‘Don’t use Facebook reactions,’ Belgian police warn citizens

Belgian police have warned citizens not to use Facebook’s new reactions on posts in order to protect their privacy.

Facebook uses the reactions as a way of collecting data about people to decide how best to advertise to them.

“The icons help not only express your feelings, they also help Facebook assess the effectiveness of the ads on your profile,” a post on Belgian’s official police website said.

According to the Belgian police, Facebook is able to use the tool to tell when people are likely to be in a good mood – and then decide when is the best time to show them ads.

As well as the ‘like’ button, Facebook earlier this year launched six other ways of reaching to a post – love, laughter, anger, sadness, and surprise.

The feature was launched in response to the demand for a ‘dislike’ button, and allows people to show their feelings without appearing to endorse what was said or shared on the network.