---
title: "Get your loved ones off Facebook "
date: 2017-01-07T11:33:00+06:00
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tags: ["social media","data privacy","surveillance"]
author: "Olivier Falcoz"
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---
[Get your loved ones off Facebook](https://salimvirani.com/facebook/) -- Salim Virani 

Salim Virani has been checking Facebook upcoming privacy policy due to change on Jan. 30th, 2015[^1]. Unless you leave Facebook before this date, you won't have to accept the new ToS since you agree by staying[^2].

> **Abstract**: Facebook doesn’t keep any of your data safe or anonymous, no matter how much you lock down your privacy settings. There are very serious privacy breaches, like selling [your product endorsement to advertisers](http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/01/21/facebook-is-recycling-your-likes-to-promote-stories-youve-never-seen-to-all-your-friends/) and [politicians](http://www.zdnet.com/article/is-facebook-damaging-your-reputation-with-sneaky-political-posts/), tracking [everything you read](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1717563) on the internet, or [using data from your friends](http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/facebook-snitch-on-friends-that-arent-using-real-names/) to learn private things about you:
> 
> * Facebook gives your data to “third-parties” through your use of apps, and then say that’s you doing it, not them;
> * Facebooks [creates false endorsements](http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/01/21/facebook-is-recycling-your-likes-to-promote-stories-youve-never-seen-to-all-your-friends/) for products from you to your friends - and they never reveal this to you;
> * When you see a *like* button on the web, Facebook is [tracking that you’re reading](http://spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/telecom/internet/stalking-on-facebook-is-easier-than-you-think) that page;
> * They read your [private messages and the contents of the links](http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/25/facebook-class-action-privacy-lawsuit/) you send privately;
> * They can use [face recognition](http://www.dw.de/facebook-violates-german-law-hamburg-data-protection-official-says/a-15290120) to [track your location through pictures](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/exif-photo-data-find-understand/);
> * They [track your location](https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/security-data-protection/cyber-security/stalk-location-facebook-messenger/), and use that to discover private things about you, like if you’re sick, who you sleep with, where you work, if you’re job-searching, etc;
> * They’ve used [snitching campaigns](http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/facebook-snitch-on-friends-that-arent-using-real-names/) to trick people’s friends into revealing information about them that they chose to keep private;
> * They use the vast amount of data they have on you, from your likes, things you read, things you type but don’t post, to make [highly accurate models](http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/facebook-snitch-on-friends-that-arent-using-real-names/) about who you are – even if you make it a point of keeping these things secret

**Don’t confuse privacy with secrecy**

I know what you do in the bathroom, but you still close the door. That’s because you want privacy, not secrecy.   
-- Fábio Esteves in [I have nothing to hide. Why should I care about my privacy?](https://medium.com/@FabioAEsteves/i-have-nothing-to-hide-why-should-i-care-about-my-privacy-f488281b8f1d)

**Get your loved ones off Facebook...!**

[^1]: **Edit**: Salim Virani originally wrote this 2015, to explain why the latest Facebook privacy policy is really harmful. It’s since been read by over a million people, and Salim updated it earlier this year.
[^2]: **2017 update**: A lot of these concerns Salim had have proven true. Facebook has been consistent with its pattern of contempt for its users. Salim hase updated this with a few more points and links.