Terms of service are important. But no one reads them- and I usually don’t either. But today I did. Here’s what Facebook just updated about their new data policy. Coming after a nightmare month of bad press I was expecting more privacy.
Instead just the opposite. Here are the biggest points:
1) Yes… Facebook is recording data on the devices you use. Like what browser you search the net with. Sites you visit, apps you use. And not just data linked to Facebook. Even PCs are being spied on. They can even tell what you hover your mouse over…
If you comment on a sofa from Target, you will probably see an ad for it the next second.
2) Facebook’s other apps: Instagram, WhatsApp, etc, have the same terms of service.
3) Messenger: If you sync your contacts with this app, they will use the data. Probably for advertising but they could sell it to third parties- which is what they got in trouble for.
4) Messenger also keeps logs of your call history as well. I expected this, but reading it on their TOS was chilling.
5) GPS is constantly recorded. Your device’s IP address and every location you go. I don’t know why Facebook would want this data, or how they could parse the terabytes of all their users. But FYI…
6) Facebook is analyzing our faces from photographs. Again, I don’t know8 why.
7) If you sell your company, your Facebook’s company page is automatically included in the sale.
8) Finally, you can delete all your Facebook data by asking them, but it will take a few weeks. And they are not responsible if not every piece of data is actually deleted.
That last point seems like the basis of a future lawsuit. But Facebook can probably afford it.