LogFAQs > #967584103

adjl posted...

They've done that for a while. Even if you don't have an account, pretty much any site with a link to Facebook will send your site usage stats to Facebook for them to compile and use in case you ever do create an account, as well as selling that data to other corporations as they can.

They've done that almost since the very beginning. It's one of the things people complained about when Facebook first started getting popular, and why more savvy people started trying to find ways to block Facebook's access on other websites.

Not like it even matters at this point though, considering there are dozens (going on hundreds) of different services out there that constantly accumulate and sell every facet of your life on a regular basis, and who do not give a shit about your privacy or consent in any way. Not to mention people willingly carry around phones that all contain GPS data and post tons of details about their personal life on social media all the time. There are no more secrets.

This is the future we've created for ourselves - one in which your entire existence is documented in a digital folder that anyone with enough money can read. We've even passed the point where "going off the grid" is even a viable alternative, because everyone leaves at least some trace now (unless you're planning to fake your own death and live on land you don't own in some third world nation where you grow all your own food and purify your own water without using money or interacting with anyone else in any way). Big Brother is essentially here, and we welcomed him in because he had amusing cat pictures.

Next step is when services use all that data to manipulate the fuck out of you. We're already well on our way via targeted advertising and media recommendations, but the end-goal is one where AIs can predict your behavior and preferences better than you can and then will narrow-cast ads directly to you in ways you don't even realize you're being advertised to.