It is no secret that Facebook has long exploited its user base, kept a trove of data on them, and is essentially an intimate and personal database on 1.4 billion people ripe for the picking of the surveillance state. The insidious nature of Facebook has discouraged many people from using it and is causing millions of users to delete their accounts. However, what many people do not know is that you don't even need an account for Facebook to spy on you and mine your most intimate data.
Even if you have never had a Facebook account, this social media leviathan uses online tracking devices that follow a user's internet activity via third-parties and you never have to visit Facebook for it to happen.
While Facebook has become an everyday part of life for hundreds of millions of people across the world, many of those active on the platform are blissfully unaware of the vast amounts of personal data the company aggregates about them. So, why would anyone who has never visited the domain need to worry about Facebook spying on them? Well, the answer to that question is data.
With data becoming one of the greatest resources for business in the modern era, individuals are increasingly becoming more concerned about exactly what type of information can be found about them in cyberspace – and on Facebook in particular.
While people are offered a range of privacy setting options to choose from when posting on Facebook, many are completely unaware that they have the ability to customize the privacy settings on the information they share.
This can create a dynamic where your personal information is easily preyed upon by strangers, advertisers, and criminals alike. And, you don't need a Facebook page to be a target.
As a report from the Daily Mail notes:
It has now been over a decade that Facebook has been mining data on billions of people and for the first time in our history, a private company has been meticulously gathering, storing, analyzing, and selling data on entire populations for more than ten years.Even if you have never entered the Facebook domain, the company is still able to follow your browsing behavior without you knowing it. More than 10,000 websites contain invisible trackers, called Pixels, which record information about visitors. This includes everything from the operating system you use to your IP address and activities on the website during a session. This gives the firm insights into everything from where you are in the world, who your internet service provider is, the types of sites you like to visit and how long you spend on them.
As The Free Thought Project previously reported, if you have a Facebook profile, you can download it to see the insane amount of data this company has on you.
Even if you are okay with Facebook creepily storing all of your data—forever—other people, outside of the social media platform have access to this data as well.
Fortunately, there’s a way to determine exactly how much of the information you share on Facebook is publicly accessible.
A simple tool made by Supremo now allows you to see exactly what personal data you have shared with strangers on Facebook.
The Supremo website presciently warns:
Hi there! Did you know that every single time you visit a website, you reveal information about yourself simply by visitingSimilarly, websites that allow you to log in via Facebook could be collecting all kinds of information if you haven't properly checked the permissions you're granting.Ironically, the tool asks for permission to access your personal information on Facebook. However, the company notes that the "information we've gathered will be completely removed from our records but there are more malicious uses of your personal information potentially."
While Facebook users can see what this data collection company has been storing on them, non-users are left out in the cold. The privacy of internet users tracked via third-party is mostly secret and there is currently no way of seeing what Facebook knows about you.
However, you can still block Facebook from following you around the web.
If you use Google Chrome, you can do the following.
If you allow cookies by default, you can still block them for a certain site.
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- At the top right, click More Settings.
- At the bottom, click Advanced.
- Under "Privacy and security," click Content settings.
- Click Cookies.
- Next to "Block," "Clear on exit," or "Allow," click Add.
- Enter the web address.
- To create an exception for an entire domain, insert
[*.]before the domain name. For example,[*.]google.comwill matchdrive.google.comandcalendar.google.com. - You can also put an IP address or a web address that doesn't start with
http://.
- To create an exception for an entire domain, insert
- Click Add.
Australia is also getting in on the action and the federal government has ordered the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate the big tech giants in what ACCC chairman Rodd Sims said will be the broadest inquiry of its type in the world, according to the Herald.
The ACCC's inquiry will involve asking consumers how much they think the digital platforms know about them and comparing that to what is in fact being gathered.
"Some people have asserted that consumers know what's going on and don't care," Mr Sims said last week.
"I think it's absolutely crucial we find out what consumers do know and then let's see whether they care. My suspicion is Facebook and Google have much more personal information about people than people realize."
However, it is still fair game for Mark Zuckerberg to creepily follow you around online in the United States. No wonder so many people online call it Fedbook.It is information like this as to why Steemit is such a fast growing platform.
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@tipU!- upvotes with with 2.5 x profit + daily payouts to investors :)it's not a secret that FB shares all your information with CIA & FBI.... But with the powerful people behind, no platform can beat them... Who can guarantee Steemit & similar platforms are not doing the same.
orkut is coming back.... watchout fb :p
Before now many people were ignorant of the activities surrounding Facebook,.most often,quality articles written by its users are sold as contents per say!The steem community is growing,ever since I discovered this platform ,my blogging has gained a quantum leap... Nice job Op
FB listens also, you talk about something with your friends, next thing you have advertisements catered to your conversations...
90% of the information they have is incorrect on me. I must be doing something right. Oh yeah, right, I grew up on a period where you were told "never tell anyone online, ever, your real name, your address, phone number nor any other personal information about yourself."
I think the last straw for me was when I was talking to my husband about letting my sister borrow a dehumidifier, and then ads for dehumidifiers started showing up in my newsfeed. I never typed the word dehumidifier, only said it with my phone next to me. Sigh.
I hope that the Pillar project with their data locker will be successful. They aim to change the way we protect and share our private data.
Great post and I will definitely be following the steps to stop FB from tracking me!
It's not facebook listening, it's your microphone on your devices acts like a tape recorder Siri on (Apple) can listen Google Home on Android phones can listen, all the application you downloaded, you give them the access to your photos, phone books, contacts, and your browser serves you relevant apps . Clean your cookies, turn off your geolocation, use an adblocker, use vpn..
Um did anybody actually run the tool? It didn't tell me anything special that's not expressly written on my page. I thought this was going to be some accounting of my whereabouts in the real world and online but that thing frankly didn't tell me jack shit. Did I miss the point?