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Delete Facebook from your phone: here's why
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Yeah.. Just going to be honest and maybe the odd man out here, but none of this stuff actually bothers me. I just have accepted it as the world I live in. I don't care if facebook knows what my battery level or wifi signal is. And I don't care if they see what else I'm doing or buying so they can target ads at me. I've got some sweet things from targeted ads, haha.Facebook knew I was pregnant before my friends and family; I honestly didn't care.
But that's just me! I love my Amazon overlords, and have no issue trading off some privacy for things I find to be insignificant, in order to reap the benefits of modern day conveniences.
I'm actually the same, Dawn. I appreciate the targeted ads over random ads, and have also found some things I've really liked from them.I also don't care that they know my political views are fairly liberal. Hell, Facebook probably knows that I'm bi even though my family doesn't! (And I recently discovered the label heteroflexible, which might actually describe me a little better than bi, but I haven't decided yet. LOL)
I'm the exact opposite. I find it creepy as well as a set up. Facebook doesn't know very much about me - no matter how often they try to get me to give them my life details. Then again, I don't use facebook and haven't in going on 10 years. I have a profile but I don't update, post, friend, etc. Fuck facebook.
Same, Dawn and Colleen. I know that entering any information into anything these days will likely be giving them data and stats to collect. That's the nature of the information age we are in, and it's a fair trade-off to me to live in the age of convenience that we do. Where I draw the line is personally identifiable info. But knowing my phone's battery level or whether the app is active or in the background etc isn't a concern to me.
I can appreciate people who don't want data being collected, and they should be able to opt out, or choose not to use services they know do collect (I'm married to one of you! :P) but to me, it's just part of the deal of living nowadays and I choose not to stress over it unless it's something specifically about ME.
I installed FB on my mobile a while back, then read something about the invasion of privacy issues and deleted it almost straight away. I'm with you, MrsJ.
Becky wrote: "Same, Dawn and Colleen. I know that entering any information into anything these days will likely be giving them data and stats to collect. That's the nature of the information age we are in, and i..."Same here!
I don't post a lot on FB, but that's more by choice. I'm usually on it every day though and it regularly targets me with ads so I know it's pulling info from some where. Like the others said though, it's just the age we live in now. I can't close myself in a bubble stressing about this stuff all the time.
I do find it a little creepy/annoying when Facebook is like, "I see you're at this place. Share photos or write a review!"
I feel the same as Coleen, Becky, Dawn, and Jackie.It is what it is and I’ll deal with it for as long as I want to continue using FB.
As long as my “friends” level posts don’t become “public” level posts without my permission I’m cool.
I will admit, however, that it is a bit creepy when I search for something on Amazon and see an ad for it on Facebook.
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colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!
(last edited Jun 14, 2018 07:50AM)
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Nyssa wrote: "As long as my “friends” level posts don’t become “public” level posts without my permission I’m cool."I'm assuming you heard about that bug that did just this awhile back? It's meant to have been fixed now.
The most annoying thing about the ads, for me, is sometimes I'm shopping on Amazon for something for Jer and then a fucking ad will pop up while I'm on Facebook showing him a video or something and I'm like, "Ack, don't look!"
I use two ad blocking programs on my Mac so it’s not an issue there. I seen them when I use the app on my phone.As for the big, I heard about it after the fact. I guess I should take a look at my account to see if any of my posts became public.
message 12:
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colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!
(last edited Jun 14, 2018 07:57AM)
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Nyssa wrote: "As for the big, I heard about it after the fact. I guess I should take a look at my account to see if any of my posts became public."I'm not sure you'd be able to tell. I believe the fix included retroactively fixing past posts.
colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "I do find it a little creepy/annoying when Facebook is like, "I see you're at this place. Share photos or write a review!""Yeah. That shit creeps me out.
I stopped shopping at Crate and Barrel cause they send creepy emails: Hey! We see that you went to our website and looked at this item. Buy it now!!!
And I am creeped out and no longer a customer because I wasn't logged in and I did not put something in my cart. I looked at a webpage and now you're emailing me? Get the fuck out of here with that shit. No rep.
Oh, yeah. I get those a lot, too. The whole, "You left something in your cart". Or Hot Topic always sends me an, "That stuff you were looking at? You should buy it."And then I do.
Because, ya know, I only need a little pushing. ;)
(Not really.)
(But sometimes.)
That stuff doesn't really bother me. They have my email because at some point I gave it to them, and I'm accessing their site on a computer that has a cookie from a previous visit, so I would assume that their system would know it and try to capitalize on my visit to make a sale. It's the times that I mention something to Thomas while standing in my kitchen, not online at all, but then see it pop up in an ad the next time I'm online that has me like "IS MY PHONE FUCKING SPYING ON ME??"
But, ehhh, I need paper towels, so... alright.
colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Oh, yeah. I get those a lot, too. The whole, "You left something in your cart". Or Hot Topic always sends me an, "That stuff you were looking at? You should buy it."And then I do.
Because, ya kn..."
I can deal with cart emails - I actually put something in the cart and probably have an account with that person. But I've never purchased online with C&B - all were in person. So they fucked up there, I was uber creeped out.
Becky wrote: "That stuff doesn't really bother me. They have my email because at some point I gave it to them, and I'm accessing their site on a computer that has a cookie from a previous visit, so I would assum..."Oh, yeah. Like me and Jer'll be like, "We need X" and then I get a random coupon for X.
Like, dafuq? Fucking Alexa, man. ;)
I'm not bothered by the cart emails, per se... more just annoyed by their persistence.I get one, ok, fine. I was on your website looking for stuff, and I didn't buy anything, and now you want me back. I get it.
But some places send, like, 3 and 4 follow-ups, and that's when I start getting annoyed enough to considering blocking places.
Becky wrote: "That stuff doesn't really bother me. They have my email because at some point I gave it to them, and I'm accessing their site on a computer that has a cookie from a previous visit, so I would assum..."Nope. Never gave them my email address. No profile with the company. No delivery items to my house. 100% I bought it at the mall.
So, no. No rep, lost customer.
I do not get coupons most of the time. I avoid companies tracking me as much as possible. We have no digital assistants like Alexa or Google. And will not get one.
I love Alexa.It's weird how quickly you get used to it. I was in a hotel once and was very disgruntled that I had to get out of bed to turn off the lights!
colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Like, dafuq? Fucking Alexa, man. ;) "We don't have Alexa, or Google Home or anything. The boy is against. *sigh*
I can def. see both points of view.But I do have a question for you people who say that FB or Amazon knows that you're pregnant, or bi, or whatever before your IRL friends and family know. Don't you have any concern that you'll be Outed? Isn't there a concern that Alexa is going to send an e-mail to all your contacts telling them to start buying diapers for you?
I'm not overly concerned, but I do choose to not actually use my FB profile or even think about buying an assistant. I don't even have a smartphone and hope that I never have to get one. When we travel, I let my husband do the research necessary. And I don't sign into any of my own accounts on his phone.
I also don't support Amazon because of their immoral business practices. Or Walmart. But that's prolly a whole 'nother discussion.
I generally abide by the notion of nothing is ever really private on the internet, so I don't put anything personal online that I'm not comfortable with the whole world knowing about me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't use Alexa or any other assistant. I just don't see the point. I do, however, LOVE my smartphone which became funny to me when I remembered how resistant I was initially to get one.
Your question, Cheryl, is an interesting one. I have never received a message or email about buying anything for anyone else. The closest is the recommendations on Amazon based on previous purchases from Amazon.
I tried to go Walmart free but its the only place (besides Amazon) that comfortably fits my income, and has what I need on a regular basis. I will try other stores first, but I'd say 7 out of 10 times I end up shopping there. As for Amazon... I think they officially own my soul.
I've never heard of Alexa sending emails or notifications to friends or family about things like buying you stuff. The only thing I've ever gotten from Amazon is a reminder of my husband's birthday, but that's because our accounts are linked through Prime - and I'm fairly certain I set up a reminder for it, too.The other side of that is that I don't care if I accidentally get outed, personally. I only haven't come out to my parents because I know it would 'cause drama, and I don't have to since I'm married to a dude. It's kind of the cowards way out... but the other side of that is that I've been sort of dropping hints and things for years, so I'm not sure they'd be overly shocked, either. (Also, they sort of disagree with everything else about my life, so it's not like a lot would change. Ha.)
Cheryl wrote: "I can def. see both points of view.But I do have a question for you people who say that FB or Amazon knows that you're pregnant, or bi, or whatever before your IRL friends and family know. Don't..."
Alexa recently recorded a private conversation between a married couple and then emailed it to a different person.
Amazon claims that Alexa thought it heard it's wake word (Alexa) then it issued a series of questions that "it heard" the couple respond to in the positive. The couple had no idea it was listening, questioning, recording or emailing.
I call BS.
Cheryl wrote: "I can def. see both points of view.But I do have a question for you people who say that FB or Amazon knows that you're pregnant, or bi, or whatever before your IRL friends and family know. Don't..."
I never thought about this before. But, if I need to make private purchases I will use my husband's account. My sister has access to my Prime so she can see what I purchased if she chose to be nosey and if I didn't delete it properly. But, honestly I don't care if she sees something. We talk about everything anyway.
It surprises me that so many of yall are ok with sharing so much.I have plans of denying pregnancy (if/when) until 3 years after the birth.
I think part of it is a generational thing.You're just old. :P
(I jest. I actually have no idea how old you are.)
colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "I've never heard of Alexa sending emails or notifications to friends or family about things like buying you stuff. ..."Oh, I have no doubt it's coming. The more you say that you're ok with this or that marketing technique, the more invasive techniques they'll try on us.
colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "I think part of it is a generational thing.You're just old. :P
(I jest. I actually have no idea how old you are.)"
We're the sameish age, I think.
But I'm old at heart. Raised by old women who believed that you never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.
And omg, it doesn't matter how old any of us are. Unless millennials are trying to admit how naive they are.If you truly feel you need context, I'm not shy about telling you-all this much: I'm 55. My son, who is studying data analytics and related, is 22 and we converse about this sort of stuff often.
I do actually think it matters somewhat, in what people accept as "normal" - though age isn't the only factor, of course. I know hubs is more paranoid about safety than I am. He was concerned once when I shared a picture which showed our house number, but I was like, "Look, it's public record so if anyone wants to know where we live all they need to do is google our names."
If I felt like we were in a world where things like what I'm shopping for or my political affiliation could get me killed, then I'd be more concerned. I mean, granted, we're heading there, and that does concern me... but I don't think we're there quite yet.
Also, I'm not a millennial, but I'm glad that how old any of us are doesn't matter.
I guess I would be more concerned if I was doing something worth hiding. Like if I was cheating on my husband or something then I would have more privacy concerns or if I was going through something private (e.g. medical condition), but it's not often I feel the need to hide stuff. And as Colleen pointed out there are acceptable public ways of finding out things if someone wants to be a super sleuth. For example, in CT (not sure in other states), there is a site you can go to, enter someone's address and find out how much they really paid for their house, the floor layouts, assessments, etc. We really don't want that info out there, but we have no control over it. So, if my husband and I live in a town where this info is updated, his baby (teenager) mama will have the info on our new digs even without me posting about it on FB or IG. All she needs is our address, which she can easily get.
I have had Google blur out my house from street view. I wish it wasn't there at all. If I had the ability, I'd pull it off the map view, too.If you need to know where I live, you should have to ask me. If you want a pic of my house, I should be the one to give it to you. You don't get to type my name in google and see where/how I'm living. I hate it and feel some kind of way about it.
My poor neighbor was outside and he's in the damn pics. My house was visible if you tried to look at it from an angle while still viewing my neighbor's house. I flipped over that. They said they have removed that since I complained.
My stalker knows my married name, I'm sure. It's on FB cause I'm the dumbass. But I do know that it's insane that he could possibly decide to show up one day and already have a GREAT idea of not only where I live but what my house looks like! That bothers me a great deal.
Nicki wrote: "Have you tried playing Skyrim with it? :D"LOL, no. I'll have to tell Jer about this, though. ^_^
Cheryl wrote: "I can def. see both points of view.But I do have a question for you people who say that FB or Amazon knows that you're pregnant, or bi, or whatever before your IRL friends and family know. Don't..."
I've never heard of anything like this, but if it happened (for my pregnancy), I wouldn't really care too much? I wasn't keeping it a secret for any reason, I was just waiting to announce it until I was further along.
For me personally, I just have nothing I feel like I need to hide. I'm an open book! If I were doing something illegal or something I didn't want others to find out about I might be more worried, but I'm not, so *shrug*
I was off facebook for almost two years. I only went back over the last two weeks as I start promoting my book and my business. I wish I didn't have to go threw the motions they require, but I do understand. Hate it truly, but understand. Now, in case you did not know, in order to stop Fake News your identity has to be validated, which requires such things as two-token auth, you SS#, your Driver's License or Passport, and then they will snail mail you a letter to determine if you are real. Once you have the letter log back in and indicate you have received and an FB analyst will review all your information for approval. It's gotten out of hand, but if you want to be ANON, you either don't participate or you HACK.
And of course, if you hack then you're probably going to get arrested.
Nicki wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "And omg, it doesn't matter how old any of us are. Unless millennials are trying to admit how naive they are."Refrain from group attacks. You can express your point without accusing..."
Didn't do that. Sorry you took it that way.
Add the word 'certain' just before millenials if you want.
But honestly, since I don't know anyone's ages here, I have no idea how I could have been perceived as attacking anyone.
Ok, I just got an ad (on my tablet) from a candidate for mayor for Oklahoma City. Last month I visited a friend in OKC for a week and was using their wi-fi network. But I do not 'permit' anyone to 'know' or 'use' my location (except, of course, maybe in fine print terms and conditions). I do not, as I said, use social media (except, I guess Goodreads counts, eh...). I am not nor will I ever be eligible to vote in OKC. It's just ridiculous.
Oh dear. Sorry.
Didn't mean to, um, what, I don't even know.
As I said, my son is 22 and I both respect and adore him.
And I was that age myself, too. I remember it.
I remember knowing that I was naive, too. I would not have taken what I said as an attack.
But hey, since I joined this group to discuss speculative fiction, and those discussions aren't happening, I'll just get out of your way.
Sorry.
Here's a great article as to why I brought it up:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techno...
The pertinent parts:
[SNIP]
Facebook also revealed that it collects data — a lot of data — about the various devices its users use to log in to it. This could include their computers, their smart phones and their tablets. It’s not simply where the user logged in from or what they did, but a surprisingly broad swatch of information about the machine they used. That includes their battery level, how much available storage they have and the strength of the WiFi signal the machine is receiving.
[SNIP]
The company also knows whether you're actually looking at your Facebook window or if you've just got it open as one of many tabs. In its answers, it said it collects information about whether a user's browser window that has Facebook open is in the foreground or the background of the screen, as well as app and file names. In some cases, Facebook can also gather information about nearby devices, or other devices on the user's network.
[SNIP]
The company also revealed that its partners are able to gather information about users' activities even if they're not logged into Facebook, including information about the purchases they make and the games they play.