Facebook agrees to change terms and conditions after EU pressure

April 9 (UPI) -- After continual criticism from the European Union, Facebook on Tuesday agreed to modify its terms and conditions to explain how user data can be used to sell targeted advertisements.

Lawmakers at the European alliance had said Facebook's terms were misleading and stressed that users needed to be made aware of the company's advertising practices.

The social media giant now has to detail what it sells to third parties, how users can close accounts and the reasons why an account can only be disabled.

The new agreement will explain that users are not charged for services in exchange for users' agreement to share data and its relation to ads, the European Commission said. Facebook's business model relies on selling advertisements based on a user's profile.

"Today Facebook finally shows commitment to more transparency and straight forward language in its terms of use," EU consumer commissioner Vera Jourova said Tuesday. "A company that wants to restore consumers' trust after the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal should not hide behind complicated, legalistic jargon on how it is making billions on people's data.

"Now, users will clearly understand that their data is used by the social network to sell targeted ads."

It's not yet clear what the new terms will say, but Facebook has until the end of June to implement them, or risk sanctions.

Facebook did not immediately address the changes Tuesday.