Facebook does n’t have a dandy report when it comes to keeping your entropy private . When the caller bought the message app WhatsApp in 2014 , the companypromisedthere would n’t be any sharing of private information like phone numbers and profile data point between the two ; but this class , Facebook startedsharing and storingthose WhatsApp speech sound numbers anyway — prompting Germany to issue aregulatory challengeto the praxis .

Even ostensibly simple recitation like allowing users to prefer who they share certain profile update with have complicated when the company is perpetually tweaking its setting , often in the service of making thingsmore and more public . Facebook has , at times , used users ’ locating data to offer proffer , though the company speedily said that that was a temporary test feature and no longer in utilisation when the practicewas reportedin the media .

moreover , most of us do n’t know what data we ’re giving up when we accord to those long privacy accord . Thanks to cookies , the societal metier colossus can fundamentally follow you anywhere you go on the internet , whether it ’s on theFacebook site or not . So just what does Facebook fuck about you , and what is it telling other companies about you ?

Article image

The watchdog reporters atProPublicawant to help you discover the solution . They ’ve developed a Chrome plugin that set aside you to see what selective information Facebook has about you , from what the caller think you ’ll be interested in to which other companies have your contact info .

ProPublica ’s newsman have spent a yr investigating algorithms like those used by Facebook , and here ’s how they identify the vast world of how the troupe crawl on you :

Eek . Is n’t societal media fun ? According to my results , Facebook live that Zipcar , The New York Times , and Zillow — whose app I ’ve download on my phone but never create an story with — all have my contact info , because those companies have patently uploaded a contact leaning to Facebook with my data in it . It guess that I will likeFarmville . ( Please , Facebook , do n’t make me playFarmville ! ) I do n’t tend to " like " that many Thomas Nelson Page , nor do I put data like where I work on my profile , but the company still know a startling amount about me , and can foretell the movies I want to watch , the music I wish to listen to , and how often I journey .

you may download the Chrome pluginhere , and explore the rest of the “ blackened box seat ” series atProPublica .

Know of something you mean we should breed ? e-mail us at tips@mentalfloss.com .