Following on from Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before the US Congress in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and as part of his testimony, Facebook has revealed all (or most) of the many ways that it collects data on its users.
While some of the data it collects about you, (like how much time you spend on the site), is probably fairly self-evident, others are somewhat surprising.
Among other things, Facebook determines you’re human (rather than an automated program) by recording your mouse movements, and monitoring whether your browser window is active, or in the background (or minimised probably).
It collects data about your devices, including battery level, signal strength and space, and knows your operating system, browser type, and even file names and plug-ins.
It even “sometimes” monitors devices around the user, or on the same network. It monitors device signals, information about nearby wi-fi access points, and even nearby cell towers.
GPS location, camera info, and photos, as well as call logs and SMS logs are recorded, if you sync devices or upload data, and collects data on “online and offline actions” like purchases from 3rd party providers, and game, app and account data.
You can see the full list in the 229-page disclosure here. (Opens a .PDF)