In light of the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, social networking site Facebook has been under fire for apparently leaking the profile data of millions of users and is currently facing investigation.
In a statement released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Mar. 26, the FTC “takes very seriously the recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that is has non-public investigation into these practices.”
So how does Facebook gets all your information?
It follows you in and out of Facebook
Obviously, Facebook tracks your activities on the site, on your personal devices, and your location settings. What you don’t know is that it also tracks you virtually on every site you visit. Creepy, huh?
According to The Washington Post, Facebook knows every time you visit a page with a “like” or “share” button (you can also see this in your activity log). Publishers are given access to a tool called Facebook Pixel which allows both parties to track visits from any Facebook user. Facebook also works with companies like Epsilon and Acxiom who collect information from government records, warranties and surveys, and commercial sources (i.e. magazine subscriptions) to learn more about its users.
Now that Facebook has an idea of what their user is like—married, a parent, shopaholic, an expat, or looking to purchase a new ride—they sell you as a target to advertisers. Yes, sell.
If you want to know just how extensive these data points are for Facebook to target ads to you, see the list below:
- Location
- Age
- Generation
- Gender
- Language
- Education level
- Field of study
- School
- Ethnic affinity
- Income and net worth
- Home ownership and type
- Home value
- Property size
- Square footage of home
- Year home was built
- Household composition
- Users who have an anniversary within 30 days
- Users who are away from family or hometown
- Users who are friends with someone who has an anniversary, is newly married or engaged, recently moved, or has an upcoming birthday
- Users in long-distance relationships
- Users in new relationships
- Users who have new jobs
- Users who are newly engaged
- Users who are newly married
- Users who have recently moved
- Users who have birthdays soon
- Parents
- Expectant parents
- Mothers, divided by “type” (soccer, trendy, etc.)
- Users who are likely to engage in politics
- Conservatives and liberals
- Relationship status
- Employer
- Industry
- Job title
- Office type
- Interests
- Users who own motorcycles
- Users who plan to buy a car (and what kind/brand of car, and how soon)
- Users who bought auto parts or accessories recently
- Users who are likely to need auto parts or services
- Style and brand of car you drive
- Year car was bought
- Age of car
- How much money user is likely to spend on next car
- Where user is likely to buy next car
- How many employees your company has
- Users who own small businesses
- Users who work in management or are executives
- Users who have donated to charity (divided by type)
- Operating system
- Users who play canvas games
- Users who own a gaming console
- Users who have created a Facebook event
- Users who have used Facebook Payments
- Users who have spent more than average on Facebook Payments
- Users who administer a Facebook page
- Users who have recently uploaded photos to Facebook
- Internet browser
- Email service
- Early/late adopters of technology
- Expats (divided by what country they are from originally)
- Users who belong to a credit union, national bank or regional bank
- Users who investor (divided by investment type)
- Number of credit lines
- Users who are active credit card users
- Credit card type
- Users who have a debit card
- Users who carry a balance on their credit card
- Users who listen to the radio
- Preference in TV shows
- Users who use a mobile device (divided by what brand they use)
- Internet connection type
- Users who recently acquired a smartphone or tablet
- Users who access the Internet through a smartphone or tablet
- Users who use coupons
- Types of clothing user’s household buys
- Time of year user’s household shops most
- Users who are “heavy” buyers of beer, wine or spirits
- Users who buy groceries (and what kinds)
- Users who buy beauty products
- Users who buy allergy medications, cough/cold medications, pain relief products, and over-the-counter meds
- Users who spend money on household products
- Users who spend money on products for kids or pets, and what kinds of pets
- Users whose household makes more purchases than is average
- Users who tend to shop online (or off)
- Types of restaurants user eats at
- Kinds of stores user shops at
- Users who are “receptive” to offers from companies offering online auto insurance, igher education or mortgages, and prepaid debit cards/satellite TV
- Length of time user has lived in house
- Users who are likely to move soon
- Users who are interested in the Olympics, fall football, cricket or Ramadan
- Users who travel frequently, for work or pleasure
- Users who commute to work
- Types of vacations user tends to go on
- Users who recently returned from a trip
- Users who recently used a travel app
- Users who participate in a timeshare
Before you think of deactivating your account, there’s actually a way to retrieve every single one of your data—including your activities and interactions (even from people you have already unfriended).
Photos courtesy of Unsplash and Ars Technica
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What to do when you’re not ready to unfriend someone on Facebook yet
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