Facebook is making it easier to see how your contact info is used to serve targeted ads

Facebook will soon make it somewhat easier to see how your personal information changes hands for ad targeting. TechCrunch reports that starting later this month, tapping on the “Why am I seeing this ad?” drop down will allow you to see new information.

In the past, Facebook’s “Why am I seeing this ad?” interface has only shown details about the brand that purchased the ad and basic demographic targeting details. Starting on February 28th, however, it will also show when your contact information was uploaded and when it changed hands.

Essentially, this means that you’ll see the date on which a brand or their partner uploaded your contact information to Facebook. It will also show when access to that contact information was shared with partners.

For instance, in the screenshot above, you can see when a partner uploaded a “customer list” with your information to Facebook. Further, you can see when that partner shared your information with an ad agency, and ultimately when the ad was served to you.

Starting February 28th, Facebook’s “Why am I seeing this?” button in the drop-down menu of feed posts will reveal more than the brand who paid for the ad, some biographical details they targeted, and if they’d uploaded your contact info. Facebook will start to show when your contact info was uploaded, if it was by the brand or one of their agency/developer partners, and when access was shared between partners.

Ideally, this will make users more conscious of how their data is used on Facebook. On the other hand, it likely won’t make it easier for users to learn how their personal information was obtained the first place.

The revamped “Why am I seeing this ad?” dialogue box will roll out to everyone on February 28th.