Do you have any questions around Facebook’s user data privacy? Ask the experts at Facebook - 3x £100 vouchers to be won

[EllieMumsnet]

We’ve been working with Facebook to find out the key areas users want to know about the social media platform. From our research and activity so far we have found 4 main areas that parents have questions around: ‘Moderating content’, ‘User's data privacy’, ‘Mental health & social media’ and ‘Safe use of the internet/Facebook’. We will be running 4 Q&A’s in order to cover these areas and allow MNers the chance to ask their questions on each topic.

This Q&A is about ‘user’s data privacy’. This covers subjects such as: what personal information is on the platform, targeted advertising, how data is used, deletion policy and 3rd party access.

Here’s what Facebook has to say: "Anybody with a Facebook account can use our Access Your Information tool. This allows you to see all of your own Facebook personal data such as photos, posts, reactions and comments all in one place. You can also go here to delete anything from your timeline or profile that you no longer want on Facebook. This simple tool puts you in control of your own information. We want to rebuild your trust by building better. That means working harder, finding new solutions, and doing more to protect what’s yours"
#AskFacebook

Would you like to know how to permanently delete photos or posts? Perhaps you would like a breakdown of how to ensure your privacy settings are up-to-date? Do you have questions about what data Facebook collects and how it is used? Maybe you’d like to know more about targeted ads and how they work? Or perhaps you have questions about what exactly ‘sign in via Facebook’ means on other sites?

Whatever questions you have around user’s data privacy on Facebook, please post them on the thread below and we will choose approximately 10 for Facebook to answer. Everyone who posts their questions will be entered into a prize draw where 3 MNers will win a £100 voucher of their choice (from a list).

If you would like to ask questions about ‘moderating content’ please click here
If you would like to ask questions about ‘mental health & social media’ please click here
If you would like to ask questions about ‘safe use of the internet/Facebook’ please click here

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

How do I find out what data you have on me and who could access it?

If a friend of mine, who can see the post as it's listed as friends only, comments on a post does it then come up on his/her's friends timelines? I see a lot of things that my friends have commented on, and it will be posted by someone I don't know / I'm not friends with

How can we learn what FB thinks about us? Not the data we provide but the data you generate based on our data. How can we better turn off tracking through external websites that link back to FB?

I enjoy entering a few competitions on Facebook, but occasionally a condition of entry is that you share a comment. I thought this was against Facebook's policy. Can you please clarify?

I cannot stand the hunger if averts on Facebook and how company posts are always listed in the newsfeed before your actual friends. And j don't want only 30 friends if whatever it is on my newsfeed - I want all of my contacts news!
I know you're generating a lot of money through advertising which is targeted etc, but don't you worry that you've come so far away from the original purpose of Facebook and from the heart of communication between people not companies selling?!

*the huge amount of adverts

I’m getting totally fed up of adverts on my feed what other aspects of my net and phone activity are you tracking to target these ads?

What do you use my data for?

If I delete something, is it really gone (assuming noone kept a screenshot)?

I bloody well do. And then some.

I'm not happy that they uploaded photos of my purchase invoices (which were on my phone) without my permission. Or certainly if I gave permission it was buried in some small print.

On top of that, I tried to have them removed, but was sent down an impossible warren of options which of course resulted in the photos remaining where they were. On my Facebook data.

If I delete posts and/or photographs, are they deleted forever or does Facebook hold on to them?

Who exactly is my data being shared with?

If I delete my facebook account does this mean that all my pictures etc are deleted? Can you ensure that all my information can no longer be accessed?

I would love to know who truly owns my photos that are posted on to Facebook. If i share a pic of my family, do you then hold rights on my images? Or do they simply belong to me?

I have deleted my Facebook account for ever as it’s utterly stupid: where has my data gone?

1. The revenue you make per user per year has increased significantly over the last few years ( now approximately $26 per user per year) I think you need to explain exactly how you are generating such income from our details?

1. Cambridge Analytics were able to have ‘clean’ (verified) data on 30 million people in the US and your platform is judged by many to have been responsible for swaying the US election because of such data (targeted messages etc). It strikes me that you are not a social media company anymore but a DATA company and as a user it strikes me that the ‘contract’ you established with your users is seriously compromised - you advertise to us that you want to connect people, when in fact you want our data so you can manipulate our behaviours not just by ‘targeted’ advertising of products but also by ‘targeted’ messages, including political messages that literally change behaviours. I think you need to urgently establish your organisational purpose with your users - what are you? A social media platform to connect people? Or a data company that mines information to manipulate behaviour?

If I delete photos of social media are they permanently deleted?

Are there things that aren't shared with ad generation? For instance if a user looks at (say) abortion support, will they get ads targeting that?

How is information shared between the different Facebook-owned companies and apps? Can users prevent their different app profiles being linked?

Where can I check what data Facebook holds about me? Is it the same for Instagram?

Does Facebook give you ads from your text messages? Say example if I text a friend about buying new car why will it give me ads about that?

I had a miscarriage in February and I am continuously hounded by adverts of baby clothes, breast pumps etc. It is really quite upsetting and I assume it is because I visit mumsnet that I am being targeted from my browser history. Is there anyway to stop adverts being targeted from my searches? I thought I have managed to change it but apparently not.
I am close to cancelling my profile as it's really not helping me move on.

When will Facebook stop using our private messages to use for mining for information for advertising?
I know for a fact they do this as I had a private message discussing a very specific topic and straightaway I was bombarded with 'relevant' adverts.

Why can't I search directly for a month and year in my timeline? Is this something that will be available in the future?

in the earlier days of facebook, you could hide your facebook profile picture from people you weren't connected with - why can't you do that anymore?