Signal says its advertisements targeting very-particular user information had been banned by Facebook.
Signal, a privacy-positive messaging platform, has mentioned that Facebook banned a series of advertisements that it attempted to run on Instagram – a claim that Facebook has dismissed. The advertisements had been meant to show how considerably information Instagram and its parent business Facebook gather from customers. In a weblog post published Tuesday, Signal mentioned that Facebook banned them from its ad platform for the string of advertisements that applied very targeted information to “show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to.”
To highlight Facebook’s information collection practices, Signal designed super-particular advertisements that would show some of the information that Facebook collects from its customers.
“You got this ad because you’re a K-pop-loving chemical engineer. This ad used your location to see you’re in Berlin. And you have a new baby. And you just moved. And you’re really feeling those pregnancy exercises lately,” reads one of the advertisements, according to screenshots shared by Signal.
However, the messaging platform claims that Facebook banned them from its ad account right after it attempted to run these advertisements.
These Signal advertisements are astounding. Facebook banned them for becoming a tiny bit also relevant. https://t.co/q9D4VKqPt9pic.twitter.com/NEBgqW40I8
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) May 4, 2021
“The ad would simply display some of the information collected about the viewer which the advertising platform uses. Facebook was not into that idea,” Signal mentioned in its weblog post titled ‘The Instagram advertisements Facebook will not show you’.
Facebook has dismissed the claims as a “stunt by Signal”.
Alex Kantrowitz, founder of the newsletter Big Technology, shared a response from Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne, who mentioned that Facebook did not shut down Signal’s ad account.
“This is a stunt by Signal, who never even tried to actually run these ads – and we didn’t shut down their ad account for trying to do so,” the Facebook spokesperson mentioned.
Facebook’s response: pic.twitter.com/xhPTVfmLBQ
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) May 5, 2021
In response, Signal shared a screenshot which shows an “Ad Account Disabled” message and mentioned, “We absolutely did try to run these. The ads were rejected, and Facebook disabled our ad account. These are real screenshots, as Facebook should know.”
Signal’s response: https://t.co/FAdZdcpgSA
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) May 5, 2021
Facebook after once more countered their claim and mentioned the screenshots had been not current.
“These screenshots are from early March, when the ad account was briefly disabled for a few days due to an unrelated payments issue,” Mr Osborne tweeted. “The ads themselves were never rejected as they were never set by Signal to run,” he added in a stick to-up tweet.
2/2: The advertisements themselves had been by no means rejected as they had been by no means set by Signal to run. The ad account has been offered due to the fact early March, and the advertisements that do not violate our policies could have run due to the fact then.
— joe osborne (@joeosborne) May 5, 2021
Mr Kantrowitz concluded his Twitter thread by saying he would like to see more conclusive proof from Signal to back up its claims – a sentiment echoed by lots of other folks on the microblogging platform.
I’d like to see some more conclusive proof from Signal backing up its claims. Fwiw. pic.twitter.com/kFN6E5TsbZ
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) May 5, 2021
The exchange among Signal and Facebook has divided opinion on Twitter – with some praising Signal for highlighting Facebook’s normally-controversial information collection techniques and other folks raising doubts about their claims of becoming banned.
Why do your screenshots only show 1 campaign labeled “test” with benefits in March?
Doesn’t look like they had been actual advertisements with intent to run— unless you took a screenshot of an additional ad account?
— Bryan Cano ???? (@BryanECano) May 5, 2021
“the ads were rejected” pic.twitter.com/puHuVCksMk
— AlbuVaccinate-yo ????????????????????☕???? (@AlbuquerqueTurk) May 5, 2021
This is genius https://t.co/k99A3Do1ic
— Ben Basche (@basche42) May 5, 2021
The jury is nevertheless out on irrespective of whether Facebook in fact banned Signal’s ad account, or irrespective of whether Signal applied the campaign as a PR stunt – as some have mentioned on Twitter – but this is not the initially time that Facebook’s information collection practices have come below scrutiny.
Facebook hit the headlines right after a number of media reports emerged alleging that a information-mining firm referred to as Cambridge Analytica acquired private information harvested from more than 50 million Facebook customers to assistance Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign.