I was giving away my personal information to 241 websites/ apps via Facebook! If you would like to see how to stop these websites see below for instructions!
I have been on Facebook since 2007. Over that time I have allowed hundreds of webpages and apps see my personal data. My full name, my whole friends list, etc. After the Facebook Cambridge Analytica Scandal this week I decided to check to see how many websites were using my information and I was shocked at how many there were.
I am sure I allowed all of them to access my information at one point or another. Some of the random "apps" I allowed access are:
- Answer these 10 questions and we will tell you your stripper name
- If you were a character from Sex and the City which one would you be?
- Answer these questions about pizza and we will tell you your age
- Take this quiz and we will tell you when you will die (wtf, lol)
Facebook Pretends That You Are In Control of Your Privacy...
I remember the first time I blocked someone on Facebook. It made me feel that Facebook really did care about my privacy. I mean, the settings on my Facebook Account are so strict that normal people would not be able to see anything on my profile. I have it locked down pretty tight! But I never really thought about the apps and websites that were tracking my information, almost 250! Who knows what they were using this information for!
Google and Facebook Track EVERYTHING You Do
Every single message you've ever sent. Every place you've ever went with location services turned on. Every website you've ever visited. They keep track of it all. I am going to write a more in depth post detailing what I have been reading over the last couple days, and its mind blowing stuff. In this post though I just want to show you how to find out which websites/apps on Facebook have access to your information, and how to stop them.
Step 1: Go to Settings in Your Mobile App
Step 2: Scroll Down to Apps
Step 3: Look At All The Apps/Websites That Have Your Info!
Go through and check all the boxes of the Apps you want to remove access to your information and click remove. I'm sure youll find at least a couple that you don't remember using! I don't remember using 90% of these apps.
I honestly wasn't too surprised when I heard about this latest Facebook scandal. I figured that they were using my information and showing me relevant ads...but it seems that Facebook and Google are saving every single thing we do and using it all to track us. This all might be way more insidious than I originally thought. I guess I am naive. I do feel that decentralization and privacy will be the our next fight. We have been allowing these companies to track us for too long. I know I am always mentioning Pillar (PLR), but the wallet they are making is going to be revolutionary in not only holding your cryptos safely but your personal information. Check it out if you want to learn more!
Anyways, after checking how many websites/apps on Facebook have access to your information? Any funny ones? Do you remember allowing all of these apps permission? Will you be more careful granting access in the future? Do you think Facebook's days are numbered or do you think they will rebound and people will go back to not caring about their data being shared?
I am always happy to hear from you in the comments section below! I know that Steemit is quiet lately but we all need to band together and wait for the bear market to be over. I am hoping that we will see some upward movement soon! Steem on!
Emily
WOW! I had 253! I don't even recognize most of them! Thanks for sharing this.
Got rid of 153 of my 253. Ridiculous!
I am relieved to see you had more apps than I did! lol! :)
Facebook is the most popular social media, but now it will find it difficult to hold its position after Cambridge Analytica Scandal.
People are very careful when they share anything on facebook. It's not fun if everything is tracked and your personal information is stolen and used that way. I already deleted apps on facebook.
Well, the good news is, people will try to find facebook alternative. If steemit comes with some awesome features, people will more than happy to use steemit.
Thank you my friend for sharing this!
Thats true! Hopefully Steemit can take advantage of their decline! If they dont another website will!
Facebook is crazy with the amount of information they share... It is essentially their business model. They funnel all your info to other companies for a fee and then those companies spam you with ads... I have to hand it to them, Facebook has figured out the marketing thing down to a "T"!
That's why I enjoy Steemit sooo much! No bullshit! haha Awesome post! I deleted Facebook off my phone but before I did, I was probably sharing my account with well over 15 different apps! haha
I'm glad that I found an amazing platform like steemit!
Everything is moving from centralized to decentralized. We want to be secure and free at the same time. And decentralized platform can do that.
Now I don't go to facebook every often since I think it is more fun being on steemit :)
Yeah, I dont think I really cared before who had all my data, once I started getting into crypto thats when I realized how messed up this all is!
I've never liked Facebook, not even the privacy issues and info sharing, I just never really wanted to share all my personal business with the whole world.
I also always found it odd how people are friends with their grandma, and also posting vulgar memes and posting photos of themselves out getting fucked up and stuff, to me that's super awkward and alot of the stuff I do I don't necessarily want posted for all my family to see lol.
Also, I remember a turning moment with FB when I was like this site is too invasive. A roomate of mine had been wanting to go on a date with this girl, for whatever reason she was bringing a friend along so he brought a buddy along. The buddy he brought wasn't going out to "go on a date" he was simply helping a buddy and tagging along as kind of a group activity.
Apparently one of the girls posted something on FB of them at some bar. Apparently this other friends gf happenned to be mutual friends with someone and started texting him, what are you doing, why are you out on a date etc. The whole thing was completely innocent but that's just one example of how it can get messy having every piece of your life out there. Heck even something as simple as telling someone you dont wanna do something with them and then they see you out and are like WTF.
I havn't used FB in years. I have a fake account with a fake name I use for my FB ads account but I probably havn't posted anything personal or anything on fb in probably 5 years or more.
One last thing about this privacy issue. I dont see how anyone couldn't know or assume this was happening. If your not paying for something you are the product. Every app you use harvests our data and sells it. The most telling thing to me is that famous zuckerberg aim chat or whatever it was about "if you need info on anyone let me know, these dumbfucks just give me their info" Very telling about him, fb, and his ethics
haha yeah it took me years to accept my moms friend request.... I unfollowed everyone but 5 people last year and I dont regret it.
I was surprised! I only had 23, all that I recognized (Amazon, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.)
... I'm pretty naive when it comes to this stuff but I guess I don't really ever use my FB account to login to anything and I rarely follow links out either. I'm looking forward to reading your upcoming post ... all the research you've been doing condensed down into a readable chunk :) Thanks, Emily!
Its surprising I had 241... I dont even remember using them, lol. 23 is so much less than mine! haha
I’ve still got my account, but most of is really outdated. I just wish there was a way to permanently delete your Facebook account.
I only had 9 apps. I haven't used Facebook in years so I deactivated it. I only recently activated it again in order to post and promote my youtube and steemit channels. Just remember that whenever you use a service that has the option "Log in with Facebook", you are allowing them to see your profile and extract information from you.
Yeah, it was so convenient to use facebook connect that I ddint even think about it! Now I will though.... :)
I just had a look at my fb account and have 129 apps that are siphoning off my information. Time to start deleting!
Facebook is closed for me! Got rid of it all last night. 10 years of art history on my page...gone! Not before doing all that above. So scary.
I think there is a way to save all your information before you delete it! For right now I have to work on Facebook but I have already started sharing way less since I started here.
Yeah... I grabbed all that. Just sad to see my history close.
facebook is making huge business with the informations of members but they get nothing!I was surprised with this fb scandal ! Hope steemit will be blessing for all of us.Thank you for your valuable post.
Steady your posts, knowledgeable, innovative and I like, thank you for sharing