Facebook double-clicks on data safety

Facebook Inc has agreed to make several changes to its services to improve transparency and better protect the personal data of its millions of users outside of the US, following an in-depth audit of its international headquarters that was released on Wednesday. The social media company, based in Palo Alto, California, agreed to changes including asking European users if they wanted to partake in its Facial Recognition, reworking its policies of retaining and deleting private data, and reducing the amount of information collected about people who are not logged into Facebook, the company said in response to the report of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner. Facebook's international headquarters are based in Dublin, Ireland, a member of the European Union. This means the company is required to comply with European data privacy laws, which are more stringent than those that apply in the United States, particularly regarding how long data can be retained. "Facebook has committed to either implement, or to consider, other ‘best practice' improvements recommended by the data protection commissioner," the company said following the announcement of the report. "Meeting these commitments will require intense work over the next six months." The company has agreed to present its results in a follow-up to the report in July.