The Facebook parent firm indicated in an amended article that it is following the Oversight Board’s proposal to remove an exception that allowed users to share a person’s residence address as long as it is “publicly available” (via Engadget). Meta’s response came nearly a year after the business requested advice from the Oversight Board on its management of private residential information. In February, the Board responded by requesting that Meta strengthen its regulations regarding the disclosure of private residential addresses due to concerns about doxxing.
Despite having policies prohibiting users from revealing someone’s home address on Facebook and Instagram, the Meta-owned companies take no action against posts containing “publicly available addresses.” This includes any addresses that have been published in five or more news outlets or that have been made public records, according to Meta’s rules. This exception will be lifted “before the end of the year,” according to Meta.
“Removing the exception for ‘publicly available’ private residential information, as the board recognizes in our suggestion, may limit the availability of this information on Facebook and Instagram when it is nonetheless publicly available elsewhere,” Meta adds. “However, we acknowledge that embracing this advice will strengthen our platforms’ privacy protections.”
In addition, Meta’s response to posts that include photographs of the outside of private residences is changing. If “the property depicted is the subject of a news report,” the business says it won’t take action unless it’s “shared in the purpose of inciting protests against the resident.” Users will be able to post the exteriors of publicly-owned residences belonging to “high ranking officials,” such as heads of state or ambassadors, as well as organize protests at these sites. While Meta says it will continue to allow users to post their own addresses, it will not follow the Board’s recommendation to allow other users to reshare them, citing the fact that it is “often impossible to know whether a resident has consented to allow another person to share their private address.”
Furthermore, Meta has not completely committed to providing features that make it easy for users to report a data breach. It’s evaluating whether the Board’s recommendation to make it easier to request the removal of private information from Facebook and Instagram is feasible. According to the corporation, it is now testing a method to make the “Privacy Violation” reporting option more visible. Meta said it will try to make the option more “prominent” rather than scrolling through two menus and searching for it.
The Board advised Meta to create a “special channel” to handle doxxing reports as well, but Meta declined. Meta responded by stating that it is “actively building new channels for users to get support” and that it already partners with over 850 organizations that victims can contact for assistance, such as the Revenge Porn Helpline in the United Kingdom and the National Network to End Domestic Violence in the United States.
Meta’s anticipated policy changes, particularly the decision to eliminate the residential address exception, should provide an extra degree of protection for doxxing victims. Doxxing is the practice of publishing a person’s name, phone number, email address, or home address on the internet in order to harass them. Meta is also responding to the Oversight Board’s policy advisory opinion for the first time.
The Oversight Board, which was established in 2020, is made up of a diverse group of individuals who provide external guidance on Meta’s moderation choices and rules across all of its platforms. Meta isn’t obligated to any of the Oversight Board’s judgments, but it must reply to each of its suggestions, as it did here.
