Find Out Everything Facebook Knows About You
Think carefully before you post something on Facebook. Is this something you really want to share with everyone from your boss to your third-grade teacher? But we don’t have that same level of scrutiny before we visit a company’s page or search for someone from high school.
Every action you take on Facebook — Likes, searches, friends, keywords from your posts — gives Facebook more information about you, even what physical location you log in from. That’s not overly surprising, but according to the New York Times, Facebook also uses facial recognition software to collect biometric data from users. The site then uses all that data to make assumptions — sometimes right, other times wrong — about who you are and what you care about. And they then show you a gazillion (or more) ads based on those assumptions.
The recent Cambridge Analytica scandal involving Facebook data made many people realize for the first time that Facebook doesn’t just use the information to clutter your news feed. It allows all sorts of companies to access your data. This makes it really important for you to know exactly what Facebook knows about you, and then take measures to protect as much of your information as possible.
Here are three steps to take:
- Review the data Facebook has collected on you. Click on the down arrow in the top right corner of your newsfeed. Click on Settings, and then click on Download a copy of your Facebook data. Prepare to be very surprised at how much personal information about you and your habits has been collected.
- Change your ad preference settings. Click on the down arrow in the top right corner of your newsfeed. Click on settings, and then click on Ads. You can see how Facebook has interpreted your data on the Your Interests tab. If any of the information is incorrect or you don’t want to see ads on that topic — such as Facebook having eyeglasses and contact lenses as one of my interests even though I have 20/20 vision — simply delete the topic.
The most important step — although probably not as fun as finding out Facebook thinks you are a cat person when you are devoted dog lover — is turning off your ad preference settings. On the Ad Settings tab, change the Ads based on data from partners and Ads based on your Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere settings to No. Then change Ads that include your social actions to No One. - Limit the amount of data Facebook collects on you from this point forward. This helpful article from The Verge walks you through how to turn off location services, unlink questionable third-party apps, limit sharing settings, remove personal information and restrict ad preferences.
- Companies collecting your data is a reality of life today. By knowing exactly what Facebook knows, you can take steps to control it — as much as possible.
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