10 types of personal information we provide to social media companies

Many internet users in 2020 are smarter than ever about what they have and haven’t shared on social media, but modern life almost requires dealing with this media in one way or another.

How do users communicate their personal data to these websites? How can it be used against them? Read also Among them there is a poor knowledge of security and easy to guess passwords … reasons that made Egyptians a target for hackers 8 apps that Android phone users should remove and which can take into account charge your bank accounts This site tells you if Google is following you using its new advertising tool After the recent Facebook hack … in two steps, how do you know you are a hacker and protect yourself?

To find the answer, Stacker compiled a list of 10 types of information that users voluntarily give to social media companies.

What this information shows is that everything is done online, from what is clicked to how long the page was visited, and this is valuable information for the people selling this data.

Protecting privacy online is an ongoing challenge as marketers are constantly changing their methods and goals and trying to avoid the obvious things consumers realize when they visit sites.

There are some of the more popular methods by which social media companies collect user data and sell it to the highest bidder. The only way to completely unblock tracking in this system is to stop using almost anything that relies on the internet, which some people can do.

But for the rest of us, just knowing how our data is bought and sold can show us ways to keep that data for us as much as possible.

Personal data

Generally speaking, any free website sells your information as a product for it. This includes personal data such as names, birthdays, locations, addresses and IP identifiers, as well as more abstract information such as hobbies and interests. Publicity

Information that interests you

The way you use free social media sites gives their creators a lot of data about which products work and which don’t, and they can sell that data as “advisors” for those products and other sites. .

This also includes writing an ad that makes you interact with a post on a social media page.

Behavioral data

Behavioral data is related to engagement and includes how you actually interacted with social media sites, and it tracks everything from how you move your mouse pointer over which page to which of the two. versions of a new website design you spend the most time visiting. It helps site builders develop new features that they think you will use the most.

Information that keeps you going

Behavioral and interactive data helps social media last longer, and it’s the best way to make sure you see more ads. This is why, for example, websites have turned to controversial and even dishonest content. It can attract more attention and create more conflict.

Geolocation information is also important

When using social networking sites, sharing your location is important to those sites, and turning off location sharing on your part will not prevent them from using other means of knowing your location, particularly if you use public Wi-Fi networks.

Information on how you interact with the services

Businesses want to know and buy data about your interactions with customer service, for example, or user support on social media. By tracking how you use these and other services, sites can help businesses prepare for marketing that will be better targeted.

Allow social networks to use your photos

In order for social media to work, you need certain rights to your photos as they are aggregated, and any use agreements you mindlessly accept include the necessary consent for those social media companies to use your photos. and your content.

Too much detail about your personal life

Many social media users volunteer to provide social media platforms with a large amount of personal data that is not a good idea to share.

Information that appears due to your ignorance of your device settings

One of the easiest ways for people to unintentionally disclose their information is to not take a close look at their settings. Leaving your information “public” can be opened by anyone browsing through these details for use in completely different types of use.

Information to create your own file

Giving websites a complete, personal view of your online life, interactions, and behaviors means your profile can be assembled and sold easily as part of a marketing package. At least one way to avoid this scenario is to turn off Google ad personalization.