Starting within days, Meta is tightening data sharing restrictions. This means businesses which advertise on platforms like Facebook and Instagram need to be more vigilant about the data they collect and share. Chamber member Fifty2M, ‘the PR and marketing agency with balls’ has produced this brief guidance to help.
What’s Changing?
If you run ads on Facebook and Instagram, you probably have the Meta Pixel installed on your website or in your app.
When a Facebook or Instagram user clicks on your ads and visits your website or interacts with your app, the Pixel essentially acts as a sort of feedback loop to help Meta gauge how successful your ads are, allowing it to optimise your campaigns by showing your ads to more people like those who took the action you wanted them to.
For example, you might be using ads to drive traffic to your website to generate leads. Every time someone successfully fills-in and submits a lead form, the Meta Pixel records that fact and counts that as a successful ‘conversion event’.
You may have received some communications from Meta announcing changes to how websites and apps share user data with it. These changes aim to:
Enhance user privacy: Give users more control over their personal information.
Limit sensitive data use: Restrict the use of sensitive data for ad targeting.
Improve transparency: Clarify what data is collected and how it’s used.
Understanding Data Categories
It’s crucial to understand how Meta is going to be categorising websites and apps, and the data they handle:
General Audience
Most websites fall into this category, including those for general retail, news, entertainment, etc.
Sensitive
Websites handling sensitive information like healthcare, finance, dating, or those discussing political or religious topics. These have stricter data sharing rules.
Prohibited
Websites dealing with illegal or highly sensitive activities, such as hate speech, illegal substances, or explicit content. These are prohibited from sharing data with Meta.
Sensitive Data: What to Avoid
“Sensitive data” encompasses information that could reveal personal aspects like:
• Health conditions
• Financial details
• Religious or political beliefs
• Sexual orientation
• Racial or ethnic origin
Sharing this data via the Meta Pixel, in list uploads, or via links from software like CRM systems, could lead to your website being categorised as “Sensitive,” limiting your advertising options. For instance, if you provide counselling services, your website or app is likely to fall under the Health and Wellness category, and that could then impact the data you’re able to pass back to Meta’s platforms.
Your Compliance Checklist
Here’s a practical checklist to help you navigate these changes.
First, check in Facebook Events Manager to see if you’re affected. If not, there’s nothing more for you to do. If there’s an alert present, start by requesting more time to prepare and get an extra 30 days. Then proceed to follow these checklist items:
1. Review Website URLs and Forms:
Ensure your website addresses (URLs), form names, and field labels don’t inadvertently reveal sensitive information that could be passed back via the Meta Pixel. For example, avoid URLs like ‘/depression-support/’ or form fields labeled “Medical History.”
2. Scrutinise Custom Audiences and Events:
When creating custom audiences or tracking events in Meta’s Ads Manager, avoid names that imply sensitive data. Instead of “Customers_with_Anxiety,” use a more general name like “Website_Visitors” or “Engaged_Users.”
3. Clean Your Customer Lists:
Before uploading customer lists to Meta, ensure they don’t contain sensitive information like health details or political affiliations. You can still use names, email addresses, and phone numbers for creating matched custom audiences. This data is hashed for privacy.
4. Mind Your Targeting:
If using Facebook etc to retarget website visitors with ads, consider using broad targeting (i.e show ads to people who visited any page on your website rather than specific pages) and pair with ads that are general and non-specific. For instance, imagine you provide loans to people with bad credit scores, avoid retargeting visitors to your advice page /what-are-your-options-when-overburdened-with-debt/ with ads that promote payday loans – the data signals shared with Meta would be enough for it to infer that Facebook users in this audience have money problems
Key Takeaways for Chamber Members
Prioritise user privacy. Be mindful of the data you collect and how you use it.
Review your website / app and advertising practices. Ensure they align with Meta’s new restrictions.
Don’t panic! These changes are manageable. By taking proactive steps, you can maintain effective advertising campaigns while respecting user privacy.
If you have questions or need assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Chamber. We’re here to support you in navigating these evolving digital advertising standards. Fifty2M is also offering to conduct a summary review of compliance for Chamber Members, using the above checklist, for the discounted fee of £250+VAT (normally £325+VAT). Just email theteam@fifty2m.com for details.
