Everything that Facebook is holding about you.
The recent scandal involving Facebook and the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica has everyone on their toes. We’re only just becoming aware of the sheer extent of information the social media giant has on each of us, even people who are not Facebook users (called shadow profiles). In most cases, the information is intensely private, such as every message you’ve ever exchanged on the platform with a friend or a loved one. As such, it is easy to see why people have been outraged at this revelation, their reaction being widespread enough that Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was called for a hearing on April 11, 2018, an event which raised more questions than it answered. As end-users, what we need to know is that the fact that Facebook has a tremendous amount of personal information on each of us, whether or not we are actually Facebook users. The next step would be to protect ourselves. Browser plug-ins and extensions, such as Mozilla’s Facebook Container, are excellent for protecting yourself from APIs, a system of information-sharing which allows a website to complete an action (such as logging in) via a third party without actually leaving the site. There might be some nasty surprises for you in the App Settings (Settings Menu > Apps) page as well! The last step, however, would be to access the information Facebook has on you to verify for yourself.
Here is how you can download your Facebook data:
- Step 1: Visit Facebook and on the right hand there is a drop down click and select settings or visit directly to https://www.facebook.com/settings
- Step 2: In the General Account Settings are, you should see “Download a copy” of your Facebook data. Click on “Download a copy”
- Step 3: You should come to “Download Your Information” click “Start My Archive”
- Step 4: You may be asked to enter your Facebook password again
Other Resources:
How can I download a copy of my Facebook data? – facebook.com
Downloading Your Info (Facebook) – facebook.com
