Don’t Delete Facebook – Just Be Smarter on Facebook
Facebook is in a mess right now. And there are loads of equally promiscuous reactions that coax you and everyone you know to delete your account with a massive middle finger on the prevailing social network on the Internet. It’s an easy way, and frankly, we’ve seen this crowd reaction before. Are you then #DeleteFacebook? Me neither.
We think it is worth thinking about a more balanced approach. The sky may be falling, but you can still be much smarter about social media – what data you share with them and what data you allow third-party apps and services to see – without giving up social media entirely. There’s also some good stuff about Facebook. Let’s take a look at all our options before doing anything rash.
Is it really worth deleting Facebook this time? May be.
If you are too worried about Facebook’s data collection practices (or how data you thought you had entrusted to Facebook suddenly ends up in the hands of organizations you never heard of ), you will probably feel much better if you start. distance yourself from the social network. This is also more useful . Let’s recap the three main methods you can try:
- Just stop using the social network
If you have willpower, remove your Facebook bookmark from your web browser. Make your hand stop typing “www.fa …” every time you open a new tab. Go take up a hobby. Take your MMO . Get a famous Instagram account for your plant – uh, maybe not that .
Facebook has burned its users many times with its data collection policy, but we all persist. Facebook isn’t going anywhere, but you can certainly work to reduce your day-to-day engagement with the service (and by extension, the data you feed to the Facebook monster).
If you can’t bring yourself to stop visiting Facebook, the company can help you. Of course, Facebook will still have your data , but you’ll have the opportunity to take a breather and (hopefully) be less dependent on the digital platform when you’re ready to return.
Deactivating your account leaves some of your information on Facebook – such as conversations you have with your friends – but it will make it impossible for others to find your profile and you will no longer be tagged in most pieces of content.
If you want to remove as much information as possible from Facebook’s control, you can delete your account. Before you do that, consider uploading your account information via Facebook (or a handy browser extension ) so you at least have memories and photos.
When you’re ready to say goodbye, let Facebook know and be prepared to steer clear of your account. Deleting everything about you takes some time – up to 90 days – and if you log back in before Facebook “deletes” your account, it can interrupt the process. Change your mind and you have to start the countdown all over again.
The deletion process is quite complicated, so make sure you set up your digital life before leaving. This includes transferring ownership of any pages or groups you control to those who will carry the torch after your profile disappears digitally. Remember to log out of all Facebook sessions and uninstall apps from your mobile devices. And no longer use Facebook’s single sign-on feature to sign in to websites so you don’t accidentally stop deleting your account.
But wait!
Before you blow up your account or even try to reduce your dependence on Facebook, there are also a number of steps you can take to preserve the benefits of social media with much more privacy. In addition, even deleting your account will not invalidate data that you have already given access to other sites and services.
You can annoy both the actions of Facebook and the average user of the service. You just need to get a little better understanding of how you interact with Facebook. Here are some ways to maximize its usefulness while minimizing its intrusion into your life:
- Stop logging in with Facebook
It is convenient to press the blue button and enter various sites and services with your Facebook credentials. But when you give other companies access to your Facebook data – which can be pretty complete – you are transferring control of that information to organizations that probably don’t care much about you or your privacy. Stop doing that. Instead, use a handy password manager to create and track your logins and passwords. And if the app requires you to be logged into Facebook in order to use it, find an alternative.
If you are a gamer who simply cannot find friends in your favorite online games without connecting your Facebook account, we understand that. At the very least, be choosy about who is accessing your account – perhaps a bigger service like Valve’s Steam is a better idea than some random app developer who needs permission to access all of your information. and Facebook connections.
Open your favorite calendar service and make a recurring quarterly appointment to open this page . Look at apps and games. If you don’t remember how you have used an app or game since the last time the calendar reminder went off , turn off the ability to access your data . Repeat after three months.
Facebook wants to get as much information as possible about you , your friends, and everyone you know. This allows the service to serve you ads more effectively. You won’t win at this cat-and-mouse game, but you can at least put up a little bit of resistance to Facebook’s efforts.
On the same page where you disabled Facebook apps from accessing your data, click Edit under Apps, Websites and Plugins to disable Facebook’s ability to integrate with all third-party apps and websites – nuclear bomb approaches. You will lose the ability to log into other sites with Facebook, and any data that you have already shared with other apps and websites still belongs to them as they please, but you will at least put a little more blocking on yours. data.
If you still want to be able to use Facebook in some of your other trusted applications, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has some great advice :
“… there is another setting that can help: limiting the personal information available to applications that others use. By default, other people who can see your information can bring it with them when using applications, and your information is made available to those applications. You can limit it as follows. “
On the same page as before, find the “Other Apps” section. Click “Edit” and then you can choose what information your friends can use in their applications. Our advice? Uncheck all boxes. It is very important. Don’t lose sight of this.
- Limit the amount of data Facebook knows about you
I hate posting my birthday on Facebook because it annoys me to receive “Happy Birthday !!!!!!” messages from people I never communicate with the other 364 days of the year.
The same principle can be easily applied to data security. Do you get anything by telling Facebook your birthday? If not, remove it. Does Facebook really need to know your work email address? Probably no. Your address? Nope. The location of each place you visit? Doubtful.
Think about the details of your life that you need to know; While Facebook is great for sharing photos of your cats, it may not need a dossier on you – at least not the one you deliver yourself. Of course, he ‘ll probably just get this information anyway when one of your friends lets Facebook access their entire contact list – if they are good at keeping this information up to date – but that’s just the beginning.
- Improve the security of your browser
To keep Facebook from tracking your online activities, all you have to do is install a simple browser add-on that you really should be using anyway to cut down on annoying ads. Install uBlock Origin for Firefox or Chrome and open its options menu. Go to the “Third Party Filters” tab and find “Fanboy Blocked Social Media List”. Activate this.
The Privacy Badger Browser Add-on is even easier to use – perfect for your non-tech friends – but we really love the thoroughness of uBlock Origin.
Also, remember to go to Facebook’s ad settings page and indicate that you do not want Facebook to show you ads based on your identity. Or, at the very least, please indicate what data you think is acceptable for Facebook to use for personalized advertising.
- Consider starting from scratch
I like to reinstall my desktop operating system once a year because it’s much easier to build a new, clean computer from scratch than trying to apply a bunch of adhesive tape to a clogged machine. If you are really unhappy with Facebook’s data collection, please delete your account … and then create a new one.
Listen to me.
Before you start creating your new self, include many (or all) of the suggestions above to keep your privacy as private as possible. Then, when you start creating your new Facebook account, hide your details. Create a new bogus email address that you only use for Facebook. Do not share this email address with other people or applications. Use a fictitious name , but close enough to your real name that your friends can tell who you are.
Do not give Facebook any other real details of your life unless absolutely necessary for your enjoyment of the service. Lock down your privacy settings so you have complete control over tags, who can add you as a friend, and who can see everything you ever post – if anything at all. If you really feel like a hermit, don’t upload any photos and don’t let anyone tag you with theirs. Don’t let people find your fake information on search engines.
Basically, treat Facebook as the more interesting RSS reader ( if so ). Take whatever you can get out of the service and don’t give her anything to use against you in return. Fairly fair, right?