Bebo.
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It’s like ‘Why are you adding me? Yes, we have ten mutual friends, but there’s probably a reason we’re not contacts.’
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Path is way to go
Have sum “Luv”
On a serious note, my problem with Facebook isn’t privacy. It’s spending an hour mindlessly scrolling through a load of crap when I could be playing with my kids
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The answer is the ‘acquaintances’ list. Built for exactly this purpose. https://www.facebook.com/help/209850012449913?helpref=uf_permalink
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Nah. It’s magic pixels, used to track you 
Yep, me too.
This was created some years ago and has more relevance now than it did then, probably. Incredible how satire becomes interchangeable with fact.
At no point in this have Facebook been accused of selling your data… they certainly profit from your data though, much as Google do by allowing ads to be targeted
Hmm, can somebody confirm something for me?
The most recent article I read, was about deleting your account instead of deactivating it. Apparently if you do this, Facebook sends you a zip file of all the data they hold.
Somebody said this included all timelogs for phonecalls, and logs of every SMS sent and received.
My question is this - did they use messenger for their phonecalls and SMS? If so. Yes, of course they have a log. If not… This is a bit weird no? :S
You can download a zipped copy by going to settings > General > Download a copy of your Facebook data. Once you click the link they will start generating the download and will send an email with a link once completed.
Regarding the content. If you are an Android user then yes you may find they have logged contacts, calls and text messages sent (and yes this is texts and calls from the phone and not messenger). This is due to Facebook completely overreaching their boundaries. For iOS users, only contacts are available from the aforementioned items. This is due to a more restrictive API on iOS devices.
A read through https://twitter.com/dylanmckaynz/status/976368845635035138 will help shed some light.
Personally, upon download, I found after 10 years of usage my archive was only about 30 meg but I am a light user on Facebook (and an iOS user so missing a lot of content). Some people are finding the archive is hundreds of megs.
Regarding deleting my account, it is something I would like to do but unfortunately, it is the only method of contact I have with a few people. I do intend to do it eventually, just not yet.
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I will reply to this when I’m less drunk
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I’ve never had an issue with pressing that decline button. I’ve even bumped into these people in the street and nobody’s bought it up because they would seem petty
I downloaded my data and was slightly shocked with everything I saw. But that’s only because you see the data in-front of you and you realise oh id forgotten about that person or that person or how do facebook have these messages.
However I think deep down for years we’ve known that with facebook the product for them isn’t the platform they offer it’s the data they obtain from users and they’ve done a very good job with it over the years at getting as much data from us as they can. As have google.
So am I shocked the amount of data they have on me? Yes at first but not really after that. Is it going to make me close my account? No, I use facebook to keep in touch with friends and family that I otherwise wouldn’t be in regular contact with.
If people boycott facebook and stop using it the only thing that will happen is someone else will take it’s place in harvesting data from the masses.
It does make you think a bit when it’s all laid out in front of you doesn’t it?
If you want a real shock, try Google’s tool.
I’m slightly scared…
Thanks for that link, I was wondering if there was a Google alternative after I got my Facebook archive (surprisingly small, despite being an Android phone user) but hadn’t gone looking.
I noticed that the full Google takeout list included a few things like Gmail and Drive, which I deselected, but that still left me with 26 ‘products’. I dread to think how many Gb it’ll end up being…
I’m not a big Google user as I’ve been on iPhone for ages and never had an Android device.
So, for me, there’s gmail, location services, searches, etc. They sent me three 2GB downloads.
Interesting update on Apple’s use of personally identifiable information
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It’s really good timing for Apple. They’ve been able to implement GDPR at the same time as the Facebook news.
I think they’ve also made a good decision to basically implement GDPR worldwide instead of just in the EU
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I dumped fb last year but am well aware that they (probably) retain all my data.
What is inexcusable is that fb can obtain information from and about friends without seeking explicit permission.
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I’ve not deleted my Facebook account yet because I actually have just my name (without any numbers etc) as my Facebook url and would want to keep it if I ever returned.
I did use, however, the Chrome extension mentioned in the How To Geek article below to remove much of what I have on Facebook. Once I create a shell Facebook account I can store my URL on, I will delete my old one.
I will say though, after downloading my Facebook data, I found an old friends mobile number I had lost…