Facebook is still tracking you, whether you have an account or not
- by Patti Cortez
- in Sci-tech
- — Apr 17, 2018
Facebook has released more information on the social media platform's tracking of users off-site, after its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, failed to answer questions about the process from USA politicians and as the company prepares to fight a lawsuit over facial recognition in California.
Months before the public outcry over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal caused Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress, the news media had reported on series vulnerabilities at Facebook.
"When you visit a site or app that uses our services, we receive information even if you're logged out or don't have a Facebook account". Many businesses use Facebook ads to promote their products and services.
In a document filed late Friday, Facebook said it had spent $7.3 million in personal security costs and $1.5 million on personal use of private aircraft by Zuckerberg in 2017, a 54 percent increase from the year before, bringing the total to $8.8 million, compared with $5.8 million in 2016.
Facebook says it uses this data to enhance its own products and services, improve safety and security on the social network and to continue providing its services to third-party websites and apps. "And Amazon, Google and Twitter all offer login features", Facebook said.
"Facebook Audience Network enables other websites and apps to show ads from Facebook advertisers".
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Facebook gets some data on non-users from people on its network, such as when a user uploads email addresses of friends.
Baser's post notably calls out other companies that it says do similar things.
Mind you, most information which Facebook or other websites collect are vital to render meaningful services. "We also get information about which website or app you're using, which is necessary to know when to provide our tools".
The feature was turned off in the European Union shortly after it launched, and Facebook committed in 2012 to delete all face templates by October that year, as part of a wide-ranging agreement with the Irish data protection commissioner. According to him, "If someone tries to log into your account using an IP address from a different country, we might ask some questions to verify if it's you".
The company said it does not use the data to target ads, except those inviting people to join Facebook. "If you've looked at travel sites, we can show you ads for hotels and rental cars", he said. In the aftermath of President Trump's election, many speculated whether Zuckerberg's carefully orchestrated road trip, which included photo-ops with farmers in Wisconsin, firemen in IN, and college football coach Nick Saban in Alabama, was part of grander political ambitions or a way to make amends after a tough year for Facebook's image.
Facebook said that personal information of as many as 87 million people, majority from the USA may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.
