The estimated reading time for this post is 5 minutes
If you’ve heard about the data of 50 million Facebook users being illegally shared with U.K. firm Cambridge Analytica, you’re probably wondering about your Facebook data.
This Cambridge Analytica news resulted in an apology from Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, along with a promise to audit apps that have accessed Facebook user data.
But do you know what data you’ve been sharing on Facebook? Do you know which third-party apps you’ve given permission to access your account? Do you remember which apps you’ve logged into using Facebook? Do you remember every ad you’ve clicked on? Every Facebook post you’ve Liked?
Probably not. But there is a quick and easy way to find out what information you’ve shared and with whom you have shared that information.
=> Also see, How to Find Out What Google Knows About You
You can delete your Facebook account or make changes to protect your data going forward, but beyond that, you should see what data you’ve shared and with whom you’ve shared your data.
How to Find What You’ve Shared on Facebook
Whether you’re staying on Facebook or deleting your account, you should take the time to see what you’ve shared on Facebook. Even if you were only on Facebook a short time and never shared much, you should still take a look at what information you’ve shared and see which companies have that information.
To see what you’ve shared on Facebook and who has that data about you, you should download your data from the Settings page. You can see some of the data you’ve shared on Facebook by going into Settings and looking around.
But according to the Facebook Help Page, most of the information about the data you’ve shared is only available via the downloaded archive file. So if you want to see what you’ve shared on Facebook, you should download your Facebook data.
How to Download Your Facebook Data
To download your Facebook data, go to Settings. You can find Settings by clicking on the down arrow on the right side of the menu bar. A drop-down menu will appear. Click Settings.
There you’ll see your Settings page with an option to download your data at the bottom of General Account Settings.
After you click Download a copy of your Facebook data, you’ll see this window showing what information the download will include:
After you click Start My Archive, you’ll see this confirmation window:
You’ll receive an email when the file is ready to be downloaded. Mine arrived within a few minutes of my request.
The email contains a link to download your Facebook data file, along with a warning to keep this information secure. Because after all, this is your data…
Reviewing Your Facebook Data
Click on the link in the email to download the file containing your Facebook data.
The file is organized into folders with categories such as:
- Ads
- Photos
- Chat
- Contact Info
- Friends
and more.
In the file, you can see every interaction you’ve had on Facebook, including what you’ve Liked, the ads you’ve clicked on, the apps you’ve added, chat conversations you’ve had, logins to your Facebook account (including IP addresses), profile information such as political and religious views, photos, and, perhaps least importantly, Pokes (remember Pokes?). Plus much more.
In the Ads folder you can see the topics you’ve shown an interest in, as well as which advertisers have your contact information.
Also check out => Facebook Quizzes: Frivolous Fun or Privacy Nightmare?
How to Stop Sharing Your Data with Apps
If you’re going to stay on Facebook, you should clean up your permissions so that you are not sharing your Facebook data with any company you don’t want to and won’t benefit you.
To review which companies have permission to access your Facebook data, go to your permission Settings on Facebook and review which apps have permission to access your account.
You can also review your app permissions for categories such as:
- Apps, Websites and Plugins
- Apps Others Use
- Game and App Notifications
- Old Versions of Facebook for Mobile
You can remove apps entirely, by clicking on the X:
Or you can edit permissions by clicking on the pencil and reviewing the permissions the app currently has.
Remove permissions for any apps you don’t recognize or don’t use any more. Apps you may have used in the past may have been bought by other companies. No need to share your data with any company unless you benefit from the sharing.
When in doubt, remove apps to delete permissions. You can always grant permission later if you change your mind.
Your Data Is Out There
The bad news is that even if you delete Facebook, or delete your permissions, your data may still be in the possession of third parties. Neither deleting your Facebook account nor deleting permissions deletes your data that is already in the possession of third parties.
In fact, when you remove an app from your Facebook permissions in Settings, you’ll see this warning.
The warning contains a link to the privacy policy of the app developer. You can click the X of each app in your Facebook Settings to get a link to the privacy policy of each third-party you’ve given permission to, in order to read their privacy policies.
Yet all of this will not delete the data you’ve already shared with these companies. Removing permissions from these apps should, however, prevent these companies from collecting data on you in the future.
Turn Off Location Services on the Facebook App
If you have the Facebook app on your phone or tablet, and don’t want to be tracked, turn off location services in Settings. That way Facebook won’t know where you are and won’t be able to share that information with third parties.
Poll
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Your Thoughts
Are you concerned about sharing your data on Facebook? Have you downloaded your Facebook data? Were you surprised by what you found?
What do you think should be done to protect Facebook user data?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
*Facebook eye image (edited) courtesy of geralt via Pixabay and Creative Commons
Hey Carol,
Good to be here today and thanks for the step-by-step help.
I thought of downloading my data last weekend but was thinking it could take long due to the size of the folder. How large was yours?
I think I should withdraw the permission I granted some apps. Thanks for the reminder.
Hope you are having a great week
Hi Enstine, I’m so glad you are downloading your data. That will be very useful for you to see where you’ve shared your data. And that’s great you’re reviewing your permissions. Everyone should do just that.
Great question. The download isn’t slow because it’s a zip file.
I hope you are able to secure your Facebook account going forward, Enstine. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Was not aware you could be tracked on your cell phone if you have posted on facebook. Great information
Hi Phil, Yes, Facebook definitely has more information about us than most realized. This news is a major revelation to all of us who use Facebook and makes us wonder what other companies have our data and what they’re doing with it.
Very nice article on social media data. I downloaded my facebook data couple months back and viewed it for marketing purpose and i was really surprised. I never though i had provided that much of my information on the social media. Adding of Paypal and credit card information for marketing my business on facebook has captured some of my very important informative data as well.
Hi Ashley, I’m so glad you downloaded your Facebook data. I agree, it’s quite surprising how much information Facebook keeps on us. The IP addresses and locations are very revealing, showing that Facebook may know where we are even when we’re using our computers.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Ashley.
What’s puzzling to me is that everytime I Google something that I’m interested in buying, it shows up as a Facebook ad. What should I do to avoid this?
Hi Randall, Great question. It sounds as if your searches are being tracked.
If you don’t want to be tracked with your searches, use a browser like Safari and use a search engine that doesn’t track, such as DuckDuckGo. Clear your cookies and browsing history also to avoid tracking.
Useful and informative post shared by you!!!! I wasn’t so much aware about Facebook privacy policy. But after visiting your blog I got the idea of privacy.
Thanks for your post….
Hi Ahmad, I’m glad you found this article helpful. Be sure to download your Facebook data to discover what information you’ve shared and who has that information. I think you may be quite surprised at how much data Facebook has collected.
Nowadays, If you are on the Internet, It’s Very difficult to safeguard our data and privacy from others. Very Useful Post. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Subham, You’re right, the Internet seems to be absorbing more and more of our data and information, chipping away at our privacy daily. I hope, if you are on Facebook, that you do download your data to see what information it has on you and how that information has been shared.