As we were able to understand on the sensational flop of the Cambridge Analytica deal, the collection of personal data on Facebook is not a violation, because it is allowed exactly by the Facebook Terms of Service.
What was not good was the use made of these data, that is advertising for electoral purposes, but it is completely normal that Facebook sells our data, if we are not the ones to prevent it.
Currently, although Zuckerberg has promised stricter controls for application developers, all apps can still collect data from users through applications and games. For example, the apps with nice tests and quizzes that are part of Nametest, which requires practically full access to user profiles, are very well known.
The real problem with Facebook, therefore, is the application platform. There are many who suggest solving the Facebook problem by deleting the account, but this solution would be too sacrificing for those who actively use it, who should give up their relationships, friends and groups.
Fortunately, it is not necessary to cancel your Facebook account by force, you only need to prevent it from transferring our data to outsiders . Given the fact that Facebook knows everything about us, the goal is at least to prevent external companies from exploiting Facebook to access our private data .
To do this, you need to change a single setting that completely shuts down the application platform. The consequence is that you will no longer be able to use Facebook apps and games and you will no longer be able to log in to websites via Facebook accounts.
If it suits us, then go to the Facebook site, press the downward pointing arrow at the top right, and click on " Settings ".
In the sidebar, go to the " Apps " category. (or press this link directly). From this tab you can see all the Facebook apps that we used, to which we have transferred part of our data.
The options we are interested in are two: " Applications, websites and plugins " and " Applications used by others ".
The first setting " Applications, websites and plugins " controls whether you can use Facebook for third-party apps: press on Edit to then be able to press the nuclear button that disables the platform . The consequence of this activation is that many sites and services use Facebook to verify access. By completely deactivating the platform, you will no longer be able to use Facebook to access applications such as Spotify, Tinder, Waze and others.
If you don't want to disable the app platform, the important thing is to check all the apps to which the account is linked, remove the unknown or never used ones and be careful not to install new apps that can sell our data externally.
If you do not disable the platform, the best option is certainly to limit the data that friends can share with the applications they use . This is definitely the setting in the eye of the hurricane these days, the one that allows apps to see information from people who are friends with those who use the apps. In practice, even without using the applications, it is possible that external developers can capture our Facebook data through our friends. Then press the Edit button under Applications used by others and check what types of our information can be shared by those who use applications, games and websites. In particular, you can choose not to share with apps: biography, Posts, Date of birth, Cities, Family and Relationships, I Like It, Education and Work, Political and Religious Orientation, Activities and Interests, My Website, Application Activities, If I am online.
The checkboxes here control what third parties can achieve when our friends access their apps. For example, if one of my friends had used the Cambridge Analytica quiz app, our data may have been captured by the company even though we have never used its application. To prevent friends from sharing information about us, disable all options, and press the " Save " button.
From now, even leaving the application platform active, if we pay attention to the apps we use, we can still prevent Facebook from transferring our data to third parties, external companies and application developers.
From 2020 it is also possible to block and delete the activities of external sites and apps that use Facebook data collection
In addition to this, keep in mind that Facebook knows all our preferences, including policies based on the history of the sites visited and likes.
From this page //www.facebook.com/ads/preferences, go to Ad Settings to disable Facebook tracking and personalized advertisements.
What was not good was the use made of these data, that is advertising for electoral purposes, but it is completely normal that Facebook sells our data, if we are not the ones to prevent it.
Currently, although Zuckerberg has promised stricter controls for application developers, all apps can still collect data from users through applications and games. For example, the apps with nice tests and quizzes that are part of Nametest, which requires practically full access to user profiles, are very well known.
The real problem with Facebook, therefore, is the application platform. There are many who suggest solving the Facebook problem by deleting the account, but this solution would be too sacrificing for those who actively use it, who should give up their relationships, friends and groups.
Fortunately, it is not necessary to cancel your Facebook account by force, you only need to prevent it from transferring our data to outsiders . Given the fact that Facebook knows everything about us, the goal is at least to prevent external companies from exploiting Facebook to access our private data .
To do this, you need to change a single setting that completely shuts down the application platform. The consequence is that you will no longer be able to use Facebook apps and games and you will no longer be able to log in to websites via Facebook accounts.
If it suits us, then go to the Facebook site, press the downward pointing arrow at the top right, and click on " Settings ".
In the sidebar, go to the " Apps " category. (or press this link directly). From this tab you can see all the Facebook apps that we used, to which we have transferred part of our data.
The options we are interested in are two: " Applications, websites and plugins " and " Applications used by others ".
The first setting " Applications, websites and plugins " controls whether you can use Facebook for third-party apps: press on Edit to then be able to press the nuclear button that disables the platform . The consequence of this activation is that many sites and services use Facebook to verify access. By completely deactivating the platform, you will no longer be able to use Facebook to access applications such as Spotify, Tinder, Waze and others.
If you don't want to disable the app platform, the important thing is to check all the apps to which the account is linked, remove the unknown or never used ones and be careful not to install new apps that can sell our data externally.
If you do not disable the platform, the best option is certainly to limit the data that friends can share with the applications they use . This is definitely the setting in the eye of the hurricane these days, the one that allows apps to see information from people who are friends with those who use the apps. In practice, even without using the applications, it is possible that external developers can capture our Facebook data through our friends. Then press the Edit button under Applications used by others and check what types of our information can be shared by those who use applications, games and websites. In particular, you can choose not to share with apps: biography, Posts, Date of birth, Cities, Family and Relationships, I Like It, Education and Work, Political and Religious Orientation, Activities and Interests, My Website, Application Activities, If I am online.
The checkboxes here control what third parties can achieve when our friends access their apps. For example, if one of my friends had used the Cambridge Analytica quiz app, our data may have been captured by the company even though we have never used its application. To prevent friends from sharing information about us, disable all options, and press the " Save " button.
From now, even leaving the application platform active, if we pay attention to the apps we use, we can still prevent Facebook from transferring our data to third parties, external companies and application developers.
From 2020 it is also possible to block and delete the activities of external sites and apps that use Facebook data collection
In addition to this, keep in mind that Facebook knows all our preferences, including policies based on the history of the sites visited and likes.
From this page //www.facebook.com/ads/preferences, go to Ad Settings to disable Facebook tracking and personalized advertisements.
