Signal tried to run a very honest ad campaign on Instagram. Facebook said no.

Signal tried to run a very honest ad campaign on Instagram. Facebook said no.


Privacy-oriented messaging app Signal tried to run a very candid ad campaign on Facebook-owned Instagram, but it wasn't meant to be. 

Signal explained how it went down in a blog post Tuesday. The idea was to post ads on Instagram which use the data an online advertiser may have collected about users, and basically show the user what that data might be for them.

"You got this ad because you're a teacher, but more importantly you're a Leo (and single). This ad used your location to see you're in Moscow. You like to support sketch comedy, and this ad thinks you do drag," one of the ads said. According to Signal, the ad "would simply display some of the information collected about the viewer which the advertising platform uses."

The fact that Facebook and similar companies collect your data isn't a secret. According to Signal, however "the full picture is hazy to most — dimly concealed within complex, opaquely-rendered systems and fine print designed to be scrolled past." In other words, you may have consented to this because you weren't bothered to investigate the details, but you may feel differently if you knew exactly what online advertisers know about you. 

However, Facebook wasn't having it, and shut down both the campaign and Signal's ad account. 

Signal shared no details of the communication between itself and Facebook. Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike confirmed on Twitter that Signal's ad account on Instagram was shut down. 

Comments

  1. Instagram & WhatsApp suck ... why? Because FB owns them now

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  2. Very interesting.

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  3. It will never work, think: out of 10 people 1 is good, will this 1 be able to change the 10 bad people? NO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://signal.org/blog/the-instagram-ads-you-will-never-see/

      Delete
  4. What kind of breach of agreement was cited?

    A media house should try this for journalism and see if a 1st Amendment case may be made from it.

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  5. This is fantastic

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    Replies
    1. In approving this "marketing campaign" what did he think would happen once Facebook found out?

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    2. Exactly this outcome

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    3. Meta advertising strikes again

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  6. Super easy to fix on Facebook

    Go to settings, delete account

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    Replies
    1. My Facebook was fixed a year ago.

      No problems now.

      Delete
  7. How, can this be fact? Facebook knows nothing usefull about me, the ads I see in my 30 minutes per day use are 99% irrelevant, so you all must be giving something away.

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    Replies
    1. damn, son. it must be nice to have that kind of certainty while being so wrong.

      Delete
  8. Line of defense: displaying those ads could divulge sensitive information about individuals to people watching their screens. Facebook respects privacy of their users and blocked those ads to protect them. (I just made this up - for clarity)

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    Replies
    1. So they say this isn't ok, but advertise snowball systems and horny comics?

      Ahh.. i want to know my ad profile...

      Delete
  9. I’m confused. So signal is selling us the idea of using signal with signal using the same data that Facebook collects?

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    Replies
    1. It's just a PR stunt, the point is that Signal doesn't collect that kind of data when you use it while Facebook's services does

      Delete
  10. If you go on their platform to deride their platform, they have the right to take you down, coz it's their platform LOL.

    Platform common sense 101.

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  11. Cool!

    Now, if advertisers ran banal ads targeting the same attributes, offering a $5 Amazon gift card for clicking a (coded) link with an email address, they could collect the info w/o viewers even knowing they’d set themselves up for blackmail or other privacy intrusions

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  12. Facebook could use this info to influence your opinions (which inadvertently already happens) this will never be seen as a problem, arguments like "personal ads" are what most buy-in to while gladly paying for Netflix. Accept that a paywall is the only way out from big tech!

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  13. There is a new facebook-like social media in beta called #SoMee who won't sell your data. http://SoMee.social

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  14. Can't get Instagram ads if you don't have an Instagram.

    http://gph.is/2jAdoZw

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  15. To add to the ongoing discussions in the thread, FB even tracks your pincode and categorises it to determine who hails from which income group; then they show you the ads accordingly. Rich people probably see some very different ads

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  16. Such a cowardly move. The gratitude for the cooperation in implementing the Signal protocol in WhatsApp back in the day can be seen from miles away...

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  17. Nice work, pl do let me know if I can share updates regarding the new changes in India's IT Rules 2021 & Intermediaries Act. Adoption of @signalapp in India is rising.

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  18. When I created an ad in Facebook, I can choose the characteristics for audience of my ads, but that doesn't necessarily I know who are exactly going to read my ads. All companies do this. Mocking Facebook is simply a business strategy.

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  19. How did Facebook justify?

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  20. Signal has really been killing it lately with those blog posts, I love it.

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  21. .

    Can we all agree that Facebook is evil?

    Can there any doubt in ANYONE’S mind?

    .

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  22. Facebook is the biggest reason for me to Delete Instagram

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  23. Fun fact: to this day I've never seen a single ad in my private instagram feed.

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  24. Good to know! I haven't used facebook or Instagram in a while, I deleted them because I hardly used them (I don't like them) I only use Twitter...and Signal.

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  25. Facebook owns Instagram. I’m not surprised.

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  26. What is facebook ?
    <o)

    ReplyDelete
  27. ZuckCo is a Monster.

    ReplyDelete

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