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I just downloaded my Facebook data archive. It is incomplete. They are leaving out one of the creepiest aspects: Your search history. Click in the search bar o

I just downloaded my Facebook data archive. It is incomplete. They are leaving out one of the creepiest aspects: Your search history. Click in the search bar on Facebook. On the right is an Edit button. This shows the search history they keep on you -- all the people you've looked up. Says a lot about you. It goes back years, unless you clear it. (And who knows what "clear" really means.) This would be a rather unsettling thing to see in your archive. They totally left it out.

sschueller 9y ago
I believe data about you missing from the export would be a violation of the EU law that requires companies to provide this feature.
- WA 9y ago
  True but how do you prove it and how do you claim an honest full download? Because one thing is clear: the data they have on me in my archive is by far not enough to train the feed in the way it is shown to me. How do I know? Because my download archive doesn’t have that much info on me and there must be more.
  - abalone 9y ago
    I mentioned search history because it's one example where we can prove the archive doesn't export all your information. Because it's visible in the UI if you know where to look. Presumably the same is true for likes on posts/shares, a major feed training signal. (Find the old post, it will still show that you liked it, but post likes are not in your archive.) But yeah, then there's the darknet of data they've gathered on you that isn't visible in any UI.
    - WA 9y ago
      I have to say: I feel pretty helpless that I can’t force them to give me that data although the EU-laws require them to give it to me (as a German). My search history and Likes are clearly data that can be associated with me as a person and thus, fall under former EU data protection laws and for sure under the GDPR.
      - sschueller 9y ago
        Couldn't you take this evidence to the bfdi[1]? [1] https://www.bfdi.bund.de/ https://www.bfdi.bund.de/
- nerfhammer 9y ago
  GPDR (assuming that's what you're talking about) doesn't take effect until next month
  - Khaine 9y ago
    That is not correct. GDP enforcement doesn't start until late May, but the law is already in effect.
WA 9y ago
More missing: - Likes on everything I liked on FB and external - Shares via Share Buttons on external websites - Websites I visited and where I was tracked because of Social Media buttons - Time spent on FB - Status updates I changed or dismissed - Mouse hovering behavior to train the feed - Data like my phone number that wasn’t put there by me but correlated through my friends address books - Metadata through WhatsApp acquisition - ...
- icedchai 9y ago
  Do you really think they're obligated to provide you absolutely everything they know about you? I don't. I would say if they provide everything you've directly provided, they've fulfilled their "obligation." Obligation is in quotes, because I don't actually believe they should even be required to do this.
  - abalone 9y ago
    > I would say if they provide everything you've directly provided, they've fulfilled their "obligation." Post likes, shares and search history are all examples of data you've directly provided that they're omitting from the export. As for your principles, when you ask the FBI for their file on you their obligation is not limited to data you've directly provided.
    - icedchai 9y ago
      According to https://www.facebook.com/help/405183566203254?helpref=faq_content https://www.facebook.com/help/405183566203254?helpref=faq_co... likes, shares, and searches are included. The FBI is subject to FOIA. FB is not, obviously.
      - abalone 9y ago
        No, that actually says it's not included in the Downloaded Info. It's in the Activity Log, which is omitted from the download. This is not obvious and misleading. In fact someone asked whether they could download their activity and Facebook directed them to the Downloaded Info, which omits it.[1] As for FOIA, you're missing the point. Of course FB is not subject to such a law. The whole debate right now is whether it should be. If you request an organization's "file" on you, it should be comprehensive and not selectively omit the creepiest stuff. [1] https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=634556393223841 https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=6345563...

sschueller 9y ago

I believe data about you missing from the export would be a violation of the EU law that requires companies to provide this feature.

WA 9y ago
True but how do you prove it and how do you claim an honest full download? Because one thing is clear: the data they have on me in my archive is by far not enough to train the feed in the way it is shown to me. How do I know? Because my download archive doesn’t have that much info on me and there must be more.
- abalone 9y ago
  I mentioned search history because it's one example where we can prove the archive doesn't export all your information. Because it's visible in the UI if you know where to look. Presumably the same is true for likes on posts/shares, a major feed training signal. (Find the old post, it will still show that you liked it, but post likes are not in your archive.) But yeah, then there's the darknet of data they've gathered on you that isn't visible in any UI.
  - WA 9y ago
    I have to say: I feel pretty helpless that I can’t force them to give me that data although the EU-laws require them to give it to me (as a German). My search history and Likes are clearly data that can be associated with me as a person and thus, fall under former EU data protection laws and for sure under the GDPR.
    - sschueller 9y ago
      Couldn't you take this evidence to the bfdi[1]? [1] https://www.bfdi.bund.de/ https://www.bfdi.bund.de/
nerfhammer 9y ago
GPDR (assuming that's what you're talking about) doesn't take effect until next month
- Khaine 9y ago
  That is not correct. GDP enforcement doesn't start until late May, but the law is already in effect.

WA 9y ago

More missing: - Likes on everything I liked on FB and external - Shares via Share Buttons on external websites - Websites I visited and where I was tracked because of Social Media buttons - Time spent on FB - Status updates I changed or dismissed - Mouse hovering behavior to train the feed - Data like my phone number that wasn’t put there by me but correlated through my friends address books - Metadata through WhatsApp acquisition - ...

icedchai 9y ago
Do you really think they're obligated to provide you absolutely everything they know about you? I don't. I would say if they provide everything you've directly provided, they've fulfilled their "obligation." Obligation is in quotes, because I don't actually believe they should even be required to do this.
- abalone 9y ago
  > I would say if they provide everything you've directly provided, they've fulfilled their "obligation." Post likes, shares and search history are all examples of data you've directly provided that they're omitting from the export. As for your principles, when you ask the FBI for their file on you their obligation is not limited to data you've directly provided.
  - icedchai 9y ago
    According to https://www.facebook.com/help/405183566203254?helpref=faq_content https://www.facebook.com/help/405183566203254?helpref=faq_co... likes, shares, and searches are included. The FBI is subject to FOIA. FB is not, obviously.
    - abalone 9y ago
      No, that actually says it's not included in the Downloaded Info. It's in the Activity Log, which is omitted from the download. This is not obvious and misleading. In fact someone asked whether they could download their activity and Facebook directed them to the Downloaded Info, which omits it.[1] As for FOIA, you're missing the point. Of course FB is not subject to such a law. The whole debate right now is whether it should be. If you request an organization's "file" on you, it should be comprehensive and not selectively omit the creepiest stuff. [1] https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=634556393223841 https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=6345563...