Facebook Users' Data

[clutter]

Nothing you do online is private, nothing. If you are using FB's tool to send "private" messages then that info is only private in the sense that you aren't sending to the rest of your friends. It is not private to FB, they "own" it, and they can do what they want with it as long as it is legal.
I guess I thought it was just common knowledge that if you want something to remain private, you don't put it out there online.
This is the price we pay in order to be connected to everyone everywhere and anytime.

Exactly. I was talking online to someone and I mentioned a website I found out about here, called HysterSisters, for women who've had hysterectomies. I haven't had one, but I recommended it to her. Right after that, I suddenly see all these ads for women who've hysterectomies. What if I was searching for medical or private info about me that I didn't want shared or sold? And these websites sell my info to other companies, OR hackers get in and they have our info ALONG with credit card info and the necessary details to open phony accounts with info we never publicly shared, but they now have.

Its not just facebook. Not at all.

The price we pay for the convenience of our smartphones and computers is to lose our privacy. Period. Absolutely nothing you do, not only online but also via cellular, is private. EVERYTHING we do is being data mined. Our cars data mine us. And advertisers/politics/enemies of the US will go to great lengths to get that data either legally, illegally, or not-yet-illegal-but-unethical/immorally.

My example is like Imzadi's above. However, in my case, it was a text message. A TEXT MESSAGE. Next thing I knew I was getting bombarded with ads related to my friend's medical condition. I've come to expect it from Facebook. I expect it from Google. Chrome. Anything I do online. But for Facebook or google to be mining my texts? Yep. They do. But the question I have to decide is - what privacy am I willing to give up for the convenience accessing online information? Am I going to delete Facebook from my phone? Because, if you have an app on a phone - even on a cloud - it is mining any data it can about you. So is your laptop, your desktop, your tablet, your car, your credit card.

My boss and I had emails intercepted by someone overseas. I received an email from her about a wire transfer I was supposed to make. It was a perfect copy, except that they used a sign off that made me think she was being snarky. Because they literally intercepted her email, it was coming from her account. And they intercepted emails I sent in response, but not from anyone else. And this was in an extremely secure, encrypted email system.

Every time I go to Disney, one of two things happens. Either my credit card gets compromised or I start getting vacation timeshare phone calls. I will no longer give them my phone # to text me about my room, it was so bad. I don't think Disney is actually mining our data and selling it (although they could). But I'm sure it's a constant battle for them to keep data secure. Sure, companies announce that they've been breached, but I do believe they are breached way more than they actually are aware of.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Exactly. I was talking online to someone and I mentioned a website I found out about here, called HysterSisters, for women who've had hysterectomies. I haven't had one, but I recommended it to her. Right after that, I suddenly see all these ads for women who've hysterectomies. What if I was searching for medical or private info about me that I didn't want shared or sold? And these websites sell my info to other companies, OR hackers get in and they have our info ALONG with credit card info and the necessary details to open phony accounts with info we never publicly shared, but they now have.

Yikes! (And I apologize for that, as it was likely my recommendation, especially the videos! )

Years ago my dog had a medical condition on his b u t t and I made the mistake of looking up information on it using it's correct name, which started with r e c t a l. I forget in what form they came up, but immediately I got inundated with hard core p o r n information! Fast forward to now, and a friend of mine has a similar condition. Normally I'd help out with information but I don't even want to go there today. But you are right. We've put a lot of effort into HIPAA. It's concerning to think that medical information might get out there anyway through our internet searches, articles we read, and things like private messages.

 

[MrsDuck]

My info was shared because a friend took the damn quiz. So irritating. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the info is out there and I'm *sure* I agreed to it when I skimmed over the terms and conditions of using FB...

 

[GreatLakes]

"You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." - Scott McNealy testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3, 1998.

This was 20 years ago. Nothing about this situation is any surprise to anyone that has been studying information security for the past two decades. This exact scenario has been discussed ad nauseum. I have probably been in 100 hours of meetings and seminars about how users can be tracked using things as simple as the fonts your browser headers contain and the behavior of your mouse movements.

With every new "revelation" all I keep hearing is that scene from Casablanca, "I am shocked—shocked—to find that gambling is going on in here!"

 

[Pea-n-Me]

"You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." - Scott McNealy testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3, 1998.

This was 20 years ago. Nothing about this situation is any surprise to anyone that has been studying information security for the past two decades. This exact scenario has been discussed ad nauseum. I have probably been in 100 hours of meetings and seminars about how users can be tracked using things as simple as the fonts your browser headers contain and the behavior of your mouse movements.

With every new "revelation" all I keep hearing is that scene from Casablanca, "I am shocked—shocked—to find that gambling is going on in here!"

You work in the field, right? What about the average user?

 

[gotomu212]

You have to specifically give FB most of these permissions. I do NOT give FB access to: SMS, Phone, Contacts, Location services, email, etc. You deserve what you get if you let ANYONE have all the access that they want. People need to be smart about their settings.

But the thing is you actually DONT have to give permission for them to get this. They can get it from other people’s contact lists, a stores shared FB info, and even if you don’t give FB location services but have maps running on your phone while also opening FB you’ve given permission.

This is such a big deal because people believe they were protected by their security settings but you weren’t. Being smart about your settings doesn’t stop what FB has done.

 

[DLgal]

But the thing is you actually DONT have to give permission for them to get this. They can get it from other people’s contact lists, a stores shared FB info, and even if you don’t give FB location services but have maps running on your phone while also opening FB you’ve given permission.

This is such a big deal because people believe they were protected by their security settings but you weren’t. Being smart about your settings doesn’t stop what FB has done.

I still don't think it's a big deal, in the grand scheme of things. People are getting too worked up about this. I have been on FB for nine years and have seen no impact to my daily life related to any information that may have been obtained about me inadvertently.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think everyone should expect that their online activity won't be private. But I also think that big corporations should not engage in predatory behavior to disseminate our information.

How are you supposed to get information about private medical conditions if you don't go online? It's not like anyone keeps an encyclopedia in their family room any more. I guess you could go to the library, but that's certainly not very convenient.

I think I can understand some loss of privacy. But it baffles my mind that HIPAA paperwork is so extensive at the same time an individual's information can likely be mined elsewhere quite easily.

I didn't lose any information on Facebook. But just recently I've had ads showing up on various sites on 2 topics that came up in private email discussion with a friend. That sort of alarmed me. This was an email account associated with my cable carrier that we pay a premium for. So not a free account.

 

[DLgal]

I think everyone should expect that their online activity won't be private. But I also think that big corporations should not engage in predatory behavior to disseminate our information.

How are you supposed to get information about private medical conditions if you don't go online? It's not like anyone keeps an encyclopedia in their family room any more. I guess you could go to the library, but that's certainly not very convenient.

I think I can understand some loss of privacy. But it baffles my mind that HIPAA paperwork is so extensive at the same time an individual's information can likely be mined elsewhere quite easily.

I didn't lose any information on Facebook. But just recently I've had ads showing up on various sites on 2 topics that came up in private email discussion with a friend. That sort of alarmed me. This was an email account associated with my cable carrier that we pay a premium for. So not a free account.

Email discussions are not private, really ever. If you want to keep discussions private, you need to have them in person. And you better unplug your Amazon Alexa or Google Home....and turn of your phone, smart tv,computer, and tablets.

 

[GreatLakes]

You work in the field, right? What about the average user?

If the average user cared enough to research the topic they would find the information. Hence my initial statement of "Anyone even the least bit surprised by this is either ignorant or naive." Not knowing something that is knowable is literally the definition of ignorant.

I think everyone should expect that their online activity won't be private. But I also think that big corporations should not engage in predatory behavior to disseminate our information.

How are you supposed to get information about private medical conditions if you don't go online? It's not like anyone keeps an encyclopedia in their family room any more. I guess you could go to the library, but that's certainly not very convenient.

I think I can understand some loss of privacy. But it baffles my mind that HIPAA paperwork is so extensive at the same time an individual's information can likely be mined elsewhere quite easily.

I didn't lose any information on Facebook. But just recently I've had ads showing up on various sites on 2 topics that came up in private email discussion with a friend. That sort of alarmed me. This was an email account associated with my cable carrier that we pay a premium for. So not a free account.

To the first bolded statement: There is just about always a trade-off between security and convenience. Increasing security almost universally lowers convenience. A great example is a password vault. If it is possible to recover the password to your vault you have lowered your security. The mechanism I use has zero recoverability. If I lose my password to the vault everything in it is gone forever.

To the second bolded statement: Email is by design an in the clear store and forward protocol. There are ways to secure the contents of email (PGP encryption keys for example) but it most definitely makes email less convenient. Another key about emails is if you are reading it in a browser, even if it was originally encrypted, it can be read.

The safer, though still not fool-proof, way to secure email is to download it still encrypted to a client and read the decrypted mail there. Of course even if you go through the trouble to encrypt email contents you still have meta-data and despite some of the services claiming to hide that information none has actually withstood the scrutiny of a deep audit.

 

[mom2rtk]

Email discussions are not private, really ever. If you want to keep discussions private, you need to have them in person. And you better unplug your Amazon Alexa or Google Home....and turn of your phone, smart tv,computer, and tablets.

I'm not really shocked that an email conversation isn't private. Just that it's apparently being actively and routinely mined for advertising purposes. This was the first I've noticed it in relation to an email. The website stuff is very common and I just expect it.

And honestly, it's pretty popular to tell people to just turn off everything electronic. But I'm sure you know that's not a realistic suggestion any more. So I guess that translates to "Don't expect anything to be private. Ever." And that's a pretty big deal to some.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

If the average user cared enough to research the topic they would find the information. Hence my initial statement of "Anyone even the least bit surprised by this is either ignorant or naive." Not knowing something that is knowable is literally the definition of ignorant.

So no sympathy for Grandma, schoolkids or many others who may not be as astute as you technologically?

 

[mom2rtk]

So no sympathy for Grandma, schoolkids or many others who may not be as astute as you technologically?

It's the wild wild west. Sort of reminds me of the days when doctors recommended smoking on TV advertisements. I think a lot more remains to be discovered about all of this.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It's the wild wild west. Sort of reminds me of the days when doctors recommended smoking on TV advertisements. I think a lot more remains to be discovered about all of this.

Absolutely. They say this is the tip of the iceberg. But in the meantime...

 

[DLgal]

I'm not really shocked that an email conversation isn't private. Just that it's apparently being actively and routinely mined for advertising purposes. This was the first I've noticed it in relation to an email. The website stuff is very common and I just expect it.

And honestly, it's pretty popular to tell people to just turn off everything electronic. But I'm sure you know that's not a realistic suggestion any more. So I guess that translates to "Don't expect anything to be private. Ever." And that's a pretty big deal to some.

I guess it is a big deal to some people. But, I lost my "privacy" 18 years ago when I got married to an active duty military man. The government already knows everything about me. My husband has a Top Secret Level clearance and in order to obtain that, I imagine my entire life was investigated to some extent. I couldn't care less what some random companies "know" about my habits. If they want to send targeted advertisements my way that save me money, I'm all for it!

 

[sunshinehighway]

So no sympathy for Grandma, schoolkids or many others who may not be as astute as you technologically?

Those responses definitely show why this type of stuff absolutely needs more regulation, protections for people and serious consequences when companies act illegally and unethically to use that data in inappropriate ways.

 

[GreatLakes]

So no sympathy for Grandma, schoolkids or many others who may not be as astute as you technologically?

Not really, no. People need to understand the technology they use and not just fling their information at it. This isn't only true of technology or the cyber world either. Research what you doctor tells you, actually read and understand the loan documents you sign. People, in general, take very little responsibility for such things.

I guess it is a big deal to some people. But, I lost my "privacy" 18 years ago when I got married to an active duty military man. The government already knows everything about me. My husband has a Top Secret Level clearance and in order to obtain that, I imagine my entire life was investigated to some extent. I couldn't care less what some random companies "know" about my habits. If they want to send targeted advertisements my way that save me money, I'm all for it!

And unfortunately the government was too naive to protect that information and the OPM just let it escape. Data breaches are a totally different topic however. Facebook/Cambridge Analytica was not a breach.

 

[adelaster]

For those of you interested, here is how you can check out what data Facebook has stored on you. To the best of my knowledge, it is collected from your profile and your "liked" pages.

Settings>Account Settings>Ads

You can access "ad settings" on this page.

To delve further, select "Your Information"

From there, and the thing that interested me most- you can access "Your Categories"
Settings>Account Settings>Ads>Your Information>Your Categories>Review and Manage Your Categories

I expected them to have more on me than they did, but I was surprised to see how they cataloged me politically. (For reference, you are either very liberal, liberal, moderate, conservative, or very conservative)

It was wrong about several things as far as my categories went- so something is off with the data collection somewhere.

As far as the overall topic of this board: the problem is the public at large is often uniformed and/or oblivious to how things operate. Clicking a box is the same as signing a dotted line, and I know how much people like to read )

 

[Hikergirl]

You can check google too to see what they have on you, I don't remember how but I'm sure it can be googled

 

[DLgal]

And unfortunately the government was too naive to protect that information and the OPM just let it escape. Data breaches are a totally different topic however. Facebook/Cambridge Analytica was not a breach.

Yep. DH's information was compromised in that breach. We were notified and allowed to "sign up" for Lifelock, which we declined, because THAT company has a pretty troubled past as well. I just keep an eye on our credit reports every 3 months via the free method. It's the best we can do.