Facebook knows a lot about you.
But it’s only recently that its two billion-plus users have become interested in knowing just exactly how much data Facebook has collected on them.
It’s difficult to uncover every piece of your personal data that’s trickled out to the internet and into the hands of advertisers.
However, the good news is that Facebook gives users the option to see most of the information that’s been collected so far.
In the wake of Facebook’s privacy scandal, many of the site’s two billion-plus users are now taking steps to protect or delete their personal data from being collected on the site. File photo
The social media giant continues to deal with the fallout from its massive data scandal after it was revealed that 50 million members’ data had been harvested without their knowledge.
Since then, many people have been waking up to the fact that user data collection is the backbone of Facebook.
Downloading your archived user data from Facebook may reveal a laundry list of eyebrow-raising data points, from your personal call records to text messages, as well as your location each time you log into the site.
To download your data, first, log in to your Facebook account.
In the right-hand corner of your News Feed, there should be an arrow that displays a drop-down menu.
From there, click on ‘Settings’ and click on ‘Download a copy of your Facebook data at the bottom of the screen.
That will take you to a new page, where you can click on ‘Start My Archive’ to get a copy of what you’ve shared on the site, as well as any personal data that’s been collected.
Users can find out exactly what kinds of data Facebook has collected from them by downloading an archive from the site (pictured). To do this, click on ‘Settings’ in the News Feed
The archive typically includes information like ads you’ve clicked on and timeline posts to more intimate information like your text messages, call logs and your phone’s address book
Facebook may tell you to enter your password, as well as your email so that it can notify you when your archive is ready for download.
It may take several minutes depending on how much data you have and how long you’ve been a Facebook user.
For example, if you’ve been a Facebook user for more than a decade, it could take up to 10 minutes for the company to send you your data.
Once you receive your files, the information is broken down into sections like contact info, text messages, Facebook messages, advertisers, and more.
Many users have been shocked to learn the lengths to which Facebook has gone to collect their personal data.
Facebook addressed the concerns on Sunday in a statement that some critics called ‘tin-eared’ due to its accusatory nature.
Downloading your archived user data from Facebook may reveal some eyebrow-raising data, like personal call records and texts, as well as your location each time you log into the site
‘You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging people’s call and SMS (text) history without their permission,’ the company wrote in a blog post.
‘This is not the case,’ Facebook added.
The company went on to explain that people have to opt-in for it to be collected from Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android devices.
However, it seems unclear whether users were aware of how their data would be used when they opted for the feature.
Facebook maintains that it doesn’t sell the data, which includes phone contacts and text history, or collect the content of your data.
Additionally, users can choose to turn off the feature after they’ve opted in, Facebook said.
But the statement doesn’t appear to have quelled users’ increasing fears that their personal privacy is being preyed upon on the website.
The archived files can go back more than a decade and, at times, can even include information users thought they’d deleted.
Some users were shocked to see that Facebook had contact information for every person in their address book, while a CNN reporter said that it had the phone number of her late grandmother who never had a Facebook account or an email address.
Many were also surprised to learn which advertisers Facebook had shared their data with.
In some cases, the list of advertisers climbed to more than 100 different companies.
Facebook maintains that it doesn’t sell the data, which includes phone contacts and text history, or collect the content of your text conversations or call logs
Users can also see what data categories Facebook has collected on the company’s website.
A few of the categories include email addresses (even those you’ve removed), facial recognition data from photos you’ve been tagged in, a list of IP addresses where you’ve logged into your Facebook, as well as your current address and past addresses.
Some of the more mundane information includes people you’ve removed as a friend, events you’ve been invited to, your gender, any posts you’ve liked, people who’ve liked your posts and a list of who’s poked you or people you’ve poked, among other things.
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