Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and Messenger apps is unveiling an Account Center which will enable users to manage their preferences across their apps via one centralized hub. You can use it to manage ad settings, personal details, passwords security settings as well as two-factor authentication.
Meta’s apps should now be more integrated, eliminating one major point of frustration for regulators.
What is it?
Meta accounts center is a free interface designed to allow people to manage aspects of their Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta Horizon accounts. While initially daunting in its complexity and can feel like a plate of spaghetti when managing multiple accounts at once, Meta Horizon recently unveiled an improved version that allows users to adjust preferences across all three platforms from one convenient hub – including personal details, passwords, security settings, ads preferences payments permissions app permissions etc. Users need only add accounts they wish to link before unlinking them anytime later.
The updated Account Center also makes switching between different social media accounts on a phone easier, making this feature essential for those using multiple platforms to stay in contact with friends and followers. Furthermore, users will be able to see a count of their notifications.
Meta is offering more data control options in this new hub, including changes to unique audience reach statistics. Now the company will report that an item of content reached 1,000 accounts instead of just 1000 people – an important distinction that may cause some users to miscalculate reach figures.
Users will also have the power to set their ad topic preferences across all three social media platforms via their account settings, meaning if they choose more ads about a certain topic on Facebook, this preference will also apply on Instagram and WhatsApp.
The update is currently live for iOS and Android users in select regions worldwide; further rollout will occur over time. Although not a complete overhaul of accounts center, this feature does go a long way towards improving interoperability between Facebook, Instagram, and potentially other Meta-owned platforms in future. It remains unknown exactly how this change will impact Ad Revenue Model – though perhaps Meta should adopt one Ad Sales Team rather than having separate teams dedicated to each app?
How do I use it?
Meta accounts center is a free interface that enables users to centrally manage Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta Horizon from one location. It enables the linking of accounts and the use of combined data for targeted advertising as well as downloading personal data or changing account settings like passwords/security settings/permissions/ad preferences/payment preferences etc. However it’s a complex beast with various tools/interfaces/features/functions making it hard for anyone to keep up.
Meta announced earlier this month a revamp to their Accounts Centre management platform that will add more data control options, with personal downloads of personal data set to begin immediately – as well as all familiar Facebook and Instagram account settings being transferred over. This global roll-out begins today.
Starting today, people will be able to use their Accounts Centre to manage connected experiences such as signing in across Facebook Messenger and Instagram and updating contact info, ad preferences and payments – however this doesn’t include device settings like Media Modes/Dark/Light Modes or Cellular Data Usage which remain exclusive for each app.
Accounts Centre will continue to expand with more features like ad preferences that apply across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, or ways for individuals to see fewer or more ads for topics they care about. It should also be noted that people can choose how they share data between each of these services individually or collectively as preferred.
Meta has been actively engaging with the Bundeskartellamt regarding its decision and announced in 2023 that they would implement its decision by making significant improvements to their accounts center, including significantly changing design and wording to prevent users from merging their Meta service accounts, as well as redefining what “combining services” actually means. Overall, their new accounts center will enable users to make more informed and rational decisions on whether they continue using combined forms of Meta services or not.
What is the impact on my privacy?
Meta’s accounts center is an exciting new feature that allows people to easily manage settings for all of its apps in one convenient place – passwords and security, payments, permissions and ad preferences among them. The aim is to streamline this process as well as offer more consistent choices across various apps like Facebook and Instagram – such as making their ad topic preferences consistent across both.
Meta is providing more comprehensive details of how data is being utilized within each app and how it relates to other activities, amid growing scrutiny from regulators and states over its privacy practices. As part of an effort to show lawmakers it’s making it easier for consumers to control their data while remaining “largely compliant” with European Union laws, these changes come as Meta’s privacy practices come under increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies and states alike.
While Meta’s updated accounts center is an improvement from what’s currently available, it does not meet the standards set out by Europe’s premier privacy watchdog, the Bundeskartellamt. According to their order from February 2019 issued by this German competition authority, people weren’t given clear and neutral access to all relevant pieces of information and made free and informed choices about linking their Meta service accounts and data sharing associated with such action.
Since then, the company has taken steps to address this situation. They redesigned their account center to comply with European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and introduced more transparent explanation of why and where personal data is being collected by each app within each settings menu. They’ve also introduced more granular controls over how your information is being used within individual apps including restricting where or contact details may be collected from.
The centralized settings menu will also provide more comprehensive data usage details across each app, though this does not cover device settings such as Media, Dark or Light Modes or cellular data usage. Furthermore, social network behavioral ads remain within their respective apps’ Ad Settings sections rather than within accounts centers.
What are my options?
Meta has recently launched its Accounts Center feature to help users better manage selected settings across its family of apps. At present, users are able to connect and manage Facebook, Instagram and Messenger profiles individually from within each application; but now you can utilize one central place for managing all these accounts at once! You’ll be able to easily access ad preferences, passwords and security settings as well as information on your usage of Meta services – not to mention update any payment details if they use Meta Pay!
Meta has stated it plans on continuing to enhance this feature, eventually including options to share or download your data with third parties. Furthermore, it will become simpler for you to see what type of ads have appeared across Facebook and Instagram as well as which topics advertisers targeted you with ads, as well as more options to customize ad experiences across platforms without going through each app’s individual settings.
Accounts Center will soon be accessible on smartphones, computers and tablets, with its rollout gradually happening over time to all connected Facebook, Instagram and Messenger accounts in Germany over time. It is designed to address concerns raised by Germany’s antitrust watchdog regarding Meta’s data collection practices.
Meta announced Thursday in a blogpost how it has simplified people’s experience with its family of apps by updating its Accounts Center as “a place to manage your connected experiences,” providing access to some of the same options previously found within each app’s settings menu – such as uploading contacts, downloading data and altering search history or cookie preferences.
Accounts Centre will allow you to easily manage both Instagram and Facebook ads you see as well as advertisers that you have seen, making life much simpler compared to how things currently are where each platform must be manually adjusted for preferences separately.
