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Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

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21–30 of 131 posts

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#21
post #19
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably know your neighbors because you both have the same SSIDs in your vicinity.. I don't see FB not knowing this. Or if you allowed GPS, and neighbors did too, then it's even easier to make the connection.

My co-workers from the office are frequently recommended to me on FB. Since I don't have their number, it must be location based.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#22

I haven't used my Facebook account in years, ever since they recommended I connected with a person I'd known for 20+ years but with whom I shared no connections or commonalities apart from our nationality. As I remember it, neither of us had listed schools, jobs or interests in our profiles. Maybe it was a coincidence but it made me very anxious so I left the platform.

Maybe it was a coincidence but it made me very anxious so I left the platform.

What were you anxious about happening as a result?

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#23
post #11

And this is why under German law the BDSG §34 exists, which allows every citizen to request, once every 12 months, for free, from every company a list of all data the company has on the citizen, how they got it, whom they gave it to, and all statistical models that were derived from the data, or that had an influence on the data. It’d be interesting to make a BDSG §34 request about "People you may know", just to see…

How does Facebook report inferred connections or connections deduced by looking at a larger graph? Their obligation to tell you what they know about you shouldn't infringe on my privacy.

But it does impact your privacy, that's the whole point.

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#24

I haven't used my Facebook account in years, ever since they recommended I connected with a person I'd known for 20+ years but with whom I shared no connections or commonalities apart from our nationality. As I remember it, neither of us had listed schools, jobs or interests in our profiles. Maybe it was a coincidence but it made me very anxious so I left the platform.

It's possible that one of you connected Facebook to a service along the way that provided access to contact information like email or phone number and they used that to make the connection.

Could be, but by and large I've always been a late adopter of social media so apart from a hotmail / messenger account, I think FB was the only common service.

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#25

I haven't used my Facebook account in years, ever since they recommended I connected with a person I'd known for 20+ years but with whom I shared no connections or commonalities apart from our nationality. As I remember it, neither of us had listed schools, jobs or interests in our profiles. Maybe it was a coincidence but it made me very anxious so I left the platform.

If someone looks at your facebook account they will suggest that person as a connection. Frequently as simple as that.

Of course, in the background they likely knew you were more connected through mutual friends, contacts, etc

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#27
post #12

I've just assumed this is through whatsapp. I've logged into whatsapp with my phone number, fb know my phone number (2fa codes), and they've slurped my address book from my phone and then show me connections on fb that are a few degrees of separation. This is the only way I can think that neighbours I barely know show up on the "people you may know" feature -- we're connected through neighbours I know far better.

You are 100% correct about this. People have appeared on "People you may know" when I have absolutely zero connection to them other than I have chatted to the on What's App... I'm afraid I may have to stop using the service soon... was great until FB bought it.

I agree - it is amazing how even a small mention of a product in a whatsapp conversation with my friends turns into a barrage of related ads on Facebook. We have even started teasing each other by mention funny products just to indundate each other with irrelevant ads. So sad - my assumption is: anything you say or do in an electronic device is NOT private.

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#28
I would imagine Facebook keeps placeholders for people you know that are not on Facebook. His father had made a contact with one of the relatives not on FB but with the other name. Perhaps the great aunt had him in her contacts as well. A name and/or phone number can represent a person in the graph without being a FB user. Why they made a suggestion so many degrees away is a little curious, but I think they mix those in with the more obvious ones just to check.

TL;DR: I think their graph includes non-FB-using people.

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#29
post #11

And this is why under German law the BDSG §34 exists, which allows every citizen to request, once every 12 months, for free, from every company a list of all data the company has on the citizen, how they got it, whom they gave it to, and all statistical models that were derived from the data, or that had an influence on the data. It’d be interesting to make a BDSG §34 request about "People you may know", just to see…

If a German HN reader would be so kind as to make that request and report back on what they get, I can absolutely positively guarantee that they will be the happy recipient of One Internet Point from me when they submit the story to HN.

Re: Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, and It Won't Tell Me How

#30
post #11

And this is why under German law the BDSG §34 exists, which allows every citizen to request, once every 12 months, for free, from every company a list of all data the company has on the citizen, how they got it, whom they gave it to, and all statistical models that were derived from the data, or that had an influence on the data. It’d be interesting to make a BDSG §34 request about "People you may know", just to see…

Do you know anyone who has requested all this information, seen how it was provided and was able to make sense of it, especially from a platform like Facebook? What format is the information provided as? HTML files with graphs? XML files (gasp)?
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