It is no secret that Facebook Inc. uses our personal data to determine what targeted ads should pop up in our news feed, but one controversial feature that some of those ads use is a user’s race. A recent investigation by ProPublica that surfaced the targeting by race prompted an outcry from civil rights and other groups.

Although Facebook says race may be a useful factor for targeting some types of ads, the social network conceded that it also can be used for discrimination. So today, the company announced that it will soon block race-based targeted ads for certain services.

Facebook said it would revise its Ethnic Affinity Marketing policies with the goal of promoting diversity and preventing racial discrimination from ads on the social network. Although the company said that race-based ads could be a problem, it was careful to avoid admitting that such discrimination is already occurring. Instead, Facebook said that “policymakers and civil rights leaders have expressed concerns” that targeted ads could be used for discrimination.

“Specifically, they’ve raised the possibility that some advertisers might use these segments to run ads that discriminate against people, particularly in areas where certain groups have historically faced discrimination — housing, employment and the extension of credit,” Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan said in a blog post.

To prevent this sort of ad-based discrimination, Facebook said that it will soon develop tools that will automatically detect ads in these areas that use race as a determining factor, and the company will update its advertising policies to state explicitly how Ethnic Affinity Marketing can and cannot be used. Facebook will also require that advertisers agree to not use targeted ads to discriminate.

“We are making these changes to deter discrimination and strengthen our ability to enforce our policies,” Egan explained. “We look forward to finding additional ways to combat discrimination, while increasing opportunity, and to continuing our dialogue with policymakers and civil rights leaders about these important issues.”

Image courtesy of Facebook