Facebook is checking your offline activities!
I just received a warning from a friend of mine, and quickly checked it out. I knew from before that Facebook is storing lots of information about me, but that they actually have something called "Off Facebook Activity" is quite interesting.
If you want to check it yourself, go to your Settings, choose Your Facebook Information, and then go for the Off Facebook Activity.
What kind of data is the "off Facebook activity?"
Lots of websites share information with Facebook. Not only by adding Facebook like buttons and more, but as they run apps on their websites which shares data with Facebook and more. So, when I surf AliExpress looking for cool products, not only do I find cool products, but AliExpress also shares information about my whereabouts with Facebook. As a result, I will see an AliExpress logo on Facebook when I go to my Off Facebook Activity page.
Not only do I see the AliExpress logo. I can also see logos of different cryptocurrency exchanges I have been active on and so much more.
What is this all about?
Facebook is storing information about you. Not only do they get to know you better by your activities on Facebook. But, they store information about which websites you visit, and thus, your interests. Not only through a like button present, but also based on the actual activities you do on a website.
Information is money, and even though Facebook is free, you are paying a lot. Facebook is getting rich by storing information about you, and then, selling it to the advertisers.
Can I delete my Off Facebook data?
Yes, you can. Not only can you delete your history, you can also tell Facebook not to store future information about you. Check the image below to see how and where.
I hope this article will help you discover even more about Facebook and the face of the platform. I don't blame them for taking advantage of this, after all, it is what the platform is all about. But, it is up to all of us to decide whether we really want to give all that information about ourselves to Zuckerberg and the Facebook empire.
What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts about it!
Very disturbing :/
Resteemed already. Upvote on the way
I've known this for awhile. I added this topic to my English speaking debate classes here in Korea on the matter. Not a lot of my students know about it, either. Thank you for bringing it up. Now I can resteem it.
Are you from South Korea @gungho?
Nah~ I'm from the States living in South Korea.
How is it to be a forigner in SK during current Pandemic?
What a good topic for students, will for sure help them improve their vocabulary as well!
I've known about that for a long time, but Facebook isn't the only one doing that kind of thing.
Of course it affects us all since it is not good that our data is being sold there.
I see the logo of NordVPN (the blue one). I'm not sure NordVPN is sharing information with Facebook. But thanks for the warning.
Well, I didn't expect that they would do so, but it might be something that is done simply through your presence on their website... or so?!
I don't know, I would
googleduckduckgo further on the topic.Really?
I have never heard about anything like this before, thanks for the information.
I didn't know about it either, but it just shows even stronger that Facebook really stores a lot of information about us all!
What just information that acces by Facebook when offline?
Hi @unbiasedwriter
Facebook is one of the most evil company I can think of. They abuse trust of their own users to such an enormous degree.
I think I've heard different expression: "shadow users". Meaning - users who are not on facebook, however FB is still collecting data about them. Right? Or it it something else?
The problem I see is that we will never be able to protect our data. FB and other giants will be always few steps ahead of us :/ And goverments are really "hungry" for that data.
The best thing we can do is to ensure to be like "everyone else around us". So we would be one of millions users out there. Not worth much extra attention. Having nothing to hide. Paying by the book.
I was wondering, why STINC isn't making money on selling data. I'm not sure if storing and trading data is as easy as we would like to think.
ps. thx for great read and info on how to delete my Off Facebook data.
Yours, Piotr
In a way, I don't blame Facebook for selling the data. They make a lot of money that way, and it is natural to want more. I drink Coke every day, but that is also evil, not good for your health and so... but they still sell it, to make money (and I buy it).
You are right about the shadow data, meaning that Facebook gather information about people not yet on Facebook. That is why they can be bombarded with "correct" friend suggestions from the first second, simply because Facebook knows a lot about them, or at least about their friends. Also because of information stored about us in cookies by visiting websites with Facebook like buttons and more, it gets even more detailed.
There are things we can do to remain private, but still - it is really hard in the world we are living in today!
Hi @unbiasedwriter
I'm hearing so much about FB selling data. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see FB selling data. I see them using their data to reach well targeted audience with their ADs. So they are using data, to target audience. And that's different from selling data.
Am I wrong?
Yours, Piotr
If you put it like that, they are gathering data, and then they are using that data to sell ads (that is, for targeted marketing). So, they are not exactly selling the data to others, but they are taking advantage of the data and using it so that others can take advantage of the data to do targeted marketing,