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> you still have the choice to not sign up for a Google account or a Facebook account Unless you're careful to guard against it, you're loading up Facebook and

> you still have the choice to not sign up for a Google account or a Facebook account Unless you're careful to guard against it, you're loading up Facebook and Google's trackers on just about every site you visit. Registering for an account is not a prerequisite for them to build a profile on you.

orthecreedence 9y ago
Can someone open a bank account in my name or take out a loan based on data google/facebook have on my browsing history? I kind of doubt it. I saw this post and immediately thought "propaganda" as well.
- _tulpa 9y ago
  Maybe, just maybe, there's a bit more at stake than just your credit rating.
  - orthecreedence 9y ago
    Maybe I can be concerned about both at the same time. Just because Facebook and Google have damaging information about me doesn't mean Equifax doesn't. Also, I am not a homeowner, so a hit to my credit could be devastating financially. As others have said, google/facebook are opt-in. I have knowingly given them the information they have on me. Equifax is not opt-in. I have never used any of their services.
    - 659087 9y ago
      > As others have said, google/facebook are opt-in. I have knowingly given them the information they have on me. Did you knowingly give them your credit card transaction data, too? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/23/google-now-knows-when-you-are-at-a-cash-register-and-how-much-you-are-spending/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/23... Did you "opt-in" to being tracked across most of the web by Google Analytics?
    - _tulpa 9y ago
      Google and Facebook are not opt in. They have your data if you browse the web and don't know enough to block/avoid their tracking techniques, or with Facebook if you just have Friends who use it. That argument is bullshit and I'm sick of hearing it. Say you never signed up for Facebook but don't block their tracking stuff, or maybe you do block trackers but also have some friends who use facebook and have unwittingly shared a bunch of information about you. Someone can know just enough to fraudulently sign up for a Faceook profile in your name, and Facebook will helpfuly make suggestions and pre-populate bits of the profile with stuff they already know about you. That person knows a lot more about you now. It's also not a stretch to imaging Facebook or Google profiles being used as ID for credit and other financial institutions in the future, there are already many online services which allow this and we already have things like Android Pay. This shit's complicated, I think we're massively underestimating the risk of trusting these companies just because they haven't leaked user data. Making dismissive and oversimplified statements about it doesn't help anyone.
- pjc50 9y ago
  Not yet, but it's the sort of thing I can imagine happening in a couple of years. I think there have already been a couple of attempts at involving FB profiles in credit ratings. And of course you can be refused a job based on your social media profile, or whatever comes up when people Google for your name.
  - magnetic 9y ago
    > And of course you can be refused a job based on your social media profile, or whatever comes up when people Google for your name. I used to spend some time in some car enthusiast forum back in the early 2Ks and after a few years I lost interest, so I stopped visiting. 10 years later, I decided to visit again and noticed that many posts had been made in my name (thankfully, just with my nickname), with horrible things being written "by me". Of course I had no way of knowing that their servers had been hacked years ago, and no recourse. I can only imagine if there was my real name used on a random server somewhere with some dirt written, uncovered by someone googling my name... "If it's on the internet, it must be true" is a scary thought.
gozur88 9y ago
It's not that hard to guard against their trackers. More critical, from my point of view, is the fact that, assuming you have a normal social life, snapshots of you show up on FB. And people identify you in those snapshots. So anybody with access to that data can build a partial timeline of what you do, who your friends are, and where you've been even if you've never created an account. It's big brother implemented through the people around you.

orthecreedence 9y ago

Can someone open a bank account in my name or take out a loan based on data google/facebook have on my browsing history? I kind of doubt it. I saw this post and immediately thought "propaganda" as well.

_tulpa 9y ago
Maybe, just maybe, there's a bit more at stake than just your credit rating.
- orthecreedence 9y ago
  Maybe I can be concerned about both at the same time. Just because Facebook and Google have damaging information about me doesn't mean Equifax doesn't. Also, I am not a homeowner, so a hit to my credit could be devastating financially. As others have said, google/facebook are opt-in. I have knowingly given them the information they have on me. Equifax is not opt-in. I have never used any of their services.
  - 659087 9y ago
    > As others have said, google/facebook are opt-in. I have knowingly given them the information they have on me. Did you knowingly give them your credit card transaction data, too? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/23/google-now-knows-when-you-are-at-a-cash-register-and-how-much-you-are-spending/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/23... Did you "opt-in" to being tracked across most of the web by Google Analytics?
  - _tulpa 9y ago
    Google and Facebook are not opt in. They have your data if you browse the web and don't know enough to block/avoid their tracking techniques, or with Facebook if you just have Friends who use it. That argument is bullshit and I'm sick of hearing it. Say you never signed up for Facebook but don't block their tracking stuff, or maybe you do block trackers but also have some friends who use facebook and have unwittingly shared a bunch of information about you. Someone can know just enough to fraudulently sign up for a Faceook profile in your name, and Facebook will helpfuly make suggestions and pre-populate bits of the profile with stuff they already know about you. That person knows a lot more about you now. It's also not a stretch to imaging Facebook or Google profiles being used as ID for credit and other financial institutions in the future, there are already many online services which allow this and we already have things like Android Pay. This shit's complicated, I think we're massively underestimating the risk of trusting these companies just because they haven't leaked user data. Making dismissive and oversimplified statements about it doesn't help anyone.
pjc50 9y ago
Not yet, but it's the sort of thing I can imagine happening in a couple of years. I think there have already been a couple of attempts at involving FB profiles in credit ratings. And of course you can be refused a job based on your social media profile, or whatever comes up when people Google for your name.
- magnetic 9y ago
  > And of course you can be refused a job based on your social media profile, or whatever comes up when people Google for your name. I used to spend some time in some car enthusiast forum back in the early 2Ks and after a few years I lost interest, so I stopped visiting. 10 years later, I decided to visit again and noticed that many posts had been made in my name (thankfully, just with my nickname), with horrible things being written "by me". Of course I had no way of knowing that their servers had been hacked years ago, and no recourse. I can only imagine if there was my real name used on a random server somewhere with some dirt written, uncovered by someone googling my name... "If it's on the internet, it must be true" is a scary thought.

gozur88 9y ago

It's not that hard to guard against their trackers. More critical, from my point of view, is the fact that, assuming you have a normal social life, snapshots of you show up on FB. And people identify you in those snapshots. So anybody with access to that data can build a partial timeline of what you do, who your friends are, and where you've been even if you've never created an account. It's big brother implemented through the people around you.