Alarming new research has discovered that supposedly private user data is being shared between Facebook and thousands of companies through hidden tracking techniques.
In the study, users downloaded a three-year period of data from Facebook, which showed that each individual’s data was shared by an average of 2,230 companies.
Although the individuals who submitted their data for this study were not demographically matched, they belong to a demographic group that is more likely to be privacy-conscious, suggesting that the average Facebook user’s data may have been shared much more widely.
Data is the new oil, and you’re leaking more than you think
The study was conducted by Consumer Reports, an independent nonprofit organization that aims to provide transparency into how consumer data is used, and found that of the 709 volunteers who submitted their data, 186,892 companies shared their data with Facebook.
The data was collected using Facebook’s own transparency tools, which gave the researchers a unique insight into how data is transferred from a company’s servers to Meta’s servers in an incognito form of tracking called ‘server-to-server ‘.
While many companies that often appear in every user’s top 100 list include brands like Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot, there were also more than 7,000 companies listed in the data with illegible names written with random letters and numbers. In addition, a number of companies mentioned in the data had very general names that could refer to several very different companies.
The data collected is split into two identifiable categories, known as ‘events’ and ‘custom audiences’. The first type is data collected from user interactions with a brand or organization, collected by a Meta tracking pixel when a page is visited or a product is purchased. The second form of data is collected to create audiences with similar interests that are targeted by Facebook ads.
In a statement to The markupMeta spokesperson Emil Vazquez said: “We provide a number of transparency tools to help people understand the information companies choose to share with us, and manage how it is used.” However, The Markup points out that there are several hoops you have to jump through to access this data through Facebook’s settings.
The Markup also spoke with Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center on the topic of server-to-server tracking, with Fitzgerald stating: “This type of tracking, which takes place completely out of the user’s view, is just as remote out of sight of the user. what people expect when they use the internet. They don’t expect Meta to know which stores they enter, which news articles they read or which sites they visit online.”
Consumer Reports concluded their investigation with a number of policy recommendations, including implementing data minimization provisions so that companies collect only the bare minimum amount of data necessary to provide a service, and streamlining tools for opt-out requests through an authorized implement an agent that processes opt-out requests. sending requests on behalf of consumers, and providing greater oversight over the types of ads that can be shown to consumers on Facebook to eliminate scams and fraudulent ads.