I don’t think you get to agree or disagree. You had already agreed to FB terms in the fine prints when you opened a FB account. Your and your friends data are now properties of FB. It’s between FB and developers. When you do a quiz, you get snarled. FB allowed data harvest by developers for a cut.
Lol the people who say they only post things like family pictures don’t really get the scope of how Facebook gets data. It has nothing to do with what you post, or even what you use Facebook for. It follows you all over the web. It knows what other sites you’re going to. It tracks your location. It knows what stores and offices you’re going into. It knows what mailing/loyalty lists you’re signed up for, it knows what ads you’ve clicked elsewhere on the internet, it knows what websites you spend a lot of time on vs. leaving after a few seconds. It knows where you get your news. Maybe this doesn’t bother you, just be aware it’s automatically happening. (And this is just the stuff they blatantly tell you about on your preferences page)
^How do they collect that info? Can they stalk you when you are not logged in to FB?
And its not just facebook. Just assume anything you do online is being tracked. Welcome to the world in 2018. It’s only going to get worse if you value your privacy. It’s Pandora’s Box and it isn’t going back to the way it used to be.
I’m honestly surprised that so many folks let Alexa and similar contraptions into their homes where they eavesdrop on them 24/7.
Oops, tried to reply but it was flagged for moderation since I included a link to a site on Facebook. Just google “facebook pixel” and click the first thing. Basically, other websites use a plugin from Facebook that tracks everything.
I obsessively delete history/cookies after visiting Fb and any other site that requires me to sign in to read or post, as well as randomly deleting multiple times/day. I don’t share my Fb info with other sites or use Fb to sign in anywhere else. I don’t do games or quizzes on Fb, and my privacy settings are as tight as possible. I don’t use my full name for Fb and it doesn’t have my real DOB. The email address used for it is only used for two other sites where my name is not disclosed. Scans are set up to run nightly, too.
Fb is just a way to stay in touch with my kids and some relatives who rarely email or text. My “friends” list has grown, but still has fewer than 30 people. I’d hate to give it up. I avoid anything political or religious, as do most relatives (two who don’t have been muted.)
Is there something else I ought to do to minimize invasion of my privacy?
" I don’t do games or quizzes on Fb"
But if your “friends” do, sounds like you are screwed as well. As others have stated, that’s the issue because no matter how careful you are, you are being tracked. But, if you give up facebook and still use search engines, you’re still being tracked.
So clearing cookies and history does no good?
I googled Facebook pixel but that just shows how business can use FB data. My question is how FB collects data? How do they know I visited ebay for example? How did they know I was on a trip when I didn’t book anything through FB? How did they know I have an iPhone X? Is Apple complicit in this?
@doschicos Does using private window help at all?
Doesn’t anybody else use Ghostery? It prevents trackers and tells you who they are. For example, there are 3 that are trying to track me on this page - Quantcast, Google analytics, and Keen IO. That is small potatoes. Let me move to a different site and check back…
14 would-be trackers on the NY Times homepage, 5 on Home Depot, etc. Ghostery stops them. I also search with Duck, Duck, Go since they don’t track you like google does.
I see Ghostery is a google product. They track you and then sell you a product to stop themselves from tracking you?
“I googled Facebook pixel but that just shows how business can use FB data”
No, it’s the other way around. Or rather they’re one and the same. Facebook pixel allows Facebook to use the website data. So websites will have a plugin that allows Facebook to see what you do on that website. The return is that Facebook then helps them use that info to reach customers on Facebook and try to get a sale on that site. For example, CC has the share on Facebook button under every post, so Facebook can see what you’re doing here.
@iglooo When I pull up a private window on my browser, it says right on the window that:
“Your activity might still be visible to: websites you visit, your employer or school, your internet service provider”
So, I take that as no, a private window does not really help you.
OK, I am switching to Tor browser and using Duck Dick Go search engine. I’ll let you know how it goes.
@rebeccar It still doesn’t explain how they collect data. FB can collect what I say here but how do they connect CC me to FB me?
Your computer’s IP address I would assume but I’m no tech expert. We need a tech expert here.
When I opened FB page with Tor, I got the warning,
“To help personalize content, tailor and measure ads, and provide a safer experience, we use cookies. By clicking or navigating the site, you agree to allow our collection of information on and off Facebook through cookies.”
I am guessing they plant a bug when you log in and the bug stay with you even after you log out. How is that allowed? I get that they can own you while on their site but they should not be allowed to follow you around after you log out. My microsoft acct has the same warning. That would imply they do the same.
@intparent - the FB quiz that led to the data theft was very different from the usual silly quizzes. It was pretending to be academic research, and it paid people a dollar or two to answer some questions. Those people had to download an app to get their payment, and the app took all their data and all the data from their friends. It was passed on to Cambridge Analytica and used to create profiles of 50 million Americans. They already had been working with people who could profile you by looking at just 70 or so of people’s Facebook “likes”. That much and they know your skin color and sexual orientation. If they see 300 likes, they know you better than your intimate partner does. They can profile you, and tailor political ads, which may be disguised or not, to push your buttons of fear, hope, etc.
There’s a very good explanation of how this played out on today’s pod cast The Daily. It’s 22 minutes long, and it’s free.
Oops double post
@intparent - after you take a quiz they will ask you if you want to share your result on FB. It also says by doing so you are allowing them to access your FB information. Sometimes I’ll take the quiz and would manually post my result on FB if I want to share. When those apps access your FB info they are also getting your friends’ information, so I have nicely told my FB friends that I would unfriend them if they share their information with other apps through FB - nothing personal.
An example of using FB (or third party data) for business…FB may not give out your exact (legal) name, address and such, but if they have your birthdate, zip code, sex…a buyer of that information may be able to use machine learning/artificial intelligence to do fuzzy matching to match up people on FB with customers they have. As an example, if an insurance company has you as client and you put in a long term disability claim, but they found out on FB that you are skiing in Colorado then they would want to investigate to see if there is a fraud.
Companies are buying data from different sources, like credit companies and credit bureaus. Those data providers are not allowed to give out people’s social security numbers, name, address, birthdate, etc (personal identifiable information), but through other information it is still possible to be X% certain to identify someone. They use that information to figure out how much people are spending in certain categories (toiletries, clothing, travel, etc) then they calculate how much they are getting from people’s wallet, based on that they come out with ways to get more from people’s wallet. If I am spending around $500/mon on clothing and I am only spending $100 at Macy’s then Macy’s may want to do more advertising compaign on someone like me.
I think there is more we could do to protect people’s privacy, especially on the internet, but the regulations and laws are very slow to keep up with all the latest technology. D2 is going to law school this year. I think it is a great area to get into.