Technical Tuesday: Instagram/Facebook Privacy Polices.

Now onto the Kinds of information that they collect. 

We know that they collect your name, phone number and email address. 

But what you may not realize is that they collect a lot more information than you really think they do. In fact I was quite surprised at the depth in which they (for lack of a better term) pry into my phone information. 

So in the first sentence of their Policy they say “To provide the Facebook Products, we must process information about you.” <- this to me says that they need to have some information… Not that scary. The next couple are kinda creepy though. The next sentence is “The types of information we collect depend on how you use our Products.”

That sentence basically means that they are watching what you do on their platform and how you interact with the program. The program then will probably learn what you are looking at and what you are liking and who you pay the most attention to. Which to me is a little creepy. Not super creepy… but still enough to make me think twice. 

This next section is titled Things you and others do and provide. That seems harmless enough. But check it out for yourself.

Information and content you provide. We collect the content, communications and other information you provide when you use our Products, including when you sign up for an account, create or share content, and message or communicate with others. This can include information in or about the content you provide (like metadata), such as the location of a photo or the date a file was created. It can also include what you see through features we provide, such as our camera, so we can do things like suggest masks and filters that you might like, or give you tips on using camera formats. Our systems automatically process content and communications you and others provide to analyze context and what’s in them for the purposes described below. Learn more about how you can control who can see the things you share.

Data with special protections: You can choose to provide information in your Facebook profile fields or Life Events about your religious views, political views, who you are “interested in,” or your health. This and other information (such as racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership) could be subject to special protections under the laws of your country.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

All of that information! Okay let’s break this down. 

So they collect the Content, Communications and other information. The other information is the location of a photo or date a file was created. That’s not that bad. But this next line (and I really do hope that I am interpreting this wrong) They collect the information that comes from when I look at something through their filters in the camera feature… ??? really? Okay that’s just an invasion of privacy… I didnt record it or share it. Which means that I don’t want to share it with the world or any person for that matter! (still lets hope that I am wrong here. I am going to do a check up after I read this entire thing and ask. ) 

But lets move forward. 

Networks and connections. We collect information about the people, Pages, accounts, hashtags and groups you are connected to and how you interact with them across our Products, such as people you communicate with the most or groups you are part of. We also collect contact information if you choose to upload, sync or import it from a device (such as an address book or call log or SMS log history), which we use for things like helping you and others find people you may know and for the other purposes listed below.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

So they look at who you interact with and the way that you interact with them. They look at the people that you contact the most. Thats fine when you in the application. I mean I like having my favorite people at the top of my feed. But the NEXT LINE… We also collect contact information is you choose the upload, sync or import it from a device. So that means that when we link the contacts in our phones to the people on facebook/ Instagram we are giving them permission to have the information. The part in the parentheses is what I like the best… address book… call log… or SMS LOG HISTORY. So you are looking at who I text and who I call and how frequently I do these things. (Why!?)

Your usage. We collect information about how you use our Products, such as the types of content you view or engage with; the features you use; the actions you take; the people or accounts you interact with; and the time, frequency and duration of your activities. For example, we log when you’re using and have last used our Products, and what posts, videos and other content you view on our Products. We also collect information about how you use features like our camera.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

In relation to that last part the next section is Your Usage. So how you use facebook/Instagram how you use the products that they provide and also how long you spend on these products and services. So basically they are watching all your usage. 

Information about transactions made on our Products. If you use our Products for purchases or other financial transactions (such as when you make a purchase in a game or make a donation), we collect information about the purchase or transaction. This includes payment information, such as your credit or debit card number and other card information; other account and authentication information; and billing, shipping and contact details.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

And then they go into their processes of billing. So when you purchase something from a game or make a donation. They collect your credit card information or debit card information and all the info that goes with that. (thats okay… if they didnt get hacked all the time!!!)

Things others do and information they provide about you. We also receive and analyze content, communications and information that other people provide when they use our Products. This can include information about you, such as when others share or comment on a photo of you, send a message to you, or upload, sync or import your contact information.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

Now here is another part that I am not too fond of. They collect information from everyone and that means that when someone shares something about you. Such as a picture or sending a message to you, they keep that too. Here is what bothers me…Another person can share your information and then facebook now has it. So even if you don’t give them the information They (Facebook/Instagram) can get it without you having any say so. 

Now on to Device Information:

You didn’t think they collected information about what type of device you are using, did you? I know I didnt. 

Here is how they describe what they are doing and why they are doing it. 

“As described below, we collect information from and about the computers, phones, connected TVs and other web-connected devices you use that integrate with our Products, and we combine this information across different devices you use. For example, we use information collected about your use of our Products on your phone to better personalize the content (including ads) or features you see when you use our Products on another device, such as your laptop or tablet, or to measure whether you took an action in response to an ad we showed you on your phone on a different device.”

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

Now here is the breakdown of what they actually do collect. 

Device attributes: information such as the operating system, hardware and software versions, battery level, signal strength, available storage space, browser type, app and file names and types, and plugins.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

Why… Do you need to know my Battery Level, available storage space and also app and file names and types? – I personally don’t see any reason for this level of information to be shared. I guess I could understand the battery level and the signal strength if I was filming a live video…but I don’t see another reason.

  Device operations: information about operations and behaviors performed on the device, such as whether a window is foregrounded or backgrounded, or mouse movements (which can help distinguish humans from bots).

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

Now this one I can understand to a point and they do explain it a bit with the () Distinguishing between humans and bots is actually a good thing and is something they should be doing for those of us who care about how many followers we have and also our likes and such. 

Identifiers: unique identifiers, device IDs, and other identifiers, such as from games, apps or accounts you use, and Family Device IDs (or other identifiers unique to Facebook Company Products associated with the same device or account).

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

This one also makes sense if you are using Instagram on a family device and you are not supposed to be on that application because you need to be doing school work.. I can see how that would be useful. 

Device signals: Bluetooth signals, and information about nearby Wi-Fi access points, beacons, and cell towers.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

This one I believe (and Please correct me if I am wrong) is so that they can get your location. Which I believe you can also turn off in the application. 

Data from device settings: information you allow us to receive through device settings you turn on, such as access to your GPS location, camera or photos.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

Same thing as above…

Network and connections: information such as the name of your mobile operator or ISP, language, time zone, mobile phone number, IP address, connection speed and, in some cases, information about other devices that are nearby or on your network, so we can do things like help you stream a video from your phone to your TV.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

This one also makes sense and I do stream somethings to my TV for my future father in law.. The TV is bigger than my phone and it makes it easier for me to show him things. 

Cookie data: data from cookies stored on your device, including cookie IDs and settings. Learn more about how we use cookies in the Facebook Cookies Policy and Instagram Cookies Policy.

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

NO they don’t mean the cookies you eat. I wish they did! They mean the information that they are collecting in general. A Cookie is a term for some pieces of data that a computer receives and then sends back without altering it.

How does this collection of information impact your privacy online?

This collection of information impacts everyone in different ways depending on their personal settings in and on each application that they sign into using Facebook. (Remember Facebook owns Instagram)

What do I mean by that? Well every program or application that you use your Facebook login to use your are giving Facebook and therefore Instagram access to the information that you are providing in that other application. They tell you that they will collect information from other applications and sources not just Facebook and Instagram and that by signing in using Facebook you are giving them permission to do so. They also tell you what information you have the power to control. In fact if you click on any of the links in the quotes you will find yourself on Facebook website. I left all of their links in the quotes. 

And I am adding a few more here for you to go look at.

This one is for Instagram’s Privacy Settings 

• Which answers a lot of questions about comments, posts and liking photos. 
• These settings mostly have to be controlled from your phone in the Instagram Application

This one is for Facebook’s Account Settings

• Which answers a lot of questions about Search Engines, Privacy and Post.
• This also walks you through adjusting your privacy settings and tells you how to deal with those pesky ads.

All in all, your information is pretty safe if you actually look at your settings and adjust them to not give away your phone number and email address.

How can you tweak a few settings to make sure that those scammers have a hard time getting to your information?

In this section, I am going to give you a large tip on how to make it harder. I have already mentioned some things like actually looking at the information that you are allowing them to take and the information that you are allowing to be shared. 

So Here is the best tip I can give you.

Follow this link… Facebook and it will go through all of your settings for privacy with you. It breaks everything down into sections so that you can more easily adjust your settings based on how you want them. 

I know that you will be kind of busy for they next few minutes… so I hope you enjoy the link and as always Happy Computing 🙂 Stay Safe and Check your settings.