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Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

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Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#131

Post by josephg »

legitster wrote: post #129
JohnFen wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they very explicitly don't let you upload any data unnecessary to find matches. Is that supposed to be reassuring in some way? I don't understand how that really makes the practice OK.

I'm not saying it's okay, but I'm also pointing out that the system doesn't work that way. Data brokers would not be comfortable handing over all of the data to FB if they thought FB was just going to steal it, and FB wouldn't trust gobs of unprocessed data from third parties ("You are now a 16 year old girl who likes Taylor Swift because there was a typo in the matched email address"). So in FB's documentation, they…

> Data brokers would not be comfortable handing over all of the data to FB if they thought FB was just going to steal it

... Oh, like the data brokers stole the data from me? sigh I hate adtech.

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#132

Post by legitster »

bonton89 wrote: post #130
msm_ wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Most browser "fingerprinting" methods have a pretty short half-life. The last assessment I read said something like half of the fingerprints were lost within 24 hours. That's absolutely not my experience. Maybe if you use some weird research-level fingerprinting technique, but most fingerprints are just regular old boring stuff - screen and browser viewport size, installed plugins and fonts, browser UA and settings,…

Doesn't the firefox resistfingerprinting setting fuzz most of these things? I see a lot of misconceptions about it on here when people use amiunique. It will say you are unique but if you look for a historical match there aren't any because you are unique, but also different each time you show up.

This gets lost a lot - just because you can prove uniqueness doesn't mean it's persistent or repeatable. Some of the "uniqueness" factors include things like number of audio devices or battery life.

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#133

Post by rightbyte »

nebula8804 wrote: post #114
rightbyte wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Once the grandparents are on the platform it dies. Really? I thought the point of Facebook was to be in touch with friends and relatives. I would rather say that "grandparents" were slow to adapt Facebook amd likewise slow to leave. The decline of Facebook seems to me to be related to the feed pushing crap people don't care about and competition from Instagram, TikTok amd whatever.

Young people don't wanna be on the platform if their parents and grandparents are on it. Once those people got on Facebook the young moved to Instagram -> Snapchat -> Tiktok. Instagram is interesting because it seems to have staying power in the face of Tiktok. Mainly just thirst traps and content stolen and ripped off of tiktok so not sure how long term it really is. >The decline of Facebook seems to me to be relate…

> There is plenty of that on the other platforms you mentioned.

Old Facebook was "social" in a sense that Instagram and TikTok is not even close to. Now they all have some sort of "recommendation" feed.

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#134

Post by dmarti »

hedora wrote: post #34
nuker wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My default for all browsing is to use Private Safari window and never stay logged in for longer than needed. Btw, there is hidden Safari setting in iOS, under Advanced at the bottom, “Privacy Preserved Ad Measurement” that was on, for some weird reason. And check and purge Website Data periodically. Oh, and use iCloud Private Relay. A must.

Thanks for the pointer. That was somehow enabled even though I locked it to private mode, and disabled the iOS level ad tracking bullshit.

(CR study co-author here)

The tricky part, though, is that even with your client-side settings and privacy tools set up 100% right, any company that has your info can still send it to Facebook server-to-server, with "Conversions API."

https://themarkup.org/pixel-hunt/2023/08/02/help-us-investig...

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#135

Post by dmarti »

spcebar wrote: post #113
goenning wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess FB tracking pixels will no longer work when third-party cookies are removed from browsers. That seems like a massive hit for them if I understand it correctly (and a big W for us)

There's a server side implementation FB offers developers to circumvent some privacy restrictions now being enforced by browsers which doesn't have all the features of the clientside version but is their current workaround. It will improve privacy slightly, but some websites are still gathering as much information about you as possible over the course of a session to try and build demographic information and remarket…

Yes, Facebook Conversions API is server-to-server, so it circumvents the privacy settings and tools on mobile platform or browser.

https://www.facebook.com/business/help/2041148702652965?id=8...

Research using a browser extension or web proxy can't see CAPI tracking.

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#136

Post by dmarti »

smolder wrote: post #109
jvanderbot wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox offers tab sandbox/isolation so you don't need to do this. It's becoming standard elsewhere. You'll want to start isolating everything eventually. Gmail, shopping sites, etc.

Last I checked, Firefox no longer offers the Facebook container feature on fresh install. It was a hidden feature I had to go into about:config to set up... :(

You can have the most tricked-out, up-to-date protections on your client, or in a proxy between your client and a web site...and if that site is using server-to-server tracking they can get around it.

https://www.facebook.com/business/help/2041148702652965?id=8...

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#137

Post by chaosmonger7 »

Cheer2171 wrote: post #18
TacticalCoder wrote: post #9

Never had Instagram. Never had WhatsApp. Had an old Facebook account opened under a fake name, using a throwaway email (haven't opened it in six months, maybe more). That company is cancer.

Let me guess: you don't have a kid that goes to a school that only posts crucial news and updates to their Facebook page and you don't have a friend group that uses a WhatsApp group to plan events. Try explaining to the average human that you have a moral objection which means you can't install the same app everyone else has, and that everyone else needs to do a lot of work to accommodate you. One of my friend groups…

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Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#138

Post by chaosmonger7 »

akira2501 wrote: post #24
IronWolve wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, if your kid has an account, and she identified her mom, facebook will think her mom is your wife if at the same address. Those connections start to add up, add in they copied linkedin, your phone address books, email accounts, etc.

To me, the answer is noise. Generate so much false data about yourself that you both overwhelm and devalue this mechanism entirely.

[dead]

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#139

Post by andirk »

barbariangrunge wrote: post #111
andirk wrote: post #37

I downloaded my FB data and as I predicted, nothing I'm bothered with. It is my common behavior that is ad targeted. Can someone please tell me what data people are so bothered with that Facebook uses to target basic ads? That "Facebook whistleblower" said the company is "profits over people". That people were appalled by that that will always be so funny to me.

Care to post your fb download here? Since you don’t mind people knowing about you

My understanding is that 3rd parties get to _target according to this data_, but they do not _get the actual data_. So I can say "I'm going to propose!" a bunch of times and get engagement ring ads (the classic example, bc now the bride-to-be may also start getting engagement ring ads before she's/they's proposed to) but the 3rd parties don't know what I said or who I am, just that there is +1 in the engagement ring bucket.

I also don't use much real PII, with fake name, burner email, but real uni and real birthday. Though I had to tell FB I was a straight male so I'd stop getting their hunk ads.

Anyways, there are ~550 advertisers listed. Here are the top ones. I threw a zinger in there too.

Live Nation Sponsorship x x Ticketmaster x x Drive with Lyft x x Essence x x Airbnb x x Uber x x AEG Presents x x MullenLowe U.S. x x AEG Presents - Media x x Coinbase x x The Joy of Spandex Deritives Incorporated, Inc Live Nation Concerts x x Amtrak x CVS Pharmacy x Iron Store x Microsoft Customer Insights Center x Massage Envy x Huntington National Bank x Evernote x Big Spaceship x Dollar General x

Edit: Holy sh!t!!! I personally made an FB ad to say hi to this girl I was dating back when targeting could be super narrow, and [her name] is one of the ads that targeted me lol! Wow and that was only once for a couple days.

Re: Each Facebook user is monitored by thousands of companies

#140

Post by andirk »

rTX5CMRXIfFG wrote: post #73
andirk wrote: post #37

I downloaded my FB data and as I predicted, nothing I'm bothered with. It is my common behavior that is ad targeted. Can someone please tell me what data people are so bothered with that Facebook uses to target basic ads? That "Facebook whistleblower" said the company is "profits over people". That people were appalled by that that will always be so funny to me.

Some people such as you have no issues with companies employing mind tricks to manipulate people into buying their goods and services, some people do

Wow that makes a lot of sense. When people complain about social media using their data, it often comes off as if they're addicted and a victim of it, like they're really complaining about their own use of the platforms that they have grown to resent. I, too, would resent FB (for me, Instagram) if it had even the slightest bit of control over me.

Pro tip: Like/interact with ads on Instagram that look cool so they'll show up more. I like the watches, cool shoes, cat food ads. I assume I'll buy something eventually once I get targeted with something that's not a cheap Chinese manufactured pile. It's never useful stuff like "Check out this cool shovel".

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