to be horrified that people may know I've viewed their Facebook page?

[icouldjusteatacroissant]

Facebook deny it, but there's massive talk on the net that if you look at someone's page, you pop up on their suggested list or people you may know list. Maybe not straight away, but you do appear at some point

Am I the only one who looks at their ex's or whoevers pages, photos, etc?

I am horrified they may know I've been snooping

The hysteria on MN over something that is obviously not true is making me question the alleged average intelligence of it's users

Your grammar is making me question yours

My cleaner has come up as a suggested friend. I've never searched for her. I have her phone number but not her email address and in any case I don't share my contacts with Facebook. We have no friends in common. Rather odd that in the millions of people that live in London, she's been suggested to me.
So on the basis of this thread I would deduce that either the FB application has accessed my contacts on my phone without permission or she has looked for me?

It's utter bollocks.

Keep a check that your FB account privacy settings are as tight as they can be, and post nothing that you mind others reading anyway.

To be honest, in cases where it really matters not to be identifiable, it may be better to have no FB account at all, or to have one under an assumed name with a profile picture that does not identify you at all. I know of at least one of those.

In other instances, it does amaze me how lax some people are about their privacy settings. Often you can read every word without having to be a "friend" of them.

I got a friend request from someone a few weeks after I had looked at their page. We had no friends in common and they told me I appeared on their suggested friends options.
Someone told me you can join a 'see who looks at your page' thing too. Dunno how true that is.

Wondering if something is true is not an indicator of level of intelligence NotTodaySatan

It's the phone numbers and e mail addresses, nothing more sinister than that.

It is categorically NOT true. People you may know is based on some very sophisticated algorithms and data mining/scraping. There is no mechanism for it to suggest people you looked for or who looked for you.

There would be no financial incentive for FB to use such a mechanism, if anything it would cost them users. Which is how you know it isn't true, because FB's only purpose is to make money.

Paranoia is rampant though.

I have a deactivated FB account, I've logged on a couple of times in the last 18mths. Most of my friends suggestions were linked via friends of friends etc. However, one lady popped up on my suggested list that I had no connection with.

After I deactivated my FB account I joined a parental support group. This group arranges meetups, coffee mornings and events. This is communicated via newsletter not FB.
I attended a coffee morning at this lady's house that was arranged via the groups administrator. I had no contact details other than her address. I did not search her name or address yet she turned up on my list of friend recommendations plus my account had been deactivated. When I checked her friends list we had no mutual friends. Having deactivated the account I'm not friends with anyone via the support group.

I'm sure someone will come along with an explanation as to why that happened. I just assumed that the lady had done a search as I was going to her house, there really wasn't an online link between us.

It's not true. Facebook searches through all the numbers saved on your phone to suggest people.

If you haven't got any friends in common they get contacts from your phone/email. My cousin's teenage sons are always showing up as friend suggestions, they text me at Christmas/birthdays to thank me for their money. No other contact with them and I'm definitely sure they wouldn't be interested in looking at my boring profile page!
I also get my next door neighbours show up a lot, again no mutual friends, so I think either FB has my address stored and suggested it because of that or via my mobile tracking my location.

After I deactivated my FB account I joined a parental support group. This group arranges meetups, coffee mornings and events. This is communicated via newsletter not FB.

Email newsletter?

I do find it amazing how, given we have no mutual friends and I have no personal information on FB, it manages to come up with people I actually do know in the "people you might know" section.

It is categorically NOT true. People you may know is based on some very sophisticated algorithms and data mining/scraping. There is no mechanism for it to suggest people you looked for or who looked for you

Can you explain HOW you know this? Or is it an opinion?
Are you employed by Facebook or an expert in what is and is not possible on these sites?

It's not an opinion, and yes, sort of.

As already said lots of times, this isn't true. People you know suggestions are based on emails and phone numbers.

If you email accounts are all linked I'm not sure what happens.

I've had a couple of instances where people I used to know have been suggested to me and i cannot work out why. Since knowing them, I have moved country (so not been in the same location), got married and changed my name (they probably could have guessed my married name), got a new phone number and never had their email address or they mine. No shared groups on Facebook that i can tell, no friends in common.

Facebook can access location services on your phone (unless you tell it not to, but you need to allow it for check-ins). So if you are in the same place as someone else, it will suggest that you know them. Which is why it is suggesting people whose house you have been to. It knows where you are and where they are and so puts you together.

THIS EXPLANATION is good no easy enough for me to understand. Its nothing sinister.

Another thing to remember is: you might notice the odd "ooh spooky how could they know I know them" suggestion, you fail to notice the hundred plus other suggestions that you haven't a scooby who they are. Go and open the "People you may know" page to show all, it will be a long list of peoplw who you have mutual friends with, people who live in the same area, and total randoms, almost all of whom you don't know.

It's like when people see "psychics", they hang on to one thing they got right and forget all the other guff that took up half an hour.

If FB can access your phone number and emails, I supose this is true only if you connect to it on yoiur mobile?

I've heard that FB could do that via the app but not via the website. Is that true?

People you know suggestions are based on emails and phone numbers.

I don't have a phone number linked, my email is one I don't give out to people and I did not allow FB to access my contacts on my phone.

God, I hope this isn't the case.

I have a new work crush and have been on his FB page several times looking for nice pics, evidence of a girlfriend etc. I'd have to kill myself if I knew he knew.

really? I was wondering why my plumber keeps appearing there in prime position despite no friends in common!

It's not an opinion, and yes, sort of

Oh,...sort of? Well who could doubt your expertise then? That should be all any of us need to put it to bed.
Are you a politician by any chance?