We informed you on Saturday about how Apple Inc. is currently waging a war against Facebook’s collection of user data. The electronics giant released iOS 14.5, the latest version of its operating system, last month. The new iOS asks users if they would like to stop apps like Facebook from tracking their data and location, and unsurprisingly, more than 80% of the users have opted out of data tracking.
Still Sneaking In
However, a new report by Forbes claims that users’ worries are far from the end, as Apple’s move to stop Facebook from tracking user data is applicable to just third-party apps and websites, and has no bearing whatsoever on data tracked through apps that Facebook Inc. actually owns.
This means that even though Facebook won’t be able to access your data should you log in to your account via Google Chrome, it will very much be able to do so, should you reply to your Facebook DMs through Messenger.
Additionally, the report also says that there is a significant loophole in the system, which allows Facebook Inc. to continue accessing user information through IP addresses and photo location tags, which are often used in posts.
This means that even if you location is turned off, and the Facebook app is (apparently) never allowed to access it, the company will continue to do exactly that, if you make a post through the app.
Stealthy as Ever
Another warning that the report gives out to users is that though ut appears that Facebook (and subsidiary Instagram) have stripped the location metadata from photos, the data is actually, still stored in the company’s database. Proof for the same can be retrieved by selecting “Photos and Videos” in the “Your Facebook Information” option in the app’s Privacy Settings.
So what does the app actually do with the data it collects? It makes use of it to direct “personalized” ads towards the users’ profiles, depending upon their interests.
