2. Facebook Sells User
Information to 3rd Parties
 Facebook and social media sites
actively distribute your personal
information.[2]
 Facebook and other social media sites
sell this information to 3rd parties.
 This data is sent regardless of privacy
settings

3. What Information is Sent?
 Usernames
 ID numbers
 Query key words
 Search history
 Activity logs
 Dates
 Times

4. How is This Information Taken?
 Facebook apps send user information to
3rd parties when utilized regardless of
the user’s privacy settings.[9]
 Ads on Facebook also send user
information when utilized.[8]

5. Who is this Information Being
Sent to?
 Advertising Companies
 Marketing Firms
 Data Firms[7]
Examples:
 Google’s Doubleclick
 Google’s Invite Media[10]
 Yahoo’s Right Media
 RapLeaf, Inc. [3]

6. What Happens to the
Information?
 Data is compiled
 Profiles are created based on individual
users behavior and online activities,
known as collective profiling.[11]
 Resold to other companies who can but
are not limited to:
 Creating specific marketing and
advertising campaigns that target
individuals based on their online
activities.[1]

7. What is the Danger?
 Data sent by Facebook to 3rd party
companies can be used to lookup
individual user profiles, which can
contain:[3]
 Real names
 Age
 Occupation
 Phone numbers
 Location
 Addresses
 Personal information of friends[2]

8. Danger Continued
 This data can be cross referenced with
other existing databases to single out
and identify individuals which poses
risks such as:
 Identity theft
 Scams[5]
 Competitive edges in research[11]
 Competitive edges on the market[11]

9. Tips and Advice
 Determine whether to go public or private
with your profile
 Eliminate people and sites from your social
networks you don’t need
 Pay attention to your friend, invite, and
connection requests[1]
 Be cautious of what you post
 Your friends make you vulnerable
 Facebook apps can contain malware
 Check your privacy settings after updates
to the social network[5]

10. References
1. Betancourt, L. (2010, March 2). How Companies Are Using Your
Social Media Data . Social Media News and Web Tips – Mashable –
The Social Media Guide. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://mashable.com/2010/03/02/data-mining-social-media/
2. Bosker, B. (2011, May 25). Facebook To Share Users' Home
Addresses, Phone Numbers With External Sites. Breaking News and
Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/28/facebook-home-addresses-
phone-numbers_n_829459.html
3. Dybwad, B. (2010, June 20). Facebook and Others Caught Sending
User Data to Advertisers . Social Media News and Web Tips –
Mashable – The Social Media Guide. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://mashable.com/2010/05/20/facebook-caught-sending-user-data-
to-advertisers/

11. References
4. News Service. (2010, October 18). Facebook Apps
Transmit, Sell Personal Info | Fox News. Fox News
- Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines |
Photos & News Videos. Retrieved July 25, 2012,
from
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2010/10/18/facebook-
apps-transmit-sell-personal-info/
5. Helmbreck, V. (2010, May 25). How Facebook Sells
Your Personal Info -- and Gets Away With It. Tech
News for Finance Professionals. Retrieved July 25,
2012, from http://www.financetechnews.com/how-
facebook-sells-your-personal-info-and-gets-away-
with-it

12. References
6. Kunz, B. (2010, May 26). Go Ahead, Facebook. Sell That Data -
Businessweek. Businessweek - Business News, Stock Market &
Financial Advice. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2010/tc201005
26_720314.htm
7. Newman, A. A. (2011, August 3). Promoting Products Using Social
Media - Advertising - NYTimes.com. The New York Times - Breaking
News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/business/media/promoting-
products-using-social-media-advertising.html?_r=2
8. Steel, E. (2010, June 21). Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy
Loophole - WSJ.com. Business News & Financial News - The Wall
Street Journal - Wsj.com. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870451310457525670
1215465596.html

13. References
9. Steel, E. (2010, September 17). Facebook in Online Privacy
Breach; Applications Transmitting Identifying Information -
WSJ.com. Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street
Journal - Wsj.com. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230477280457
5558484075236968.htm
10. Williams, R. (2010, October 19). Facebook Apps Selling
Personal Information to Marketing Companies. Hardgeek -
Gadgets, Software, Firefox, Windows, Android, Apple, Linux,
Tech tips. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from
http://hardgeek.org/facebook-apps-selling-personal-
information-to-marketing-companies
11. van Dijck, J. (2010). Search engines and the production of
academic knowledge. International Journal of Cultural Studies,
13(6), 574–592, DOI: 10.1177/1367877910376582