Are you worried about the knowledge that Facebook has on you?

[Jim Procter]

I go on Facebook now and again to watch how my great grandchildren are doing. I can see their photos and get news on how their lives are progressing.Pretty simple things with no malice in them. Or so I thought!!!I have been looking on line for a new parasol for the garden.I have also been looking online for a new greenhouse.After a futile search I decide to see what’s happening on Facebook.And what do I find among the stuff about my family,advertisements about parasols and greenhouses. How the hell did Facebook know what I had been searching for? Now if Facebook can know simple little things about me,it begs the question what does it know about really important things in my life? I am sure there is a debate to be had on this subject

[cashman]

i only go on to keep in tough with distant family n friends i get the same crap.shouldn't be allowed, but have to put up wi it.

[Exile on Spencer St]

I don't use Facebook, Jim, but selling your 'interests' to businesses is its primary function. It hasn't developed into what is now simply to allow people to share photos of their lunch for free. Using such sites is the equivalent of sending letters without an envelope, and using an advertising agency to deliver them. What information do you reckon online banking is collecting?

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have never used FB...I do not see the point of it. Won't ever use it.
I can keep in touch very easily with my family scattered over the globe by other means.
I have always had an innate suspicion of the motives of FB....and it seems,from what I have seen,to cause as many problems as it solves.

It has irked me from time to time when I have wanted to enter promotional competitions, to find that you can only enter them if you are a member of FB.
I think most sites are linked to advertising...it is how some sites gain their revenue.
There may be options on your browser to protect your privacy (a little)by not allowing tracking...but this is not really that successful.
You will always find that adverts that reflect what you have been searching for will appear on your browser.

Wetherspoons has suspended all use of social media sites and feels that this will not affect their business.

[gpick24]

It`s not just facebook though, your computer stores small files called cookies that hold information about websites you`ve visited & searches you`ve done. Websites display adverts of things you may be interested in based on your cookies.

A bit more info from here - https://support.google.com/adsense/t...054008269&rd=1

"Google shows you ads based on many factors, including:

Types of websites you visit, and mobile apps you have on your device
Cookies on your browser and the settings in your Google Account
Websites and apps you’ve visited that belong to businesses that advertise with Google
Your activity on another device
Previous interactions with Google’s ads or advertising services
Your Google Account activity and information"

Disabling cookies in your browser settings will help to stop them.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I clear my cookies on a regular basis.

[Less]

No I'm not worried anyone can follow anything I'm interested in I don't care, if I Google for a greenhouse and magically a cheap greenhouse appears that's great.
If I Google for anything embarrassing and it appears well that's my problem, so long as you are sensible, then you have nothing to worry about no matter how they probe your lifestyle.

[wadey]

I agree and I didn't vote for Trump !

[Big Joe]

I don’t have a Facebook account although I did have Twitter once. To be fair the world has changed no end to the point most of us have an online presence even if you don’t know it. Case in point me. I do the following. Internet bank, book holidays, airline tickets, car parking, order takeaways, hire cars, change energy suppliers, pay bills, track my car, check house security, and use the Accy web all online via my laptop iPad or as now my iPhone. The minute you do this you create an online presence that means some of your data is available for others to see and as such you start getting advertising emails and cold calls. Most people who sign up for online services or to social media sites always tick the terms and conditions box but no one ever reads them. In 2013 and 2013 Facebook changed it T and Cs 13 times but no one ever reads them. Do you know most councils generate revenue by selling residents council tax details. It’s how they generate revenue and they can do it because people do not read the forms properly and fail to tick the disclosure box. It’s the price of living in the modern world. One of my daughters works for a very high profile multinational. At her interview they asked her for the details of five of her friends. The reason to check their profiles to see if there is anything embarrassing on there relating to my daughter. Like many people now my daughter had two FB profiles one professional one social in a different name.

[Margaret Pilkington]

As to the council tax thing..My Mum fell into the trap of not ticking the box to keep her details safe.
She had no online presence, she did not know one end of a computer from another.
Because she was elderly she was targeted by all kinds of Charities....charities in which she had no interest.
Being soft hearted she gave small donations to a select few....this generated more requests for support.
I told her not to deal with them anymore, that I would do this.
I sent all the mail back to senders and requested that my mums name be removed from the commercial register at the council offices.
This was done and very gradually these charity requests dwindled.

I don't have a smartphone, I do have internet banking, and some bills get paid over the Internet. I do not order food, or book holidays on the net....I do have a Flickr account....and of course Accyweb...so yes, I have an internet presence.
I try to read terms and conditions, but sometimes I have to admit that I try to ask myself if I tick the 'disagree' box will it make life that bit more difficult....and find myself accepting them for an easier life.
It is something that, like it or not is inevitable and there was something in the media yesterday about the elderly who are not connected to the internet being penalised for this....they cannot access the same money saving offers.

The internet is a swamp filled with crocodiles....as long as you remember that and treat it with a modicum of suspicion tinged with caution, then you will be OK.

[Big Joe]

Terms and conditions are a nightmare. For a start they are seldom written in English, I should say English that unless you are a corporate lawyer you will have no chance of understanding. As I said the moment you do something online you create an online presence. The more you do the greater the presence. There are now intelligence gathering companies that specialize in OSINT (Open Source Intelligence ) OSINT is information that is freely already out in the public domain about you. These people use a whole host of search engines (not just google) but highly specialised search engines that pull out all kinds of information all of which has been put out there by you and me when we sign up to groups, utilities etc. They pull all this data together to create a profile on the individual which may be used as a recruitment tool or for general intelligence purposes. Sadly all this information can be used and is often used for the wrong reasons and a good example as Margaret said is charities and other cold callers. This is the cost of using the internet. Having said that before the internet how did we manage to do all the things we now do online when you had to physically go and see people and talk to them????

[Margaret Pilkington]

I still do those things that we now use the internet for.
I write letter(though I seldom get one in return...but maybe an e-mail)....I still visit people and talk to them face to face...admittedly, they all tend to be the older folk.
I enjoy listening to them talk about their lives.
I am absolute rubbish at texting...and I watch in amazement at the speed that the young folk can do this tiresome task.

Sometimes technology takes the joy out of life....it might make things easier in practical terms but it doesn't make them joyful.

[monkey hanger]

facebook, texts, constant use of a mobile phone i can live without and as for internet banking they can do one on that subject. i might be stuck in a timewarp but its one i,m happy with.

[Less]

Originally Posted by monkey hanger

facebook, texts, constant use of a mobile phone i can live without and as for internet banking they can do one on that subject. i might be stuck in a timewarp but its one i,m happy with.

All of the above I enjoy as part of modern living. It is only like the good old days of no Internet, when, if you hang your dirty laundry out to dry someone will comment, no doubt to your embarrassment.

Just be careful to whom you pass on personal information, (and never post a selfie of your tits, you don't know we're they might end up).

[Less]

Where not we're don't you just hate this modern predictive text thingy?