Live data from Hacker News

Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

blogs.wsj.com

71–77 of 77 posts

Re: Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't believe that. (How could you or Facebook prove that?) I deleted my account a few months ago. However I have no way of verifying if all that data is gone for good, overwritten with some new persons data to sell to marketers. But the reason I deleted my Facebook account is because I just don't trust Facebook.

One way to 'prove' that would be if Facebook can support such claims in legal documents or terms and conditions. Well technically it's not really a proof, but I will accept it.

Maybe it's time to institute outside audits on these apps. That would be a useful direction for something like the BBB to move into if they want to get out of the extortion business.

Re: Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

#72
post #15
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any code changes take a non-trivial amount of time. It sounds like the solution is to delete more of the cookies on logout, but there may be other Facebook services that use them and need to be transitioned away.

>Any code changes take a non-trivial amount of time Thats a awfully cautions attitude and smells like a huge cop out for the well known fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants commit to live strategy that facebook has.

Well first you have to create the other company to spin off the tracking to ...

Re: Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook does delete all data associated with an account after it is deleted. An account is deleted after you indicate that you want to delete it (via a form in your account settings), and 2 weeks passes without you trying to reactivate the account (by logging into it). And yes, I do mean the permanent, irreversible kind of deleting. (I work at Facebook.)

I'd like to believe you. I really would, but I'm sorry to say that I can't. About an year ago I deleted my Facebook account permanently. I even got a confirmation email after 14 days telling me I had deleted it. However, three or four months later I was forced to sign up for an account again[1]. After I logged in, Facebook showed me a list of "suggested friends". Note that I had zero friends at this point. Guess what…

Maybe that's because your interactions with this account weren't deleted. Maybe you still were mentioned in walls, or people you chatted with still had the history of messages. That's just a guess, I don't work at facebook, but I think even if they delete everything, they won't delete every piece of data you may left on other people's profiles.

Re: Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

#74
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to believe you. I really would, but I'm sorry to say that I can't. About an year ago I deleted my Facebook account permanently. I even got a confirmation email after 14 days telling me I had deleted it. However, three or four months later I was forced to sign up for an account again[1]. After I logged in, Facebook showed me a list of "suggested friends". Note that I had zero friends at this point. Guess what…

Facebook could have stored your email address as part of your friend's account, eg "an email address this person is friendly with". Your account, posts and friends and all, are gone, but you leave traces of yourself with your friends. These traces could be reconstructed.

Without knowing the exact details of your case, this sounds like the correct explanation. The friends you saw were probably ones who have used Facebook's contact importer, and so their accounts had a record that your email address was a known contact. All of your wall posts, photos, friend lists, and other activity were actually dropped from Facebook's databases.

Re: Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

#75
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you delete your account entirely? Do they delete your data then?

Facebook does delete all data associated with an account after it is deleted. An account is deleted after you indicate that you want to delete it (via a form in your account settings), and 2 weeks passes without you trying to reactivate the account (by logging into it). And yes, I do mean the permanent, irreversible kind of deleting. (I work at Facebook.)

So removing individual status updates, comments or messages does not really delete them from the database, only marks them as removed?

Re: Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

#76
post #30
post #5

The company says the data is sent because of the way the “Like” button system is set up; any cookies that are associated with Facebook.com will automatically get sent when you view a “Like” button. They have a point. This is going to be the same for any site that has static content served elsewhere with cookies attached to the domain. Hot link to an image on my blog you commented on? OFFLINE DATA GATHERING ZOMG.

Hotlink an image? That's now how the Like button works. It's more like linking to an IFRAME with its own javascript . Slight diff.

The JS can't break out of it's frame, so that doesn't really matter. The cookie comes with the request (image, html or JS, it doesn't matter).

Re: Facebook Defends Getting Data From Logged-Out Users

#77
post #76
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hotlink an image? That's now how the Like button works. It's more like linking to an IFRAME with its own javascript . Slight diff.

The JS can't break out of it's frame, so that doesn't really matter. The cookie comes with the request (image, html or JS, it doesn't matter).

Gotcha. Interesting.

Thanks to both of you!

Post reply on HN