Photo and video sharing social network, usually connected to your Facebook account.

Breaches

2021-04-03: 533 million Facebook users' phone numbers and personal data have been leaked online
2019-05-21: Facebook probes breach of millions of influencer accounts, Instagram
2018-07-06: Facebook Bug Made Up to 14 Million Users Posts Public for Days
2018-01-01: Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal
2013-06-22: Facebook admits year-long data breach exposed 6 million users

Headlines

2021-10-28: Facebook announces name change to Meta in rebranding effort
2021-04-07: Facebook Says It’s Your Fault That Hackers Got Half a Billion User Phone Numbers
2018-12-15: Facebook's privacy problems: a roundup
2012-04-09: Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion

Secure your account (self-configuration)

Security settings

Activate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Via app

Go to your profile
Go to the hamburger menu -> Settings
Select Security
Select Two-factor authentication
Now you can setup with the method of your choice, it is recommended to use an Authentication App instead of Text Message (SMS)
Depending on the choice you make here, you will need to follow the instructions with the method you choose.

Verify where you are logged in

Via app

Go to your profile in the bottom right corner
Go to the hamburger-menu in top right corner
Tap Settings, choose Security
Verify where you are logged in
If there are some you do not recognize, or you are not sure, it is recommended to use Log out of all sessions-button.

Choose a strong password

Via browser

Go to Settings
Select Change Password on the left side
Use a unique password with at least 16 characters with lower- and uppercase characters, numbers and special symbols. (preferably from a password manager)

Via app

Go to your profile in the bottom right corner
Go to the hamburger-menu in top right corner
Tap Settings, choose Security
Then choose Password
Use a unique password with at least 16 characters with lower- and uppercase characters, numbers and special symbols. (preferably from a password manager)

Privacy settings

Disable contact syncing

Via app-only

Go to your profile in the bottom right corner
Go to the hamburger-menu in top right corner
Tap Settings, choose Account
Go to Contact syncing
Toggle it off

Delete synced contacts

Via browser-only

Go to Settings
Select Manage Contacts on the left side
Click Delete All

Disable data sharing with advertisers

Via app-only

Go to your profile in the bottom right corner
Go to the hamburger-menu in top right corner
Tap Settings, choose Ads
Go to Data About Your Activity From Partners
Toggle off Use Data from Partners

Download your data

Via app

Go to your profile in the bottom right corner
Go to the hamburger-menu in top right corner
Tap Settings, choose Security
Choose Download Data
Input your email and tap Request Download
It may take up to 48 hours to receive the data

Via browser

Go to Settings
Select Privacy and Security on the left side
Under Data Download, click Request Download
Choose HTML for easiest to read data and click Next

Delete your account

Via browser-only

Go to the Delete Your Account-page
Select an option
Click Delete [username]

What they collect [source]

Information in camera viewport

Using the camera in the app, everything is analyzed in order to provide filters, masks and tips for using the camera.

Communications (Content, location data, who and when)

Through posts, photos and messages.

Network and connections

Who you are in contact with, people, pages, groups, hashtags.

Your usage

How you interact with all of their products, engagement, who you share with, duration of interaction.

What others share and say about you

What others say about you, shares with and about you. How people interacts with your profile, and imports from address books.

Debit or credit card number

If you make any purchases using Facebook, these details will be saved and collected for 7 years.

Device information

Via computers, phones, connected TVs and other web-connected device. Operating system, hardware and software versions, battery level, signal strength, available storage space, browser type, app and file names, types and plugins (browsers).

Device operations

Operations and behaviors performed on the device, such as whether a window is foregrounded or backgrounded, mouse movements.

Identifiers

Device IDs from your devices, ad identifiers from Facebook and other services, family device IDs.

Information from partners (even without an account)

Your interactions with apps, ads using Facebook's Analytics tools. These partners provide information about your activities off Facebook - including information about your device, websites you visit, purchases you make, the ads yu see, and how you use their services, whether or not you have a Facebook account or are logged into Facebook.

Activities from other Facebook products

They connect information about your activities on different Facebook products and devices.

Location information

Current location, where you live, places you liked to visit, businesses and people near you to see what you enjoy and might enjoy.

Last updated: 2021-05-09