Facebook does what he wants with personal data and manipulate your behavior
A Life Technologies / / December 19, 2019
Vicki Boykis
Specialist data.
Survey methodology
Wiki uses a lot of references to the technical industry articles, scientific publications and interviews with former employees of Facebook. As well as resulting in a user experience that interprets the terms of 10 years of work with the data.
The author warned that some of its conclusions are assumptions and proposed staff Facebook to refute them. Although, according to her, spent more study confirms these assumptions.
manifesto awareness
Vicki thinks that Facebook has become a very important part of our everyday life. So you need to become familiar with the possible consequences of its use.
If by reading, you do not stop to actively use Facebook, in which case it will be your conscious choice, a compromise for life in society.
What is the problem
Even in 2014, Facebook engineers wrote that every day for them receives about 600 terabytes of data - is 193 million copies of "War and Peace".
Facebook privacy policy explains the data collects the social network, and what to do with them. But, like many companies, some of the less obvious points remain between the lines.
Facebook knows what you did not write
Unsent positions are also preserved. Recorded keystrokes. Previously, these data have been used for the published studies of Facebook self-censorship: how and why people are adjusting their positions before the shipment.
If the system keeps even the messages that you sent, there is no guarantee that when you delete any other data, they do not stay inside.
And when you still write a post, upload an image, or change any other information, begins the "fair play" with your data. Facebook can use them for their own research, to transfer marketing aggregators, and perhaps the US government.
Facebook collects about you, even the data that you did not provide, and is a portrait of the person
Social network probably knows your email, phone number and home address, even if you did not share it. But this fall your friends when they try to contact you.
Also, it tries to detect your face.
Every time a photo is loaded with people, the algorithm scans the face to create a digital fingerprint template.
What Facebook does not know, he's trying to think through. And if he is not very good, it can cooperate with other companies to collect marketing information, to the social network to effectively target their algorithm on you the appearance of posts in the film, advertisements and so Further.
For example, Facebook calculates data on the income of a family in order to sell this information to marketers. This information is combined with other information known about you (information on action by credit card, on the behavior of third-party websites, working with Facebook, and so on) to create as a result of so complete your profile, as perhaps.
Types of targeting in advertising Facebook's office says a lot about working with data that gay hides behind the scenes.
Facebook is watching you, even after you log out
The social network continues to follow you through cookies, as well as technology SSO.
The privacy policy states: "We collect information when you visit or use a third-party Web sites and applications that use our services."
Facebook is trying to (or already know how) to keep track of how you move the cursor around the screen.
In 2011, the company has to keep track of what you are doing before how you will go to the social network.
What Facebook is doing with your data
First, use for advertising sales.
But, what is worse, the social network with their users conducting research, both in guinea pigs to motivate them to spend more time in the news, browse more advertising, and more actions.
Vicki Boykis quoted a former employee of Facebook that during his work in the company, there was no expert council, which would approve or disapprove of behavioral tests.
Also forms a social network "information bubble", focusing on the interests of the user. The algorithm realizes what topics you like, and shows similar, removing what you probably need to know, but that may be contrary to your point of view.
One of the most famous examples - experiment The Wall Street Journal. publications staff decided to test how different agenda see Facebook Americans-conservatives and liberal Americans.
Activist Eli Parayzer explains how the "information bubble".
We do not get information that might call into question or to broaden our view of the world.
Facebook Research Center conducts research on anthropological themes that unwitting participants did not give consent. For example, recent research team published a study Facebook social relationships in immigrant communities in the United States.
This is work that is carried out openly. And then what is beneath the surface?
What you need to remember when you are using Facebook
When you act in social networks and other sites (when you are logged into Facebook) potentially monitored, and this information is stored and processed on the company's servers.
How it is treated? It is hard to say. Perhaps as part of a social experiment. Maybe your information is transferred to government agencies. Maybe some Facebook employees can get access to your account. Perhaps the information is shared with insurance companies.
Privacy in the social network does not exist.
What if you do not want to share data with Facebook?
- Do not give out too much personal information.
- Do not publish photographs of children, especially if they are minors. Facebook can legally use them for advertising.
- Use a separate browser for Facebook.
- Install ad blockers.
- Do not install the Facebook application on the phone. It requires a transcendental level of access to your personal data.
- Do not install Messenger on your phone. Use a mobile-optimized site. If the mobile version of Messenger is blocked, use the workarounds in order to go to the desktop version of the social network in the browser.
expert commentary
The question arises: does not give advice about themselves too much information applies only to Facebook? Is it possible, in principle, that for the user to monitor all the big companies?
Eugene Yushchuk
Every major operator does the same thing. The difference may be in a particular set of data, and it is likely in the details. I enclose a screenshot of the cookie that appears after visiting "Yandex".
As you can see, this cookie has a shelf life of 10 years. Formally, "Yandex" does not know who is behind it. The company knows only that it is the same computer that is already seen today. But for 10 years, retaining all of my search terms, she will know everything about me. And as soon as I logged in to post "Yandex" or any of the services, the company will know that it was me. Approximately so all they work.
Restrictions may help, but it's not easy. The most important thing - to share information. If it is very sensitive in general to give it only to the individual devices that are not used anywhere else. Use data means belonging to different owners. Use VPNTo reduce the probability of interception. But in this case, when it's really important not to leave a reference to itself.
Because all this should be implemented sweeping inconvenient, people simply do not steamed in everyday life. Sometimes this leads to problems, but rarely, and mostly in those who come to the attention of serious structures, both public and private.
In principle, if we understand how the collection of data, a decision will be informed and appropriate to each particular case.
The most universal rule - remember that absolutely everything that has been posted to the Web, may not be in the public domain or from interested parties.
Accordingly, it is better or not at all to spread information or to spread so that it was not possible to bind data to a specific person.