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posted by on Tuesday January 03 2017, @04:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can't-hide-from-the-zuck dept.

At this point, it's well-known that Facebook is as much an advertising company as it is a social network. The company is probably second only to Google in the data it collects on users, but the info we all share on the Facebook site just isn't enough. A report from ProPublica published this week digs into the vast network of third-party data that Facebook can purchase to fill out what it knows about its users. The fact that Facebook is buying data on its users isn't new -- the company first signed a deal with data broker Datalogix in 2012 -- but ProPublica's report nonetheless contains a lot of info on the visibility Facebook may have into your life.

Currently, Facebook works with six data partners in the US: Acxiom, Epsilon, Experian, Oracle Data Cloud, TransUnion and WPP. For the most part, these providers deal in financial info; ProPublica notes that the categories coming from these sources include things like "total liquid investible assets $1-$24,999," "People in households that have an estimated household income of between $100K and $125K and "Individuals that are frequent transactor at lower cost department or dollar stores." Specifically, the report notes that this data is focused on Facebook users' offline behavior, not just what they do online.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/30/facebook-buys-data-on-users-offline-habits-for-better-ads/


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @07:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @07:40PM (#449037)

    I want to know why it is legal for a credit bureau to sell this info. Yes, they are private companies, but they set and determine important aspects of your everyday life. There needs to be a HIPAA-like law to substantially cover credit/financial data transactions and disclosures.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by iamjacksusername on Tuesday January 03 2017, @08:49PM

    by iamjacksusername (1479) on Tuesday January 03 2017, @08:49PM (#449054)

    It's easy... there is no liability for exposing or misusing the data. Therefore, the cost to acquire and keep data on any one individual is close to 0. It becomes a commodity rather than a liability. Personally, I think the only practical answer is to create statutory civil liability where individuals can sue a company for statutory damages should there be any unauthorized disclosure of their personal data.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @10:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @10:22PM (#449101)

      uarejackscommonsense