Purpose
Privacy Violations:
In 2019, the company was hit with a $5 billion penalty from the Federal Trade Commission over consumer privacy violations, the highest penalty paid over that kind of infraction at the time. That case accused the company of deceiving users into disclosing information through its privacy settings.
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- 1. Facebook Uses Facial Recognition
- 2. People Can Follow You Without Your Knowledge
- 3. Pending Friends Have Access to Your Posts
- 4. Third-Party Apps Collect Information About You
- 5. Facebook Can Control Your Profile After You Die
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Why Are Facebook Users tracked?
- Marketing – Facebook knows what you’re doing on other sites and in real life. … Facebook released a tool that lets people see how it tracks their “off-Facebook activity.” The social network tracks the websites, apps, and even real-life stores that users visit in order to target highly-tailored ads to them.
- Location Find –
Can someone track you on Facebook? So long as you and the “target” both use Facebook Messenger, location tracking is possible. This means that any parent who thinks their child may be sneaking off to a party instead of a study group can use Facebook Messenger to “check in” and determine their whereabouts.
Update: On 12/9/2020, US federal regulators and more than 45 state prosecutors sued Facebook, accusing the social media company of taking illegal actions to buy up rivals and stifle competition. The lawsuits are one of the most significant legal actions the US government has taken against the firm.
Update: The use of Facebook can have negative psychological effects that include feelings of romantic jealousy and stress, a lack of attention, and social media addiction that in some cases is comparable to drug addiction. Facebook’s operations have also received coverage.
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- On 11/4/2021, The Federal Trade Commission sued the company, accusing it of violating antitrust laws by holding a monopoly on social networking through its acquisitions of Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp.
- As of May 2016, the only countries to ban access the clock to social networking sites are China, Iran, Syria, and North Korea. However, since most North Korean residents have no access to the Internet, China and Iran are the only countries where access to Facebook is actively restricted in a wholesale manner.
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Facebook has more than 2.8 billion monthly active users worldwide, but virtually no footprint in China. That’s because the service, the parent company of which is now known as Meta (FB), is banned in that country, along with many other global social media providers.
Update: 6/17/2020 Mark Zuckerberg developed a platform for anarchy groups such as Boogaloo Boys to maintain his billions. Participants of the group generally identify as a libertarian citizen-militia and say they are preparing for a second American Civil War, which they call themselves the “Boogaloo Boys.”
Facebook’s algorithm expands the viewing base of anti-government groups such as the “Tea Pary.” It lets them first see the Boogaloo group’s posts. Stating their mission to kill police officers and destroy property in the black community by infiltrating the Black Lives Matter movement. According to the Washington Post, a ‘boogaloo boy’ using nearby peaceful protests as cover, gunned down a police officer.
Mark Zuckerberg – 28.4% – worth $28.4 Billion. Everyone knows who Mark Zuckerberg is, he’s famous as the owner, founder, and CEO of Facebook, and made even more famous when the movie ‘The Social Network’ was released, which tells the tales of the turbulent early days of Facebook.
On top of that, Facebook became a media giant because people post news or fake news on its app as well as post advertisements for purchases or political favor. However, Facebook and Twitter, along with other telecommunication companies, do not want news or foreign political ads regulated. The regulation will stop Russia from weaponizing ads on communication platforms.
During the 2016 election, Facebook violated HIPPA laws for 87 million (could be more) users by having its system hacked years earlier, in 2015. The company acknowledged it in 2018 but didn’t tell anyone. Users felt their personal information was protected from hackers because Facebook is Facebook. In other words, when Facebook developed its software, the code should have been put in place to protect users’ information and alert the company of any breach. Mark Zuckerberg has to explain his action to Congress, and they must be prepared for the regulation of fake news and foreign political ads.
UPDATE – Congress has to pass a law that treats the news segment of Facebook like news media to prevent fake news! However, Congress has not passed such legislation.
UPDATE (2/27/2020): Facebook decided that they will censor paying ads regarding false information about coronavirus. Pulling disinformation ads about politics is off-limits. In other words, politicians are allowed to spread lies using Facebook’s platform. The bill that requires Facebook to identify foreign political ads is held-up in the Senate–it passed the House.
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YouTube is an American online video-sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most visited website, after Google Search.
PURPOSE
Our mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world. We believe everyone deserves to have a voice and that the world is better when we listen, share, and build community through our stories.
Privacy Violations
FILINGS
How Are YouTube Users tracked?
- Anyone who has your email address can look up your channel. If you don’t want others to track you by your email address, change your channel settings to prevent tracking. To do this, log into your YouTube channel. Click your profile name, located in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
YouTube is a product of Alphabet Inc. and just like Google, Gmail, and other products, YouTube also tracks your IP address.
- Can You See Who Watched YouTube Video? YouTube has a built-in analytics tool accessible from “YouTube Analytics.” Via the “Audience” tab, you can find out specific information about the people who watched the videos on your channel, including gender, location, and age range
- YouTube tracking: Every click of yours is tracked and it provides information for Google to take advantage of and earn money.
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The acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk began on April 14, 2022, and concluded on October 27, 2022. Business magnate Elon Musk began buying shares of American social media company Twitter, Inc. in January 2022, eventually becoming the company’s largest shareholder in April with a 9.1 percent ownership stake. $44B investment.
After the purchase, he tweeted and lied about the attack on the Speaker’s husband; he said there was no attack.
PURPOSE
Twitter’s primary purpose is to connect its users and allow them to share their thoughts with their followers and others through the use of hashtags. It can be a source of news, entertainment, and a marketing tool for businesses.
Privacy Violations
Sharing someone’s private information online without their permission, sometimes called doxxing, is a breach of their privacy and of Twitter Rules. Sharing private information can pose serious safety and security risks for those affected and can lead to physical, emotional, and financial hardship.
Why Are Twitter Users Tracked?
ADVERTISEMENTS
Twitter tracks its users on its platform when they use it. Twitter even tracks its users when they use other websites, third-party apps, and affiliates it has partnered with. Even Twitter allows its advertiser’s partners to collect user data from its platform to know people’s interests and targeting with ads.
What Does Twitter Track?
Twitter divides the data collected from its users into three categories.
Information provided by users
Users are bound to submit the following information to Twitter for using its services and products.
- Personal Accounts– This includes display name, username, password, phone number or email address, date of birth, display language, sign-in info of the third party, location ( if you allow), and address book uploaded by users.
- Professional accounts include the professional category, street address, contact phone number, and email address.
- Payment Information– When purchasing ads or other services, Twitter stores data about debit card or credit card numbers, expiration date, billing address, and CVV code.
Information collected when users engage on Twitter.
- Usage Information includes posted tweets, followed people, lists, broadcasted Twitter spaces, interactions made with people, bookmarks, followed topics & interests, direct messages content, etc.
- Payments information includes transactions like amounts paid/received, subscription expiration date, etc.
- Device information includes information about address book, IP address, connection, browser type, device type, and its settings like operating system, apps installed, language, etc.
- Location information.
- Inferred identity information– Twitter associates information like email address, phone number, browser, and device used with your account.
- Log Information includes browser type, language, device IDs, search terms, pages visited, application IDs, ads shown, etc.
- Interactions are made with Advertisements ( on and off Twitter) through viewing, watching the video ads, clicking an ad, retweeting, and replying.
- Interactions with Twitter content on third-party websites include tweet buttons and embedded timelines on other sites.
Information obtained from third parties.
The company collects usage information of other products/services from Developers, Ad Partners, Publishers, and third-party apps( not its partners).
Twitter Is Tracking You On The Web
Twitter has mentioned in its privacy policy that it tracks user data such as demographics, interests, email addresses, browser cookies, and viewed content through third parties. It becomes evident that Twitter monitors users and even people with no account on its platform.
Here’s What You Can Do To Stop It
To some extent, you can control your privacy settings by unticking the options in personalize ads, data sharing, and Twitter activities sections to prevent the company from tracking and sharing your information.
To stop seeing ads based on interest on Twitter, Visit optout.aboutads.info.
Does Twitter Track everything you do?
To an extent, Twitter collects almost all data necessary to understand how people interact and use its services. It has partnered with other websites and applications that can serve its purpose.
It wants to know its users in every way, even to verify their identity to keep its platform secure from any activity that affects people’s experience.
How to Check What Twitter Knows About You
Follow these steps to know what information Twitter gathers about you.
- Open any web browser like google chrome or safari and log in to your Twitter account.
- Navigate to the left corner of your dashboard; click on the “more” option.
- Select “Settings & Privacy” and then “Privacy & Safety.”
- Under the option, you can see various options related to your on and off Twitter activities.
- Explore the “Your Twitter activity” section to view information like your interests, topics, muted/blocked accounts, etc. You can control settings as your preferences.
Download a Copy of Your Twitter Data
Twitter maintains an archive data of all your activities, starting from posting the first tweet to deleted messages and posts. Use these steps to download a copy of your Twitter data.
- Log in to your Twitter Account on any browser like Google Chrome or Safari.
- Navigate to the left corner of your screen, click on “More,” and then “Settings and Privacy.”
- Click on the “Your Account” option and then on “Download an archive of your data.”
- For your account protection, verify your identity. Enter the password, and the code is sent to your phone or email.
- Click on the “Request Archive,” and Twitter will start creating your information data. You will be notified once your zip file is ready.
- Download the file from the emailed link and unzip the whole folder.
Why and How Twitter Determines What You’re Interested In
Twitter is interested in the user’s data because of the following purposes.
- Twitter collects data to enhance and personalize its services for a better user experience.
- To show people better appropriate ads & content, suggest new accounts, topics & interests to follow, helping find affiliates, services, and third-party apps.
- To recognize users’ devices to serve them with ads on Twitter and other websites.
Let’s discover two ways how Twitter determines your activity and hidden information.
Your activity on Twitter
Twitter explores more about users’ interests through the following activities they perform on Twitter.
- Tweets & different content you publish, Twitter spaces or lives information, Communities you have joined, bookmarks, and your lists.
- Interaction with your follower’s posts or others through likes, replies, mentions, tagging, retweeting, and participation in broadcasts ( including commenting, viewing history, listening, reacting, and speaking ).
- People you follow and others who follow back, the contents of your direct messages, including time & date.
- Your Interactions with links across Twitter services.
Hidden information you provide
Twitter detects the hidden information which you don’t provide in your profile or settings. Some information it collects through its platform and browsing activity on other websites and third-party apps.
Does Twitter Track Your Location?
Twitter apps for IOS and Android devices provide the option to set a location. If this is off, it will prevent Twitter from finding your location.
Twitter determines your location by tracking GPS information, the IP address, and data around nearby cell towers or wireless networks while using a smartphone. IP address points to the exact location of users and the time people spend using Twitter in different locations.
Does Twitter Track What You Look at – Your browsing activity
Navigate to the “Data sharing and off-Twitter activity” under the Privacy and Safety tab. In the off-Twitter activity section, you can allow Twitter to use your browsing activities outside of Twitter at other websites you explore. The kind of websites you visit indicates your interests.
Twitter Even Tracks People Without an Account
Yes, People are now aware that Twitter can collect their data even if they have not created an account. Twitter has made agreements with websites that help it track the activities of people without an account.
When non-Twitter users explore such websites, it collects valuable information related to interests, IP addresses, and more.
How to Protect Your Privacy on Twitter
Finally, people can protect their privacy on Twitter through settings and other alternatives. These are some steps to help you in protecting your privacy.
1. Review your privacy settings
Twitter considers its users as the ultimate boss to control their information. Open your account through the Twitter website for detailed access to settings options. Explore and read the “Privacy & Safety” sections to adjust your settings. To find in details, visit the Twitter privacy policy page.
2. Use a VPN
Even people without a Twitter account are getting tracked. One of the best security options to hide your identity online is through a VPN. A VPN hides the IP address so no one can track your online data like browsing history, sensitive data, etc.
So, You can access Twitter from any location or device while using VPN. Some of the best VPN for twitter are – NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark, Cyberghost, Zenmate, and IPVanish.
3. Use privacy-minded software and alternatives
Some effective alternatives are if you don’t want to be targeted with ads on Twitter and other websites.
- Start using private web browsers like Tor, Brave, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Chromium, Vivaldi, Epic privacy browser, etc., for blocking cookies and ads to protect your privacy.
- You can use Reddit, which offers better privacy options.
- You can install privacy browser extensions like ublock, AdBlock plus, etc.
