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I think you will agree with me that Facebook is the juggernaut of social media platforms. But will you agree if I say Facebook is also the new king of cyber surveillance?

Wait… what!?!? How that so…

Allow me to explain.

Facebook is notorious for collecting personal data of users without their consent and recent events prove that.

The scandal involving Cambridge Analytica and Presidential elections along with the Research Project app installed by Facebook has left privacy of many users in disarray.

But fear not, as in this post, I am going to explain each contentious facts related to Facebook.

After reading this post, you will be in a better position to take certain measures to protect your digital privacy while using Facebook.

Let’s begin..

Facebook is not secure as you think

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You may consider your Facebook profile as your own entity but your identity belongs to Facebook. The famous social media site has obtained so much information about your lifestyle without taking your consent.

You can contemplate such information in shape of your email addresses, food preferences, friend circles, favorite TV shows or movies and so on – all through the activities you perform online.

There is no denying that knowledge is power and that knowledge is attained through the information you provide Facebook without knowing.

However, your information can fall into the hands of wrong people. As a result, they can use your personal information for all the erroneous reasons.

I might be right if I say the only safe Facebook account is the one you remove.

Facebook has retained student’s data

Summit Public Schools, a leading schooling network has joined hands with Facebook for a project called “Personalized Learning”.

However, the said project raised privacy concerns among students and their parents too.

The project mainly uses a software named as “Summit Basecamp” that allows students to maximize their learning processes.

But, the software surprisingly store students’ data and compels parents to fill forms that may disclose students’ privacy.

Besides collecting data, they can share students’ personal information with stakeholders and third parties like Google and Clever.

The collected information consists of email addresses, names, internet usage records, students’ grades, and school activities too.

Facebook privacy settings are questionable

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Do you know when you post something on Facebook you can still change its viewership?

You might be wondering how it is possible.

By changing your privacy settings, you can achieve your mission straightaway.

You can share your posts with your friends only.

Likewise, you are free to share your posts with your friends and acquaintances too.

But hold on…

Your posts and other piece of information are leads for marketers.

How?

When you share anything on social media platforms, you actually send the data over the cyberspace. You have no control over how other users may use your information.

For instance, your friend takes your picture and posts it on Facebook. This means your friend will have to tweak his or her privacy settings to let other people see your picture.

Therefore, you must discuss Facebook security hassles with your friends.

You must educate them about the implications of privacy settings if not configured appropriately.

Facebook has lured users to hack their own accounts

Previously, the popular social interaction site has tempted its users into hacking their own accounts.

This way, users have compromised on their privacy while trying to gain access to other users’ accounts.

You can consider the fraud in the form of a popup message from a friend. Users try to copy and paste malicious code into Facebook console.

By doing so, they invite hackers or online snooper to retrieve users accounts’ information.

Facebook has become a source of misinformation

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Surprisingly, Facebook made a headline again but for all the wrong reasons. Different countries like Papua New Guinea, China, Pakistan and others have blocked its services in the past.

The official authorities of Papua New Guinea have taken this initiative to stop fake users those who have used Facebook to spread misinformation.

The Chinese government curtailed the usage of Facebook to support its own social media platform like WeChat, Toudou Youku, Zhihu and others.

Similarly, fake users have opted Facebook as a tool to spread wrong information against various governments in recent years.

This is the reason numerous countries have restricted the use of Facebook on a number of occasions.

Facebook helped Donald Trump in his US Presidential Campaign

Last year, #Delete Facebook was one of the most followed trends on Twitter. Cambridge Analytica, a data mining organization did help Donald Trump during his presidential campaign.

The organization harvested 50 million Facebook users to support Trump political agenda. Moreover, Facebook accumulated useful information about US users and altered their voting habits too.

Things to avoid to secure your privacy on Facebook

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Different users do not think about their privacy and post all their confidential information on Facebook.

It means cyber goons can take undue advantage and access to your crucial information with an ease.

Similarly, you should overcome your public posting habit as other users can discover unknown attributes of your personal life.

Furthermore, some users have even used their date of birth as account passwords.

When you use Facebook, you must use strong passwords. Otherwise, suspicious people can hack your accounts by exploring your account passwords.

They can send malicious content to your loved ones or friends without your knowledge.

Surprisingly, many users prefer to maintain same password for accessing different accounts. Therefore, you should develop separate password for each account accordingly.

Likewise, your passwords should include special characters that enhance the anonymity of your passwords to another level.

Wrapping Up

There is life after Facebook. If you do not use Facebook for any reason, you can still lead a happy and prosperous life.

It does not matter in which country you live, Facebook can keep an eye on your personal and professional information from anywhere.

But the bottom line is, how much you are concerned about your online privacy.

You can maintain a desired level of anonymity by offering limited amount of information on your Facebook profile.

So instead of making excuses and complaining, take the right step towards protecting your digital whereabouts.

Take action before it is too late.

Tell me what you did to secure your Facebook profiles by commenting below.