Facebook, Instagram and Messenger users from the EU, EEA and Switzerland may soon unlink their accounts to stop data sharing.
Meta, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp parent company, announced that users from the EU, EEA and Switzerland will soon have the option to unlink some of their services. The announcement includes some surprises, among them an option to unlink Facebook data from Marketplace activities, and Facebook Messenger from Facebook data.
The improvement comes as a response to Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The EU identified gatekeeper companies that dominate certain services on the Internet or on user devices. New regulations for these companies aim to improve user rights and competition in the market.
Google users from the EU may also unlink services to stop the automatic exchange of data between them. Now, it is Meta that announces similar functionality for some of its main services. The company says that it has “assembled a large cross-functional team staffed by senior employees from around the globe and across our entire family of apps” to introduce these changes to the platforms.
Meta products affected by the change
Meta mentions Facebook and Instagram only in the announcement. WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, is also considered a core platform service by the DMA, but not mentioned by Meta.
Facebook and Instagram users who connected their accounts will see an option to unlink these in the coming weeks. They can:
- Keep the two accounts linked and have information shared between Facebook and Instagram.
- Unlink the accounts to manage them as separate accounts. This ends data sharing between the two accounts.
Facebook Messenger users may choose to use Messenger as a standalone product. They may create a new account in the application to use it as a standalone messenger app.
Core services, including private messaging and chat, and voice and video calling are available then.
Facebook Marketplace users may unlink Marketplace from their Facebook information. Users who do that may continue to use Marketplace to buy and sell products. Communication between buyer and seller, on the other hand, happens exclusively via email and no longer Facebook Messenger or Chat.
Facebook users who play games on the site may block games from accessing their Facebook information. This limits availability of games. Only “some single-player games” may be played in that case. Multiplayer games, personalized game suggestions and in-game purchases are not available in these cases.
Closing Words
Facebook plans to roll out these changes in the coming weeks. Only users from the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland will get these options. The changes will roll out gradually and users will be notified about them once they reach their accounts or devices.