GDPR could affect Facebook user numbers, says CFO

US & EUROPE – Facebook’s chief financial officer has said the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) could impact the network’s daily user numbers in Europe.

Facebook on a phone

According to a report by CNBC, David Wehner, CFO at the social media firm, told investors that changes to online privacy, which come into effect from 25 May, could have "some implication on DAUs (daily active users)".

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference, Wehner said: "We'll be compliant with GDPR when it goes into effect in May. It’s about how you design your product. We'll walk EU users through [a series of] permission screens."

Ahead of GPDR being implemented, Facebook will roll out testing of some of the additional choices users will be asked to make as part of the new regulation.

This week, the company laid out some of the ways in which it is preparing for GDPR, including allowing people to choose whether or not they enable facial recognition, which has previously been unavailable in the EU.

The company will ask users if they want to continue sharing their political, religious and ‘interested in’ information on their profile. They will also be given the option to opt in or out of having this information used to target them with advertising. 

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