A recent report by the nonprofit Consumer Reports has found that thousands of companies share a single user’s data with Facebook. This sharing pertains to user data and behaviors outside Facebook or any other Meta platform.
While it may not come as a surprise that companies engage in such practices, the sheer numbers reveal the magnitude of this kind of privacy issue. On average, 2,230 companies shared data on each participant, according to Consumer Reports’ study.
One company in particular, a data broker called LiveRamp based in San Francisco, appeared in 96% of participants’ data. Others include a number of well-known US brands, such as Home Depot, Macy’s, and Walmart.
“Credit reporting and consumer data companies such as Experian and TransUnion’s Neustar also made the list, as did Amazon, Etsy, and PayPal,” Consumer Reports states.
186,892 Companies Shared Data of 709 Volunteers With Facebook
The survey involved asking a group of volunteers to share archives of their Facebook data. This allowed Consumer Reports to study server-to-server tracking, where a company directly shares information with Meta’s servers.
Any Facebook user can do this by going to the Accounts Center and clicking on “Your information and permissions.” A total of 709 volunteers shared their data with the non-profit. While there are limitations to this methodology, it does provide insights into what a regular Facebook user in the US can expect about online data collection and aggregation.
“Participants were also likely more privacy-conscious and technically inclined than typical users and more likely to be members of Consumers Reports,” the non-profit stated.
Consumer Reports found that 186,892 companies shared information about these volunteers with Facebook. While this signals an average of 2,230 companies per user, there was significant variance in this number across participants. In some cases, over 7,000 companies shared data with Facebook about a single user.
Facebook’s Transparency Practices Far From Perfect
While Meta does offer transparency tools to help customers understand their data collection practices, Consumer Reports states these tools have glaring flaws.
For starters, it is not always clear which companies are sharing a user’s data with Facebook. Apart from the well-known brands, it can be very difficult to identify a data provider. Secondly, certain types of companies — such as those that provide services to advertisers — can ignore opt-out requests.
The data that these companies share comes from two types of data collection. The first is custom audiences, which involves advertisers adding their customer lists to Facebook. This usually contains information like email addresses and mobile advertising IDs.
“These customers, and so-called look-alike audiences made up of similar people, can then be targeted with ads on Meta’s platforms,” Consumer Reports states.
The second source of data is “events,” which include a wide variety of online or offline interactions a user has with a brand or service. Online interactions essentially involve going to a website or using an app that uses the Meta tracking pixel and server-to-server tracking.
How to Protect Yourself From Excessive Data Sharing
Meta has been notorious for its intrusive data-sharing practices. Despite initiating privacy-oriented policies in recent years to improve its public image, the company cannot seem to help itself when it comes to customer data.
If you want to minimize data sharing from third parties, we recommend following the steps below:
- Going to Accounts Center on your Facebook account,
- Click on “Your information and permissions”
- Select “Your activity off Meta technologies,” and click on “Recent activity.” Re-enter your password at this point if prompted to do so.
- You will see a list of recent third-party sites and companies you visited. To stop sharing data with Facebook in the future, select “Disconnect” next to the company.
Meta’s tracking pixel is on a number of popular websites and mobile apps. If you don’t want these sneaky pieces of code snooping on your activity and sharing it with Meta, we recommend using a service like NordVPN.
NordVPN is a comprehensive cybersecurity tool, and its Threat Protection will keep you safe from web trackers online.
