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After weeks of waiting nervously, it’s now possible to check if you and your friends were among the 87 million Facebook users who had their data leaked in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. If you reside outside of the United States there’s a good chance you weren’t affected, however, it’s still worth checking for peace of mind.
How to Remove Ads From Facebook Messenger.
As the Facebook Cambridge Analytica saga continues and Mark Zuckerberg appears in front of Congress, the problem of data collection and data leaks is becoming more and more apparent. It seems that no matter how many promises are made and precautions are taken, data always falls into the hands of people and companies it shouldn’t. The Grinder HIV status leak is another worrying example of data collection gone wrong.
Unfortunately, in today’s tech-filled, socially interconnected world it’s exceptionally difficult to avoid giving your data to the big players in the game, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, eBay, etc. Even if you are cautious about what you post to social media, search online, and use location services for, your data is still be collected to profile you and others you know. Most of the time this information is used for better ad targeting, but as we've all seen recently, it can end up anywhere. A TED talk by Zeynep Tufekci hits the nail on the head perfectly and although the talk is a little slow is worth watching through to the end to get a better understand the issue.
Zeynep Tufekci: We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads.
How Do You Find Out If Your Facebook Data Was Leaked By Cambridge Analytica?
It’s taken a little while for the information to be gathered and made accessible but it's now possible to find out if your Facebook account and Facebook data was among the 87 million user accounts that was used by Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook Help Center - Cambridge Analytica Data Leak Check.
Using the link above you can check to see if your data was shared and leaked by Cambridge. Alternatively, you can also access the page by simply searching 'Cambridge' from the Facebook Help Center page if you don’t like clicking on links. As we mentioned above, if you live outside of the USA, you probably won’t be affected by the leak.
How Do I Prevent Facebook and Other Companies Harvesting My Data?
Even though it’s quite difficult to completely stop the big guns like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon collecting your data, there are plenty of steps you can take to reduce how much information they can acquire. Over the years we have written a lot of articles covering data protection, how to avoiding tracking, protecting your privacy online, and of course basic online security. Below is a list articles you’ll find useful in your quest to rein in your privacy.
How to Stop Amazon Ads Following You.
How to Configure Firefox Mobile For Privacy, Security.
How to Stop Facebook Collecting Data From Other Open Browser Tabs. (Firefox)
How to Chat Anonymously Over the TOR Network.
How to Delete Yourself From the Internet.
How to Disable All Windows 10 Tracking and Data Collection Features.
How to Securely and Anonymously Share Files Over the TOR Network.
How to Delete Your Windows 10 Activity History.
How to Delete Telemetry Data Collected By Windows 10.
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