU Report

“Our goal is to make our policy explicit,” Facebook deputy chief privacy officer Rob Sherman said in a Facebook post announcing the change. “Over the past several months we have taken enforcement action against developers who created and marketed tools meant for surveillance, in violation of our existing policies; we want to be sure everyone understands the underlying policy and how to comply.”

In October, the ACLU of California published a report that found Facebook, Instagram and Twitter had all provided data for surveillance products that were in turn used to target activists of color.

One of the services, Geofeedia, was discovered following a number of public records requests sent to law enforcement agencies. Geofeedia advertised its ability to surveil unions and activist groups—which it deemed “overt threats”—and suggested its product could be used to target activists of color involved in organizations like Black Lives Matter.

Read: Prism, Upstream Surveillance Programs Expiring, But Spying On Americans Numbers Not Disclosed

Twitter made changes to its developer policy shortly after reports regarding Geofeedia and other surveillance products were revealed, but Facebook contended its policy already prohibited such use. Five months later, the social network has opted to make an official change.

“Social media platforms are a powerful tool for Black people to draw attention to the injustices our community faces,” Color of Change’s campaign director Brandi Collins told TechCrunch.

“We commend Facebook and Instagram for this step and call on all companies who claim to value diversity and justice to also stand up and do what’s needed to limit invasive social media surveillance from being used to target Black and Brown people in low-income communities.”