Facebook Privacy Summary
Facebook (Meta) is a social networking platform for sharing posts, photos, messaging, groups, events and marketplace commerce with personalised feeds and ads.
Quick Summary
- What They Collect: Profile, content, device, location, browsing/off‑product activity and payment data.
- How They Use & Share It: Personalisation, ads, analytics, safety; shared with Meta Companies, advertisers, vendors and law enforcement.
- Your Rights: Access, download, port, delete data, manage ad preferences and exercise local data‑protection rights.
Why You Should Care About Facebook's Privacy Practices
- Your sensitive content and messages can be used in profiling and ad targeting (high‑risk data collection such as messages, photos).
- Broad sharing with advertisers and marketing vendors enables intensive targeted advertising and behavioural profiling across the web.
- Data transfers and cross‑company sharing mean your Facebook data can be processed globally, affecting privacy rights and jurisdiction.
- Deletion is not immediate: preserved copies for legal, safety or investigatory reasons create long‑term privacy exposure.
Privacy Highlights
What They Collect
- Account information
- User content and files
- Demographic information
- Feedback data
- Payment information
How They Share Data
- Business affiliates (Meta Companies)
- Service providers
- Third-party partners (integrated partners)
- Advertising partners / marketing vendors
Data Retention
Data is retained as long as needed to provide features, comply with law, or for safety/integrity reasons; some data (profile info, posted photos) may be kept for the lifetime of an account and certain records may be preserved after deletion for legal or safety reasons; deletion processes can take up to 90 days to complete and backups may take longer.
Your Rights
- Access data
- Rectify data
- Erase or limit processing
- Object to processing
Detailed Analysis
Concerning Practices
- Shares data with many third parties including advertisers and measurement vendors
- Collects extensive personal and sensitive data (content, messages, device & off-product activity)
- Cross‑company sharing across Meta entities
- Uses profiling and machine learning to choose ads and personalise content
- Transfers data internationally (global transfers, data centres worldwide)
- May preserve data after deletion for legal, safety or investigatory reasons
- User controls exist but opt-outs are partial and some data collection occurs even without an account
Personal Data Types
Tracking Methods
Third Parties
User Controls
Frequently Asked Questions About Facebook
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Legal Disclaimer
This analysis is provided for informational purposes only and should not be used as legal advice. Consult with legal professionals for matters requiring legal guidance.