Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Reddit, Amazon, Apple, Google -- social media has connected us all in so many ways, but how much of your data does someone have?
We’ve all heard the stories of companies data mining and “big brother” watching our every online move. But how many people have your information? And how do you find out?
Each social media app has a way for you to request your data.
For Facebook, click Settings and Privacy, then Your Facebook Information. For Google, visit takeout.google.com. For Apple, visit www.apple.com/privacy.
Simply follow the prompts and then wait for the email. You’ll get a copy of every comment and post you made, every website you’ve visited, every real location you’ve logged in from, every online interaction you’ve had, your facial recognition data, targeted ads, lists of all the advertisers that have your information.
The best ways to protect yourself? Limit the apps on your phone and consider using a VPN when browsing the internet on your computer to keep your important information hidden.
While many companies make it easy to get a copy of your data, your archive doesn’t show you everything.
Sites like Facebook track your web and location history as much as possible and you won’t find all of that in your data request download. You can view your location history on Facebook by going to Settings, Location, and click View Location History.