How to Protect your Facebook Data.

The question is, do users have the option to regain control of their information?

17:30 23 March 2018

A debate on how users information on Facebook is shared and with whom has been recently reopened following allegations that research firm Cambridge Analytica misused the data of 50million Facebook users.

 

Data is Facebook’s bloodline; it is what attracts advertisers to the platform, which has the ability to build details and sophisticated profiles on users’ likes, dislikes, lifestyles and even political leanings.

 

The question is, do users have the option to regain control of their information?

 

Yes, there are ways to protect your information. First, you can disable apps, websites, and plugins that collect your data by disabling them via your Facebook’s app setting page. You can also limit the personal information accessible by apps by logging into Facebook’s App settings page and unclicking every category you don’t want the apps to access, which include your religious views, bio, family, birthday, and even the things that you post online.

 

Paul Bernal, a lecturer in Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Media Law in the University of East Anglia School of Law, advices: "Never click on a 'like' button on a product service page and if you want to play these games and quizzes, don't log in through Facebook but go directly to the site.”

 

"Using Facebook Login is easy but doing so, grants the app's developer access to a range of information from their Facebook profiles," he added.