Facebook provides access to its privacy and data policies on its Data Policy page. The page describes the differrent types of information collected, the purpose of collecting the information, and how the data is used and shared by the platform. Facebook collects data in order to provide users a more personalized experience and to improve its current features such as ad services, news feed recommendations, and location-related services. Facebook also states they use this information in order to perform research and development on its current products. Information collected by Facebook includes, but is not limited to, personal information (such as name, email, phone number), networks and connections, usage of platform, transaction data, information provided about a user from other people in their network, device information, and search history.
Facebook's user information is shared in a variety of ways. Users are allowed to decide who sees the content they post. User's actions, such as likes and comments, can be seen by a user's network. Any information that a user has as public can be seen by anyone, whether they are on the platform or not. Information that is collected by third-party services, as well as sent to these services, is subject to their own terms and policies that are not provided by Facebook. Users can choose to share who is in their network, including their friends lists, contacts, and other information with third-party services. The data that Facebook provides to these third-party services give insights as to how a user engages with posts, ads, etc. Generally, Facebook provides third-party services with information on the "kinds of people" seeing their ads and how individual ads are performing. Facebook is able to report the success of an ad by tracking which ads a user clicks that leads to them to making purchases. User information is also shared with academics and researchers Facebook collaborates with in order to learn more about the effects of its features on its users.
Facebook uses information collected on its users in order to personalize their features and contents. They are able to make more informed suggestions for groups, events, and topics a user may be interested in, as well as posts and videos users may need to see. The information is also used for measurements, analytics, and other internal business services in order to improve the platform. Information collected by third-party services is used in order to provide personalized ads that target users based on their preferences. In regards to ads, Facebook provides it users a feature to see why certain ads are recommended, allowing them to opt out of seeing specific ads in the future.
Facebook provides users the ability to view their personal information via their profile page. Under Settings and Privacy > Settings, a user is able to view the personal information they have provided to Facebook and the privacy settings they currently have on their profile. Facebook also provides users the ability to download a copy of their Facebook data directly from their site into an HTML or JSON file based on selected information. Below is a step-by-step to download this information, which can also be found here.
1. Log in to your Facebook profile.
2. Click the drop down menu in the top right of the home page.
3. Click on Settings and Privacy and navigate to the Settings tab.
4. On the left-hand side, click the tab labeled Your Facebook Information.
5. On this page, locate the section labeled Download Your Information and click on View to the right of the section.
6. Select the information about your profile that you would like exported.
7. Select the date range of information you would like to export, as well as the file format and media quality of the data.
8. Click Create File. Note: This may take a few minutes to process.
9. Download the generated zip folder of your information.
Facebook provides users the option to deactivate or permanently delete their account. If a user chooses to deactivate their account, information about their account will remain on the platform until the user permanently deletes the account. From the moment an account is deleted, a user has 30 days to retrive the deleted acccount, otherwise the account will be permanently removed from the platform. Facebook may take up to 90 days to remove all of a user’s content from the platform. Copies of a user's information may remain in backup storage after the 90 days. This information can be recovered in the event of a disaster or for legal purposes based on content published on the platform by a user.
Below is a step-by-step guide to permanently deleting an account on Facebook:
1. Log in to your Facebook profile.
2. Click the drop down menu in the top right of the home page.
3. Click on Settings and Privacy and navigate to the Settings tab.
4. On the left-hand side, click the tab labeled Your Facebook Information.
5. On this page, locate the section labeled Deactivation and Deletion.
6. Click on Permanently Delete Account, then click Continue to Account Deletion.
7. Click Delete Account, enter your password, then proceed to click Continue.
Here are a few suggestions Facebook users can use in order to make their accounts more secure.
1. Utilize a unique password for your account. Refrain from reusing this password on other websites.
2. Avoid sharing log-in information.
3. Log out of your account when not utilizing the platform.
4. Avoid adding friends that you do not personally know.
5. Avoid clicking on links that seem suspicious or otherwise malicious.
6. Enable login alerts and two-factor authentication for your account.