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I'm not sure I mind FB collecting data on my when using FB directly. OTOH today I read a 10 minute article on an unrelated site about loneliness. When I got to

I'm not sure I mind FB collecting data on my when using FB directly. OTOH today I read a 10 minute article on an unrelated site about loneliness. When I got to the end of the article an in page popup appeared that said something along the lines of "Liked by 9571 people including your friend John Smith". I was extremely creeped out. What right does FB have for knowing that I read some article on an unrelated website? I immediately installed Ublock Origin, blocked facebook.com and messenger.com. My plan is to delete all my cookies and run a separate chrome profile for facebook. Not sure I'll be able to keep the discipline. Yes I know Chrome saves some of the same data but you can optionally encrypt it and Google at least claims they aren't using for ads https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/privacy/ https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/privacy/ On the other hand Google's other services like analytics are probably tracking me but so far they haven't been as creepy.

krrrh 10y ago
On the Mac there is an old app called Fluid that makes this process easier; single website browsers appear as separate applications.
- 72deluxe 10y ago
  Thanks for this, I would never have discovered this useful app without you. Thanks.
yomly 10y ago
I keep Facebook script blocked on my main chrome instance. I therefore can only check Facebook on incognito (where script block is disabled). The added friction of signing in every time to check Facebook has had the added benefit of stopping me visiting Facebook unconsciously. The amount of free time clawed back has been substantial!
olegious 10y ago
Clicking "like" on an article is a action that you take only if you want that like to be seen by your friends. It is an inherently public action, don't see anything wrong here.
- FabHK 10y ago
  GP is not objecting to Facebook telling him that John Smith liked the article, too. He is objecting (I think) to the fact that Facebook knows who he is (as evidenced by knowing who his friends are), and knows that he just read that article (as evidenced by telling him who among his friends liked it). And that is creepy, I think, and one reason I have all the good adblockers and tracking blockers and cookie cleaners that GP mentions installed, too.
  - olegious 10y ago
    If you're logged into FB and there is a relationship between the site and FB, then why is it a surprise that the site is able to id you? And when I say "you" I don't mean "John Smith from sf working for company X" but a number with some generalized demographic data attached. There are strict pii guidelines that adtech has to follow, no one really knows who you are. FB and other adtech giants need to do a much better job educating the consumer about what actually happens to data and how ad targeting works.
    - FabHK 10y ago
      Most people, I submit, don't log out of FB, they just close that browser tab. So, basically, most people are always logged into FB. Next, there is no obvious relationship between the site and FB - it's some random article on some random other site, say the NY Times, on some random, say potentially embarrassing topic. However, there's a FB "like" button, or some other tracker. Now, the site might just get some ID with demographic data (and hobbies and what have you). But FB now knows that you read that article (how could it have told you, otherwise, that John Smith read it?). That might not be a surprise to you, having some knowledge in the industry, but I submit that many if not most people find it both surprising and creepy. Next, your argument seems to be that with some more education people would not find it surprising, and neither creepy, because adtech is so well behaved and under strict guidelines and "no evil" and all. So, at that point we'll just have to disagree.
      - olegious 10y ago
barnassey 10y ago
Actually google just very recently changed their privacy policy to show you ads based on your bookmarks and places you surf the web on. Its started about 3 weeks ago.
newscracker 10y ago
While you're installing extensions like uBlock Origin, I would also recommend Privacy Badger from EFF. [1] [1]: https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger

krrrh 10y ago

On the Mac there is an old app called Fluid that makes this process easier; single website browsers appear as separate applications.

72deluxe 10y ago
Thanks for this, I would never have discovered this useful app without you. Thanks.

yomly 10y ago

I keep Facebook script blocked on my main chrome instance. I therefore can only check Facebook on incognito (where script block is disabled). The added friction of signing in every time to check Facebook has had the added benefit of stopping me visiting Facebook unconsciously. The amount of free time clawed back has been substantial!

olegious 10y ago

Clicking "like" on an article is a action that you take only if you want that like to be seen by your friends. It is an inherently public action, don't see anything wrong here.

FabHK 10y ago
GP is not objecting to Facebook telling him that John Smith liked the article, too. He is objecting (I think) to the fact that Facebook knows who he is (as evidenced by knowing who his friends are), and knows that he just read that article (as evidenced by telling him who among his friends liked it). And that is creepy, I think, and one reason I have all the good adblockers and tracking blockers and cookie cleaners that GP mentions installed, too.
- olegious 10y ago
  If you're logged into FB and there is a relationship between the site and FB, then why is it a surprise that the site is able to id you? And when I say "you" I don't mean "John Smith from sf working for company X" but a number with some generalized demographic data attached. There are strict pii guidelines that adtech has to follow, no one really knows who you are. FB and other adtech giants need to do a much better job educating the consumer about what actually happens to data and how ad targeting works.
  - FabHK 10y ago
    Most people, I submit, don't log out of FB, they just close that browser tab. So, basically, most people are always logged into FB. Next, there is no obvious relationship between the site and FB - it's some random article on some random other site, say the NY Times, on some random, say potentially embarrassing topic. However, there's a FB "like" button, or some other tracker. Now, the site might just get some ID with demographic data (and hobbies and what have you). But FB now knows that you read that article (how could it have told you, otherwise, that John Smith read it?). That might not be a surprise to you, having some knowledge in the industry, but I submit that many if not most people find it both surprising and creepy. Next, your argument seems to be that with some more education people would not find it surprising, and neither creepy, because adtech is so well behaved and under strict guidelines and "no evil" and all. So, at that point we'll just have to disagree.
    - olegious 10y ago

barnassey 10y ago

Actually google just very recently changed their privacy policy to show you ads based on your bookmarks and places you surf the web on. Its started about 3 weeks ago.

newscracker 10y ago

While you're installing extensions like uBlock Origin, I would also recommend Privacy Badger from EFF. [1] [1]: https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger