🔖 Bookmarked: Facebook Showed Me My Data Is Everywhere And I Have Absolutely No Control Over It
“A transparency tool on Facebook inadvertently provides a window into the confusing maze of companies you’ve never heard of who appear to have your data.”
I came across this Advertisers page by chance, a few weeks ago, and I was horrifed. Over 700 advertisers with my details, the vast, vast, majority of whom I had never heard of – let alone consent to them having my details. Why would I consent to what feels like every independant Realtor (“Estate Agent” for us Brits) in the US having my details? “Best Kickstarter <category>” was another popular set. And these are just the ones on Facebook.
As the article points out, there’s no way to know how these advertisers got my details, or what to do to get them to remove my data. All I can do is “hide” their ads. That’s not a solution.
If Facebook wanted to earn some good will then they would update this page to include some sort of automated “remove my details” request to the data brokers, perhaps via GDPR notices.
