How to Better Restrict the Data You Share with Facebook
A simple list to help you find and lock down your information, or find alternatives
In an earlier post, I presented a timeline describing the key players and events in the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, culminating with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifying before Congress. Before we dig into part two, however, I want to reiterate something I mentioned in part one that seemed to resonate with most of you:
We can’t and shouldn’t simply blame Facebook. There are two reasons for this.
First, Facebook isn’t the only company engaged in harvesting our user data and sharing some of it with third parties. Click on any of these links from Twitter, LinkedIn, NextDoor, Google, Reddit, and Pinterest to reveal that all of these companies engage in the very same practice to some extent. Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, WhatsApp, SnapChat, and every other “free” service does it as well. In fact, every tech product or service that we buy is provided by a company that collects and shares at least some parts of our user data, including Apple, Amazon (and AWS), Microsoft, Samsung, Netflix, Hulu, and others. Ditto for the major telcos and ISPs like AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Comcast, Cox, Charter, and HughesNet. Up until now, most consumers haven’t truly…
