Why Meta Will No Longer Allow Sharing Of Publicly Available Private Addresses

Meta Platforms Inc FB on Sunday followed an Oversight Board’s recommendation to remove an exception that permitted users to share a person’s residential address as long as it’s “publicly available.”

Last year, Meta asked the Oversight Board to weigh in on its handling of private residential information.

In February this year, the board asked Meta to tighten its policies surrounding the sharing of private home addresses over concerns about doxxing.

In its document, Meta wrote, “As the board notes in this recommendation, removing the exception for ‘publicly available’ private residential information may limit the availability of this information on Facebook and Instagram when it is still publicly available elsewhere.” 

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“However, we recognize that implementing this recommendation can strengthen privacy protections on our platforms,” the company added. 

Meta will continue to let users post their own addresses, it won’t follow the Board’s recommendation to let other users reshare them, citing that it’s “often impossible to know whether a resident has consented to allow another person to share their private address.”

The Board suggested creating a “specific channel” to handle reports of doxxing as well, but Meta declined to take action. 

The company replied by saying it’s “actively building new channels for users to get support,” and that it already partners with over 850 organizations which victims can contact to get help.

Meta’s decision to close off the residential address exception should add an additional layer of protection for victims of doxxing. 

Meta shares closed down 0.33% on Friday at $222.00, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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