The world is quickly changing. In many ways, the landscape of social media and how we are online has changed drastically since social media became a mainstay. More of us are concerned with our data and how companies are handling it. We have become ever more critical of our own privacy when we are online. One of the largest social media companies we deal with on a regular basis has to be Meta. With over 3.7 billion people engaging with Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and Facebook, it’s become even more imperative that users are aware of the steps to protect their privacy and data.
Privacy Cafe – Sit, Eat and Explore Privacy and Data Protection
To that end, Meta kicked off the week-long campaign with a unique “Privacy Cafe” where users of their many platforms could learn the many tools available to them to protect their privacy and data. The event which took place from 28th to 30 October at The Farm Craft in Bangsar South, saw the neighbourhood cage undergo a top to toe transformation into Meta’s Privacy Cafe. The cafe featured interactive quizzes and AR-enabled activities that not only educated the public about the tools but encouraged them to activate and take control of their online privacy.
The Privacy Cafe featured an immersive Instagram AR Filter developed in collaboration with Florian Sebatier and an interactive digital experience called “Your Home”. “Your Home” allowed users to become interior decorators and create a home experience that they were comfortable with. The furnishings in the “Your Home” experience were analogues for the many controls available on Facebook and worked to demystify the whole concept of online privacy and data protection.
Of course, to help convey the message, Meta also recruited the help of local social media stars like Ceddy Ang, Tan Yuki, Gajendrabalan Chandra, Adam
Muzam, Ori Yuanwei, Amira Sachie and Jessica Chaw to help share and relate their experiences with privacy on Meta’s platforms.
Continuing the Conversation Online
In addition to the on-ground event, Meta Malaysia also had Facebook live sessions where they had open discussions with the public about their privacy tools and controls across Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp. With the increasing awareness about privacy and data protection in Malaysia, Meta is looking to be one of the places where users can safely interact and be social online.
They’ve also put together a Privacy Fact Sheet with all their efforts including end-to-end encryption on all their platforms, Two-factor authentication and increased accountability for third party apps accessing accounts on their platforms.
While the onground activation is over, Meta is looking to continue the conversation online. They continue to make the “Your Home” and Instagram AR experiences accessible online for users to get to know the controls and safety measures that are available to them.
