Facebook is constantly collecting a huge amount of information about you. Every action you take, whether it’s a “like” on the social network, your location, or even your navigation and preferences on other sites generates data. Here’s how you can view or download it.
The social network Facebook bases its business, like many other services, on the net, on the exploitation of personal data. This data is used to present you with content that is increasingly adapted to your needs, whether it be suggestions for groups or friends, or, above all, obviously, advertising content.
Users are not necessarily aware of the degree or extent of this collection. But this tutorial should help you get a clearer picture.
How to consult your personal data on Facebook
It’s simple as it looks!
- From the facebook home page click on the arrow at the top right as in the picture bellow.
- Go to Settings and Privacy > Settings
- Click on Your facebook information in the left column.
- Click on View to the right of Accessing your information
You then have access to a page that lists all your data in many categories. Click on each category to view your related personal data.
How to download your personal data
T do this:
- Once again, from the facebook home page click on the arrow at the top right, after your avatar and the other buttons to its right.
- Go to Settings and Privacy > Settings
- Click on Your facebook information in the left column.
- Click on View to the right of Download your information.
You can then select all or part of your personal data. The period field allows you to restrict the data to a specific period of time, if you make a precise search for example.
- Once the data has been selected, click on Create File.
After a delay ranging from a few hours to a few days you will receive an email and a notification announcing the availability of the file for downloading.
What data Facebook collects about you
As you were told, beyond your name, first name, address and any other data you voluntarily transmit to Facebook, the social network’s collection is massive. And this should not be helped by the new terms of use of other Facebook services such as WhatsApp. To give you an idea, here is a list of the categories of personal data Facebook currently collects:
- Publications
- Photos and videos
- Comments
- Mentions I like and reactions
- Friends
- Stories
- Subscribers and subscriptions
- Messages
- Groups
- Events
- Profile Information
- Pages
- Marketplace
- Payment History
- Registered items and collections
- Your locations (location)
- Applications and websites connected to Facebook
- Other activity (pokes and other data)
- Facebook Gaming
- Interactions
- Trash
- Archive
- Short videos
- Accounts added to the Accounts Area
- Awards
- Advertising preferences and companies
- Research History
- About you
- Login and security information
- Your topics
- Voice recordings and transcriptions
