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Blindfolding the book of faces
Apr. 3rd, 2018 06:18 amAs you may well already know, I'm on Facebook (FB). While I'm not a very active poster there, I do use it to keep in touch with friends and family who live in far-flung places, and who are on a different sleep schedule than mine, which makes direct physical contact and phone calls a bit cumbersome. It's far from a perfect venue, but it does help bridge the gap.
You may also already know that FB is notorious for its data tracking. It seems to know about every site you visit, every online purchase, and if you have it installed on a phone, it can see all your activity there, including who you called or messaged, your list of phone contacts, your location, and so on. For a while, rumors were swirling that FB was constantly listening to the microphone, looking for something to send ads about. While those rumors haven't been proven (Snopes says "false"), the general consensus is "don't put it past them". The more you use FB, the more it uses you. That is, if someone just lets everything go as default.
I do not use default settings or methods. I do things a little differently. I jumped through a couple extra hoops that FB can't follow me through, at least not easily. This is above and beyond what can be changed in the settings on FB proper, and everyone should be looking closely at that anyway.
First of all, I have multiple web browsers installed on my computers. I use FB on only one browser, that browser is used only for FB. Then, I use FB on only two of my computers (and the phone). General web surfing, searches, and online purchases are done on a different browser, or often even a different computer altogether. That means FB has a much more limited idea of what other sites I'm looking at or what I'm buying.
In my case, I'm using Opera, and I have an extension installed called "FBPurity". One of its features is that if you do click on a link posted by someone, it strips out all of FB's tracking overburden and presents the original URL ("clean" version) to the browser, so FB doesn't know you clicked through from someone's post. FBP also helps make using FB a lot more tolerable because it can be tuned to filter out the CrapVille games, clickbait garbage, dangerously misleading copy-paste sewage, and so on from the feed.
On the phone, I do the same thing. I don't use the official app; in fact I uninstalled it completely. Instead, I use the mobile version of Opera, and with the same protocol as with the laptops. (Sadly, I don't know of a FBP for the mobile version, so when I look at FB on my phone, I have to scroll past the garbage posts.) And as with the laptops, other general usage is done on other browsers. Opera can also be told to quit, unlike the FB app which was constantly running, so there's less resources being used (and thus less battery power used). Opera also takes up much less space than the FB app. On a phone, it's much easier to run out of space, so a few hundred megabytes can make a big difference. Another benefit to this: It denies FB access to the microphone and camera when it doesn't really need it, which is almost all the time.
The FB app is larger because it contains the framework and function of the entire site. Where a standard browser has to load everything on a page each time, the FB app already has it and just has to load a few bytes of user-specific data to refresh what it already has. Efficient with bandwidth, sloppy with phone resources. I don't hit mobile data caps as it is, so I don't have anything to gain by using the app.
Another thing I do is I'll turn off Location on the phone until I need it, so when I do bring up FB, it has a much more vague idea of where I am. That also takes the edge off the battery usage.
It also helps to be choosy about who I associate with on there. I avoid accepting friend requests from people I don't already know. There may have been one or two people who slipped through the cracks, but generally, if I get a request, and I don't know them from somewhere, it's not happening. Remember, whatever we post, can be seen by anyone we have listed as friends, unless we have group filters turned on, and most people don't. Some people are ok with letting complete strangers see their online behavior (hell, some people live for it), and some people would just rather not. I am clearly in the latter group.
A rule of mine is to not add current coworkers as friends on social networks. For a while I was getting suggestions to add coworkers as friends, but I think that's because those coworkers are using the FB app, which does have access to the contacts, and FB is all "we found your number in this person's contacts, therefore you may know them". Well I do know them, but they don't need to know what I'm doing outside of work. There are exceptions to this. I will add former coworkers who I'm still on good terms with. If a coworker does send a request, I may accept it if conditions are right, but I won't initiate the request. And while it hasn't happened yet, should someone I'm already friends with outside work joins the company, I'll let the connection stay intact.
When it comes to "liking" posts, I'm a bit choosy about that. When it comes to liking whole other pages, I'm extremely choosy about that. When it comes to liking pages outside of the FB site, nope. Given that I don't use FB on the same browser I use for other stuff, pressing "like" on non-FB sites wouldn't work anyway.
Ultimately, there's one golden rule: If there's something you don't want shared, don't post it online. Some things might find their way online anyway but you don't have to help it along.
And how well has this worked so far? Well, when it was recently revealed just how much tracking FB did (everyone knew it was a lot), and everyone was doing the "download your FB data" thing, I did so, and my file was rather slim. I didn't expect it to be absolutely nothing; I would have been suspicious of that. But there was a lot less there than there could have been.
How many other sites did I visit from clicking through a link someone posted? According to FB, about a dozen, and they were all on the phone (no FBP to purify the links). Did I buy anything? Nope. The ad topics shows a strong preference for Lego, anime, and cars, and almost nothing else. As planned. The only advertiser with access to my contact information is the hotel chain Marriott. I'm ok with that, as I do use their services from time to time. Also according to FB, I don't have any contacts in my phone and I don't make any calls or texts with it, and I usually leave it at home. And that's what I want them to think.
Does my method require vigilance and extra work? Yes. Could I go even further? Of course. Will it work forever? Probably not. It's an endless game of cat-and-mouse. As the battle rages, new tools and tricks will be developed by the pro-privacy side. For example, Firefox recently announced an extension called Facebook Container. I'm not sure how exactly that functions, but I'm sticking with what I'm doing now.
As for doing the same with Google, that's a whole other beast.
You may also already know that FB is notorious for its data tracking. It seems to know about every site you visit, every online purchase, and if you have it installed on a phone, it can see all your activity there, including who you called or messaged, your list of phone contacts, your location, and so on. For a while, rumors were swirling that FB was constantly listening to the microphone, looking for something to send ads about. While those rumors haven't been proven (Snopes says "false"), the general consensus is "don't put it past them". The more you use FB, the more it uses you. That is, if someone just lets everything go as default.
I do not use default settings or methods. I do things a little differently. I jumped through a couple extra hoops that FB can't follow me through, at least not easily. This is above and beyond what can be changed in the settings on FB proper, and everyone should be looking closely at that anyway.
First of all, I have multiple web browsers installed on my computers. I use FB on only one browser, that browser is used only for FB. Then, I use FB on only two of my computers (and the phone). General web surfing, searches, and online purchases are done on a different browser, or often even a different computer altogether. That means FB has a much more limited idea of what other sites I'm looking at or what I'm buying.
In my case, I'm using Opera, and I have an extension installed called "FBPurity". One of its features is that if you do click on a link posted by someone, it strips out all of FB's tracking overburden and presents the original URL ("clean" version) to the browser, so FB doesn't know you clicked through from someone's post. FBP also helps make using FB a lot more tolerable because it can be tuned to filter out the CrapVille games, clickbait garbage, dangerously misleading copy-paste sewage, and so on from the feed.
On the phone, I do the same thing. I don't use the official app; in fact I uninstalled it completely. Instead, I use the mobile version of Opera, and with the same protocol as with the laptops. (Sadly, I don't know of a FBP for the mobile version, so when I look at FB on my phone, I have to scroll past the garbage posts.) And as with the laptops, other general usage is done on other browsers. Opera can also be told to quit, unlike the FB app which was constantly running, so there's less resources being used (and thus less battery power used). Opera also takes up much less space than the FB app. On a phone, it's much easier to run out of space, so a few hundred megabytes can make a big difference. Another benefit to this: It denies FB access to the microphone and camera when it doesn't really need it, which is almost all the time.
The FB app is larger because it contains the framework and function of the entire site. Where a standard browser has to load everything on a page each time, the FB app already has it and just has to load a few bytes of user-specific data to refresh what it already has. Efficient with bandwidth, sloppy with phone resources. I don't hit mobile data caps as it is, so I don't have anything to gain by using the app.
Another thing I do is I'll turn off Location on the phone until I need it, so when I do bring up FB, it has a much more vague idea of where I am. That also takes the edge off the battery usage.
It also helps to be choosy about who I associate with on there. I avoid accepting friend requests from people I don't already know. There may have been one or two people who slipped through the cracks, but generally, if I get a request, and I don't know them from somewhere, it's not happening. Remember, whatever we post, can be seen by anyone we have listed as friends, unless we have group filters turned on, and most people don't. Some people are ok with letting complete strangers see their online behavior (hell, some people live for it), and some people would just rather not. I am clearly in the latter group.
A rule of mine is to not add current coworkers as friends on social networks. For a while I was getting suggestions to add coworkers as friends, but I think that's because those coworkers are using the FB app, which does have access to the contacts, and FB is all "we found your number in this person's contacts, therefore you may know them". Well I do know them, but they don't need to know what I'm doing outside of work. There are exceptions to this. I will add former coworkers who I'm still on good terms with. If a coworker does send a request, I may accept it if conditions are right, but I won't initiate the request. And while it hasn't happened yet, should someone I'm already friends with outside work joins the company, I'll let the connection stay intact.
When it comes to "liking" posts, I'm a bit choosy about that. When it comes to liking whole other pages, I'm extremely choosy about that. When it comes to liking pages outside of the FB site, nope. Given that I don't use FB on the same browser I use for other stuff, pressing "like" on non-FB sites wouldn't work anyway.
Ultimately, there's one golden rule: If there's something you don't want shared, don't post it online. Some things might find their way online anyway but you don't have to help it along.
And how well has this worked so far? Well, when it was recently revealed just how much tracking FB did (everyone knew it was a lot), and everyone was doing the "download your FB data" thing, I did so, and my file was rather slim. I didn't expect it to be absolutely nothing; I would have been suspicious of that. But there was a lot less there than there could have been.
How many other sites did I visit from clicking through a link someone posted? According to FB, about a dozen, and they were all on the phone (no FBP to purify the links). Did I buy anything? Nope. The ad topics shows a strong preference for Lego, anime, and cars, and almost nothing else. As planned. The only advertiser with access to my contact information is the hotel chain Marriott. I'm ok with that, as I do use their services from time to time. Also according to FB, I don't have any contacts in my phone and I don't make any calls or texts with it, and I usually leave it at home. And that's what I want them to think.
Does my method require vigilance and extra work? Yes. Could I go even further? Of course. Will it work forever? Probably not. It's an endless game of cat-and-mouse. As the battle rages, new tools and tricks will be developed by the pro-privacy side. For example, Firefox recently announced an extension called Facebook Container. I'm not sure how exactly that functions, but I'm sticking with what I'm doing now.
As for doing the same with Google, that's a whole other beast.
