Belgian police have warned users of social media giant not to use Facebook Reactions in order to protect their own privacy.
Belgium’s police service say that Facebook is using the buttons that people click in lieu of ‘Liking’ content as a way to gauge the user’s mood and then decide what ads to show them.
The Reactions include ‘Wow’, ‘Love’, ‘Haha’, ‘Sad’, ‘Angry’ and ‘Thankful’ and were introduced largely to placate calls for Facebook to introduce a ‘Dislike’ button.
In a post on their Facebook page, the Belgian police have said:
“By limiting the number of icons to six, Facebook is counting on you to express your thoughts more easily so that the algorithms that run in the background are more effective. By mouse clicks you can let them know what makes you happy.
“So that will help Facebook find the perfect location, on your profile, allowing it to display content that will arouse your curiosity but also to choose the time you present it.
If it appears that you are in a good mood, it can deduce that you are more receptive and able to sell spaces explaining advertisers that they will have more chance to see you react.”
As such, they have advised anyone who wants to maintain their privacy to stick to the classic thumbs up.
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