Wednesday, August 29, 2018

About rules and best practices with account behaviors

About rules and best practices with account behaviors
I can't believe that Twitter actually has a guide on best practices. 

I don't even think the White House has a d guide on and best practices   What I'm saying is that when you first heard about Facebook were you surprisedFacebook isn't the worst Amazon is actually the wires so it's Amazon apple Facebook Twitter and a few other companies that are collecting all the data and a matter what they say about privacy I don't know why I paid for an unlisted number for it with Comcast when they already requirement by everything I post and bright and my name and best that we have other things on the Internet said bottom line is this : You have no privacy you've had no privacy for least a decade that I can contact her going back and yelling about the Byam bachelor and then we using the app/online profiling you have no privacy you've had no privacy for least a decade that I can contact her going back and yelling about the Byam bachelor and then using the app to send that profiling and the worst part is that all the information that they paid down about you they're sending Mr. selling to the police department and Homeland security is using it to identify tire by measure and you can eat here heart rate and the size of your iris has are your pupils and why do you seem excited killing all the shit going on it's no wonder that I'm not locked up somewhere because I am mad ass fucking houseso it's just best that I stay in a vice  I've been Band 48 or 49 times they expect me to buy a new phone and get a new phone number every single fucking time I get banned because that's pretty much what's up and then right now so it's costing me $30 to get a new number for two factor Authorization
 





I don't think people realize is how serious this because when people don't resolve it for one time 
years or so and text me they have gas range father into the docs my neighbors that had the artistic baby and put his pictures and a diaper and Harold porn in that event with Ryan 

About rules and best practices with account behaviors

Below, we've outlined a basic introduction to Twitter's rules and best practices related to some of the most common questions we come across. For a comprehensive list of account behaviors that could lead to potential account violations, please see the Twitter Rules.

Following

Automated proactive following and automated un-following are not allowed. For example, aggressively or indiscriminately following hundreds of accounts to get attention can create a frustrating experience for people. Read about following rules and best practices.

Replies

You can direct a Tweet to a specific person using replies and mentions. The reply feature is intended to make communication between people easier, but repeatedly posting duplicated and unsolicited replies to many accounts is considered spam behavior.

Trending topics

Participating in Twitter trends is a great way to join a worldwide public conversation. Our FAQs about trends on Twitter article has information on how to join in. However, posting unrelated Tweets to trends in order to get attention could result in your account being suspended. 

Paid partnership

While Tweets promoted through Twitter's advertising services are labeled as "Promoted" and must abide by our Twitter Ads Policies, organic, non-promoted Tweets may also be considered paid product placements, endorsements, or advertisements ('Paid Partnerships").  Advertisements posted as organic Tweets will require disclosures to viewers indicating the commercial nature of such content. In addition to abiding by the Twitter Rules, users, including creators and brands, that participate in Paid Partnerships are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations.

Best Practices: 

  • Ensure you comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to, all advertising laws and FTC regulations including the FTC's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
  • Be sure to include all applicable disclosures required to indicate the commercial nature of your content (e.g., use #ad to indicate that your content is an advertisement).

Search (and contests)

Twitter search is a powerful way to find out what people are talking about, right now. We may filter accounts from search if they're degrading the search experience for other people (by posting lots of duplicate links, for example). Read about our Twitter search rules and restrictions for more information. To learn how to run a contest, read about our Guidelines for Promotions on Twitter.

Automation

If you'd like to add account automation, read our Automation rules and best practices article.

Having Trouble?

Check out our complete list of articles outlining our policies, guidelines and best practices.



Elyssa Durant

Trump Accuses Google of Burying Conservative News in Search Results - The New York Time

Trump Accuses Google of Burying Conservative News in Search Results - The New York Times

How is it possible that the PRESIDENT of the United States doesn't know about Search   Engine optimization? 


He's always talking about ratings. 


Doesn't he realize there's actual science to this stuff?




https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/business/media/google-trump-news-results.html?emc=edit_th_180829&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=588879300829


Trump Accuses Google of Burying Conservative News in Search Results

President Trump has increasingly denounced tech companies.Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Trump, in a series of early morning Twitter posts on Tuesday, attacked Google for what he claimed was an effort to intentionally suppress conservative news outlets supportive of his administration.

Mr. Trump's remarks — and an additional warning later in the day that Google, Facebook and Twitter "have to be careful" — escalated a conservative campaign against the internet industry that has become more pointed since Apple, Google and Facebook removed content from Alex Jones, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who runs the site InfoWars and has been a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump.

"Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media," Mr. Trump said on Twitter at 5:24 a.m. "In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent."

Mr. Trump added that "they are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!"

Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council and a longtime advocate of deregulation, appeared to back Mr. Trump when asked by reporters later on Tuesday whether the administration would be pursuing more regulation of Google. "We'll let you know," Mr. Kudlow said. "We're taking a look at it."

In a statement, Google said that its search service was "not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology."

The president's tweets landed at a difficult moment for the tech industry. There is a growing sense across the political spectrum in the United States and in other countries that something must be done to rein in their influence.

Executives from many of the largest internet companies will face questions next week at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about their efforts to prevent foreign meddling in the midterm elections in November, a follow-up to congressional hearings held after the 2016 elections. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, and Twitter's Jack Dorsey are scheduled to testify in front of the committee.

Google has also been called to testify. Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina and the chairman of the Senate committee, has asked Google to send Sundar Pichai, its chief executive. So far, the company has offered to send Kent Walker, its senior vice president of global affairs.

Mr. Burr said he was unlikely to subpoena Mr. Pichai to testify, but that his absence would signal that Google was choosing "not to participate" and be "part of the solution."

Interfering in how companies like Google and Facebook present information would be a notable departure for the federal government, which has mostly taken a hands-off approach to the internet. Free-speech scholars said companies like Google and Facebook were free to operate with few restrictions thanks to a 1996 law called the Telecommunications Act.

"That law pretty much removes free-speech liability for Google and Facebook," said Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech at the Newhouse School. "That being said, I think it'd be a major leap to believe that the people behind Google are writing algorithms to discriminate against content."

Last month, regulators in Europe fined Google $5.1 billion for antitrust violations. After the European fine, Mr. Trump said Google was "one of our great companies."

What sort of pressure regulators in the United States could exert is not entirely clear.

The Justice Department, under both the Trump and Obama administrations, has shown little interest in pursuing antitrust cases against Google or its parent company, Alphabet. Mr. Trump has often raised antitrust questions about another tech giant, Amazon, but little has come of his threats.

Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, has suggested that if internet companies are not a "neutral platform," they should not be protected by a law known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which gives companies broad legal immunity for what people put on their services.

Appearing in front of reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Trump offered a vague expansion of his earlier criticism, saying that social news platforms were actively "taking advantage" of people. "We have tremendous, we have literally thousands and thousands of complaints coming in. And you just can't do that," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump's claims of bias appeared to be inspired by a segment Monday night from Lou Dobbs, a host on the Fox Business Network. Mr. Dobbs highlighted an article by a conservative website, PJ Media, that said that it had conducted what it called an unscientific study in which 96 percent of Google search results for the word "Trump" were articles from "left-leaning sites."

The piece was also featured on the website Drudge Report, whose operator, Matt Drudge, was an early supporter of Mr. Trump.

Search engine experts said Google uses many factors in its search algorithm — including how often a web page is linked to by other sites and how often certain words appear on a page — and that formula is constantly being updated.

"Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users' queries," the company said. "We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment."

Even longtime Google critics disagreed with the premise of the PJ Media article.

"The industry should have plenty of concerns with Google, particularly antitrust and data collection practices, but this isn't one of them," said Jason Kint, the chief executive of Digital Content Next, an online publishing industry group. "The president's tweets this morning are flat-out absurd."

Long before Facebook, Apple and Google had removed InfoWars from their sites, conservatives were zeroing in on Big Tech as a new enemy in the political culture wars. In February, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., guests packed a ballroom for a discussion called "Suppression of Conservative Views on Social Media: A First Amendment Issue."

Although it provided a target for those in attendance, Google was a sponsor of the conference. The company held a reception for conference attendees, with an open bar and a roaring outdoor fireplace.

Peter Schweizer, a right-wing journalist known for his investigations into Hillary Clinton, has followed a similar line of attack as a writer and producer of a new documentary, "The Creepy Line," which argues that Silicon Valley is stifling conservative content. The Daily Caller, a conservative news and opinion website, recently posted the trailer.

During the presidential election, Trump campaign officials claimed Google was manipulating search results to favor Hillary Clinton. But right after the election, the top Google search result for "final election vote count 2016" was a link to a story that wrongly stated that Mr. Trump, who won the Electoral College, had also defeated Mrs. Clinton in the popular vote.

Since then, Google has updated its search algorithm to surface what it calls "more authoritative" news sources.

The internet companies find themselves caught between conservatives who say they are being heavy-handed and others who say they are not doing enough to police their sites. Twitter only suspended Mr. Jones's account, for example, and was condemned by some of its own employees and many on the left for not being tougher.

But the move by other tech giants earlier this month to ban Mr. Jones drew condemnation from a range of conservatives — even some who say they do not care for Mr. Jones. "Who the hell made Facebook the arbiter of political speech?" Mr. Cruz said in a tweet.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the majority leader, has also raised concerns that Republican voices were being stifled online. He was joined by other Republican House leaders, including Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, Greg Walden, who threatened to subpoena Twitter's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, if he did not testify in Congress in a separate hearing on Sept. 5 on content moderation on the internet.

"Social media platforms are increasingly serving as today's town squares," Mr. McCarthy said in a statement after Mr. Dorsey agreed to testify. "But sadly, conservatives are too often finding their voices silenced."

Follow Adam Satariano, Daisuke Wakabayashi and Cecilia Kang on Twitter: @satariano, @daiwaka and @ceciliakang

Jeremy Peters, Katie Rogers and Edmund Lee contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Says Google Is 'Rigged' and Suppresses Conservative News. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Elyssa D. Durant 
Research & Policy Analyst
Columbia University, New York

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Fwd: August 11, 2018

Elyssa D. Durant
Research & Policy Analyst
Columbia University, New York


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The FBI says to be wary of hackers ... and to let the FBI hack what it wants | Trevor Timm | Opinion | The Guardian

The FBI says to be wary of hackers ... and to let the FBI hack what it wants | Trevor Timm | Opinion | The Guardian
This article is so on point I could have written it myself. 

I can't tell you how furious I was when the FBI issues a warning about Op Shady RAT, Botnets and when I contacted them they refused to to inspect the logs and devices which confirmed and when I finally heard back from the FBI Headquarters they called from a blocked number. 

How do I know it is really the FBI? My hackers impersonated US Cyber Command on multiple occasions but they weren't even interested in inspecting the devices.  

Instead of helping to stop the exploits I discovered, they were recruited and hired as my federal benefits and government job were compromised by destroying my credibility and competence and I can only hope that all of the vulnerabilities I found while building the database for the government before these people drove me to the brink of insanity and back again. 

That all from me,

E  




The FBI says to be wary of hackers ... and to let the FBI hack what it wants

Even as the FBI warns US citizens that their personal data is increasingly likely to be hacked by criminals, the agency – without any public debate – is quietly ramping up its own abilities to hack anyone in the world. And, as we found out this week, their underhanded tactics are even ensnaring news organizations.

The Seattle Times and Associated Press issued angry statements to the FBI on Tuesday after the American Civil Liberties Union's Chris Soghoian discovered that the FBI had falsified an AP story and byline, and then possibly attempted to make it look like the fake story was published on the Seattle Times website – all to deliver malware to a suspect in a criminal case. The evidence was buried in documents obtained by EFF (pages 61-62) under the Freedom of Information Act three years ago (and the emails date back even further), but no one seems to have noticed before this week.

Seattle Times editor Kathy Best said in a statement to The Stranger that the paper was "outraged" by the FBI's apparent behavior and added: "Not only does that cross the line, it erases it... We hope that this mistake in judgment by the FBI was a one-time aberration and not a symptom of a deeper lack of respect for the role of a free press in society." The AP followed suit, saying they were "extremely concerned and find it unacceptable" that the FBI would falsify an AP byline to deliver its malware.

Since the FBI is in the business of distributing fake news stories, they won't mind if I start distributing fake subpoenas, right?

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker)

After defending the practice on Monday, the FBI issued a statement Tuesday saying that, while they did fake the AP story, they did not in the end spoof the Seattle Times website. Though there are still a lot of questions that FBI seems unwilling to answer. Because the documents were heavily redacted, it's tough to tell how the whole plan worked: we still don't know how the FBI delivered the link (through a fake reporter or mySpace friend), to which website the link went, how many people besides the suspect clicked on it, or whether there even more impersonation going on beyond what we see in the email. And most importantly: how often do they normally impersonate news organizations and falsify articles?

Whatever the answers, impersonating news organizations is supposed to be beyond the pale for the US government. Even the CIA – of all places – has had a rule in place since the 70s barring its agents from impersonating journalists in the field. So why is the FBI allowed to pretend to be news organizations online?

Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian)

A matter of time till media orgs follow lead of public health deans in demanding policy of no US gov impersonation. http://t.co/S8OF4iFEl6

October 28, 2014

In the six years since the FBI impersonated the Seattle Times and AP to hack a suspect, it's only ramped up its exploits. Since at least 2007, the FBI has had what it calls a "Secure Technologies Exploitation Group" – which is a more polite way of saying they have a team that hacks computers.

In an extraordinary report published in August, Wired's Kevin Poulsen detailed how the FBI has been setting up honeypots on certain websites to ensare all sorts of suspects. The websites deliver malware to every visitor of the website and will tell the FBI who has been visiting it – even if the Internet users are using anonymity tools like the Tor Browser. It's one thing if this is being done for child porn websites – where even visiting the site is a crime – but this is yet another tactic that the FBI uses without telling us how often or against whom it's aimed.

We do know that the FBI is attempting to alter the nationwide court rules known as the Federal Rules of Procedure, so that it will be even easier for them to hack suspects no matter where the investigation is occurring. Hastings Law professor Ahmed Ghappour recently called that effort "possibly the broadest expansion of extraterritorial surveillance power since the FBI's inception."

But the FBI is trying to alter those rules without raising privacy advocates' hackles (though luckily some have caught on). In their proposal, the FBI uses language like "use remote access to search electronic storage media and to seize or copy electronically stored information". That is a euphemism for hacking, but it'd be hard to tell unless you read it 10 times. They've been using the same language with judges, at least one of whom has recently rejected the FBI hacking request, given the invasiveness of what they were actually doing. The judge described the FBI's malware tool in that particular case like this:

Once installed, the software has the capacity to search the computer's hard drive, random access memory, and other storage media; to activate the computer's built-in camera; to generate latitude and longitude coordinates for the computer's location; and to transmit the extracted data to FBI agents within the district.

Recently, FBI director Jim Comey complained that Apple and Google shouldn't be encrypting Americans' smartphones by default "without careful thought and debate". It'd be nice if he used the same standard for the FBI's hacking abilities – which seems to have become a go-to FBI tactic without Comey ever granting the public the right to either think or debate about it.



Elyssa Durant

Sunday, August 26, 2018

DHS Looks to Collect Social Media Info for All Immigrants - Law and Daily Life

DHS Looks to Collect Social Media Info for All Immigrants - Law and Daily Life

DHS Looks to Collect Social Media Info for All Immigrants

A new rule will allow the Department of Homeland Security to gather social media information for immigrants, including "social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results." While this might seem like a normal update to the vetting process for incoming visitors or visa applications, the rule would reportedly also apply to people who have already obtained a green card or completed the naturalization process.

Additionally, the new rule could make U.S. citizens' conversations with immigrants on social media subject to government surveillance. Here's a look.

Update Your Status

Buzzfeed first reported on the new rule, which was published in the Federal Register last week, and will go into effect October 18. DHS at that point will expand the categories of information it collects under its Alien File, Index, and National File Tracking System of Records to include "social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results." And there are concerns as to the privacy implications of the new rule as well as its efficacy.

"We see this as part of a larger process of high-tech surveillance of immigrants and more and more people being subjected to social media screening," Adam Schwartz, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation told BuzzFeed News. "There's a growing trend at the Department of Homeland Security to be snooping on the social media of immigrants and foreigners and we think it's an invasion of privacy and deters freedom of speech."

Buzzfeed also reports that an Office of Inspector General report published in February found DHS pilot programs for using social media to screen applicants for immigration benefits "lack criteria for measuring performance to ensure they meet their objectives."

Like This Page

In May, the Trump administration authorized a new questionnaire for U.S. visa applicants that requests social media handles going back five years. So while we may know what information immigration officials want and how they will access it, how that information will be used in making immigration decisions remains to be seen.

Related Resources:



Elyssa Durant

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

Data Policy | Instagram Help Center

Data Policy

This policy describes the information we process to support Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and other products and features offered by Facebook (Facebook Products or Products). You can find additional tools and information in the Facebook Settings and Instagram Settings.

I. What kinds of information do we collect?

To provide the Facebook Products, we must process information about you. The types of information we collect depend on how you use our Products. You can learn how to access and delete information we collect by visiting the Facebook Settings and Instagram Settings.

Things you and others do and provide.

  • Information and content you provide. We collect the content, communications and other information you provide when you use our Products, including when you sign up for an account, create or share content, and message or communicate with others. This can include information in or about the content you provide (like metadata), such as the location of a photo or the date a file was created. It can also include what you see through features we provide, such as our camera, so we can do things like suggest masks and filters that you might like, or give you tips on using camera formats. Our systems automatically process content and communications you and others provide to analyze context and what's in them for the purposes described below. Learn more about how you can control who can see the things you share.
    • Data with special protections: You can choose to provide information in your Facebook profile fields or Life Events about your religious views, political views, who you are "interested in," or your health. This and other information (such as racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership) could be subject to special protections under the laws of your country.
  • Networks and connections. We collect information about the people, Pages, accounts, hashtags and groups you are connected to and how you interact with them across our Products, such as people you communicate with the most or groups you are part of. We also collect contact information if you choose to upload, sync or import it from a device (such as an address book or call log or SMS log history), which we use for things like helping you and others find people you may know and for the other purposes listed below.
  • Your usage. We collect information about how you use our Products, such as the types of content you view or engage with; the features you use; the actions you take; the people or accounts you interact with; and the time, frequency and duration of your activities. For example, we log when you're using and have last used our Products, and what posts, videos and other content you view on our Products. We also collect information about how you use features like our camera.
  • Information about transactions made on our Products. If you use our Products for purchases or other financial transactions (such as when you make a purchase in a game or make a donation), we collect information about the purchase or transaction. This includes payment information, such as your credit or debit card number and other card information; other account and authentication information; and billing, shipping and contact details.
  • Things others do and information they provide about you. We also receive and analyze content, communications and information that other people provide when they use our Products. This can include information about you, such as when others share or comment on a photo of you, send a message to you, or upload, sync or import your contact information.

Device Information

As described below, we collect information from and about the computers, phones, connected TVs and other web-connected devices you use that integrate with our Products, and we combine this information across different devices you use. For example, we use information collected about your use of our Products on your phone to better personalize the content (including ads) or features you see when you use our Products on another device, such as your laptop or tablet, or to measure whether you took an action in response to an ad we showed you on your phone on a different device.
Information we obtain from these devices includes:
  • Device attributes: information such as the operating system, hardware and software versions, battery level, signal strength, available storage space, browser type, app and file names and types, and plugins.
  • Device operations: information about operations and behaviors performed on the device, such as whether a window is foregrounded or backgrounded, or mouse movements (which can help distinguish humans from bots).
  • Identifiers: unique identifiers, device IDs, and other identifiers, such as from games, apps or accounts you use, and Family Device IDs (or other identifiers unique to Facebook Company Products associated with the same device or account).
  • Device signals: Bluetooth signals, and information about nearby Wi-Fi access points, beacons, and cell towers.
  • Data from device settings: information you allow us to receive through device settings you turn on, such as access to your GPS location, camera or photos.
  • Network and connections: information such as the name of your mobile operator or ISP, language, time zone, mobile phone number, IP address, connection speed and, in some cases, information about other devices that are nearby or on your network, so we can do things like help you stream a video from your phone to your TV.
  • Cookie data: data from cookies stored on your device, including cookie IDs and settings. Learn more about how we use cookies in the Facebook Cookies Policy and Instagram Cookies Policy.

Information from partners.

Advertisers, app developers, and publishers can send us information through Facebook Business Tools they use, including our social plug-ins (such as the Like button), Facebook Login, our APIs and SDKs, or the Facebook pixel. These partners provide information about your activities off Facebook—including information about your device, websites you visit, purchases you make, the ads you see, and how you use their services—whether or not you have a Facebook account or are logged into Facebook. For example, a game developer could use our API to tell us what games you play, or a business could tell us about a purchase you made in its store. We also receive information about your online and offline actions and purchases from third-party data providers who have the rights to provide us with your information.
Partners receive your data when you visit or use their services or through third parties they work with. We require each of these partners to have lawful rights to collect, use and share your data before providing any data to us. Learn more about the types of partners we receive data from.
To learn more about how we use cookies in connection with Facebook Business Tools, review the Facebook Cookies Policy and Instagram Cookies Policy.

II. How do we use this information?

We use the information we have (subject to choices you make) as described below and to provide and support the Facebook Products and related services described in the Facebook Terms and Instagram Terms. Here's how:

Provide, personalize and improve our Products.

We use the information we have to deliver our Products, including to personalize features and content (including your News Feed, Instagram Feed, Instagram Stories and ads) and make suggestions for you (such as groups or events you may be interested in or topics you may want to follow) on and off our Products. To create personalized Products that are unique and relevant to you, we use your connections, preferences, interests and activities based on the data we collect and learn from you and others (including any data with special protections you choose to provide); how you use and interact with our Products; and the people, places, or things you're connected to and interested in on and off our Products. Learn more about how we use information about you to personalize your Facebook and Instagram experience, including features, content and recommendations in Facebook Products; you can also learn more about how we choose the ads that you see.
  • Information across Facebook Products and devices: We connect information about your activities on different Facebook Products and devices to provide a more tailored and consistent experience on all Facebook Products you use, wherever you use them. For example, we can suggest that you join a group on Facebook that includes people you follow on Instagram or communicate with using Messenger. We can also make your experience more seamless, for example, by automatically filling in your registration information (such as your phone number) from one Facebook Product when you sign up for an account on a different Product.
  • Location-related information: We use location-related information-such as your current location, where you live, the places you like to go, and the businesses and people you're near-to provide, personalize and improve our Products, including ads, for you and others. Location-related information can be based on things like precise device location (if you've allowed us to collect it), IP addresses, and information from your and others' use of Facebook Products (such as check-ins or events you attend).
  • Product research and development: We use the information we have to develop, test and improve our Products, including by conducting surveys and research, and testing and troubleshooting new products and features.
  • Face recognition: If you have it turned on, we use face recognition technology to recognize you in photos, videos and camera experiences. The face-recognition templates we create may constitute data with special protections under the laws of your country. Learn more about how we use face recognition technology, or control our use of this technology in Facebook Settings. If we introduce face-recognition technology to your Instagram experience, we will let you know first, and you will have control over whether we use this technology for you.
  • Ads and other sponsored content: We use the information we have about you-including information about your interests, actions and connections-to select and personalize ads, offers and other sponsored content that we show you. Learn more about how we select and personalize ads, and your choices over the data we use to select ads and other sponsored content for you in the Facebook Settings and Instagram Settings.

Provide measurement, analytics, and other business services.

We use the information we have (including your activity off our Products, such as the websites you visit and ads you see) to help advertisers and other partners measure the effectiveness and distribution of their ads and services, and understand the types of people who use their services and how people interact with their websites, apps, and services. Learn how we share information with these partners.

Promote safety, integrity and security.

We use the information we have to verify accounts and activity, combat harmful conduct, detect and prevent spam and other bad experiences, maintain the integrity of our Products, and promote safety and security on and off of Facebook Products. For example, we use data we have to investigate suspicious activity or violations of our terms or policies, or to detect when someone needs help. To learn more, visit the Facebook Security Help Center and Instagram Security Tips.

Communicate with you.

We use the information we have to send you marketing communications, communicate with you about our Products, and let you know about our policies and terms. We also use your information to respond to you when you contact us.


Research and innovate for social good.

We use the information we have (including from research partners we collaborate with) to conduct and support research and innovation on topics of general social welfare, technological advancement, public interest, health and well-being. For example, we analyze information we have about migration patterns during crises to aid relief efforts. Learn more about our research programs.

III. How is this information shared?

Your information is shared with others in the following ways:

Sharing on Facebook Products

People and accounts you share and communicate with

When you share and communicate using our Products, you choose the audience for what you share. For example, when you post on Facebook, you select the audience for the post, such as a group, all of your friends, the public, or a customized list of people. Similarly, when you use Messenger or Instagram to communicate with people or businesses, those people and businesses can see the content you send. Your network can also see actions you have taken on our Products, including engagement with ads and sponsored content. We also let other accounts see who has viewed their Facebook or Instagram Stories.
Public information can be seen by anyone, on or off our Products, including if they don't have an account. This includes your Instagram username; any information you share with a public audience; information in your public profile on Facebook; and content you share on a Facebook Page, public Instagram account or any other public forum, such as Facebook Marketplace. You, other people using Facebook and Instagram, and we can provide access to or send public information to anyone on or off our Products, including in other Facebook Company Products, in search results, or through tools and APIs. Public information can also be seen, accessed, reshared or downloaded through third-party services such as search engines, APIs, and offline media such as TV, and by apps, websites and other services that integrate with our Products.
Learn more about what information is public and how to control your visibility on Facebook and Instagram.

Content others share or reshare about you

You should consider who you choose to share with, because people who can see your activity on our Products can choose to share it with others on and off our Products, including people and businesses outside the audience you shared with. For example, when you share a post or send a message to specific friends or accounts, they can download, screenshot, or reshare that content to others across or off our Products, in person or in virtual reality experiences such as Facebook Spaces. Also, when you comment on someone else's post or react to their content, your comment or reaction is visible to anyone who can see the other person's content, and that person can change the audience later.
People can also use our Products to create and share content about you with the audience they choose. For example, people can share a photo of you in a Story, mention or tag you at a location in a post, or share information about you in their posts or messages. If you are uncomfortable with what others have shared about you on our Products, you can learn how to report the content.

Information about your active status or presence on our Products.

People in your networks can see signals telling them whether you are active on our Products, including whether you are currently active on Instagram, Messenger or Facebook, or when you last used our Products.

Apps, websites, and third-party integrations on or using our Products.

When you choose to use third-party apps, websites, or other services that use, or are integrated with, our Products, they can receive information about what you post or share. For example, when you play a game with your Facebook friends or use a Facebook Comment or Share button on a website, the game developer or website can receive information about your activities in the game or receive a comment or link that you share from the website on Facebook. Also, when you download or use such third-party services, they can access your public profile on Facebook, and any information that you share with them. Apps and websites you use may receive your list of Facebook friends if you choose to share it with them. But apps and websites you use will not be able to receive any other information about your Facebook friends from you, or information about any of your Instagram followers (although your friends and followers may, of course, choose to share this information themselves). Information collected by these third-party services is subject to their own terms and policies, not this one.

Devices and operating systems providing native versions of Facebook and Instagram (i.e. where we have not developed our own first-party apps) will have access to all information you choose to share with them, including information your friends share with you, so they can provide our core functionality to you.

Note: We are in the process of restricting developers' data access even further to help prevent abuse. For example, we will remove developers' access to your Facebook and Instagram data if you haven't used their app in 3 months, and we are changing Login, so that in the next version, we will reduce the data that an app can request without app review to include only name, Instagram username and bio, profile photo and email address. Requesting any other data will require our approval.

New owner.

If the ownership or control of all or part of our Products or their assets changes, we may transfer your information to the new owner.


Sharing with Third-Party Partners

We work with third-party partners who help us provide and improve our Products or who use Facebook Business Tools to grow their businesses, which makes it possible to operate our companies and provide free services to people around the world. We don't sell any of your information to anyone, and we never will. We also impose strict restrictions on how our partners can use and disclose the data we provide. Here are the types of third parties we share information with:

Partners who use our analytics services.

We provide aggregated statistics and insights that help people and businesses understand how people are engaging with their posts, listings, Pages, videos and other content on and off the Facebook Products. For example, Page admins and Instagram business profiles receive information about the number of people or accounts who viewed, reacted to, or commented on their posts, as well as aggregate demographic and other information that helps them understand interactions with their Page or account.

Advertisers.

We provide advertisers with reports about the kinds of people seeing their ads and how their ads are performing, but we don't share information that personally identifies you (information such as your name or email address that by itself can be used to contact you or identifies who you are) unless you give us permission. For example, we provide general demographic and interest information to advertisers (for example, that an ad was seen by a woman between the ages of 25 and 34 who lives in Madrid and likes software engineering) to help them better understand their audience. We also confirm which Facebook ads led you to make a purchase or take an action with an advertiser.

Measurement partners.

We share information about you with companies that aggregate it to provide analytics and measurement reports to our partners.

Partners offering goods and services in our Products.

When you subscribe to receive premium content, or buy something from a seller in our Products, the content creator or seller can receive your public information and other information you share with them, as well as the information needed to complete the transaction, including shipping and contact details.

Vendors and service providers.

We provide information and content to vendors and service providers who support our business, such as by providing technical infrastructure services, analyzing how our Products are used, providing customer service, facilitating payments or conducting surveys.

Researchers and academics.

We also provide information and content to research partners and academics to conduct research that advances scholarship and innovation that support our business or mission, and enhances discovery and innovation on topics of general social welfare, technological advancement, public interest, health and well-being.

Law enforcement or legal requests.

We share information with law enforcement or in response to legal requests in the circumstances outlined below.

Learn more about how you can control the information about you that you or others share with third-party partners in the Facebook Settings and Instagram Settings.

IV. How do the Facebook Companies work together?

Facebook and Instagram share infrastructure, systems and technology with other Facebook Companies (which include WhatsApp and Oculus) to provide an innovative, relevant, consistent and safe experience across all Facebook Company Products you use. We also process information about you across the Facebook Companies for these purposes, as permitted by applicable law and in accordance with their terms and policies. For example, we process information from WhatsApp about accounts sending spam on its service so we can take appropriate action against those accounts on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger. We also work to understand how people use and interact with Facebook Company Products, such as understanding the number of unique users on different Facebook Company Products.


V. How can I manage or delete information about me?

We provide you with the ability to access, rectify, port and erase your data. Learn more in your Facebook Settings and Instagram Settings.
We store data until it is no longer necessary to provide our services and Facebook Products, or until your account is deleted - whichever comes first. This is a case-by-case determination that depends on things like the nature of the data, why it is collected and processed, and relevant legal or operational retention needs. For example, when you search for something on Facebook, you can access and delete that query from within your search history at any time, but the log of that search is deleted after 6 months. If you submit a copy of your government-issued ID for account verification purposes, we delete that copy 30 days after submission. Learn more about deletion of content you have shared and cookie data obtained through social plugins.
When you delete your account, we delete things you have posted, such as your photos and status updates, and you won't be able to recover that information later. Information that others have shared about you isn't part of your account and won't be deleted. If you don't want to delete your account but want to temporarily stop using the Products, you can deactivate your account instead. To delete your account at any time, please visit the Facebook Settings and Instagram Settings.


VI. How do we respond to legal requests or prevent harm?

We access, preserve and share your information with regulators, law enforcement or others:
  • In response to a legal request (like a search warrant, court order or subpoena) if we have a good faith belief that the law requires us to do so. This may include responding to legal requests from jurisdictions outside of the United States when we have a good-faith belief that the response is required by law in that jurisdiction, affects users in that jurisdiction, and is consistent with internationally recognized standards.

  • When we have a good-faith belief it is necessary to: detect, prevent and address fraud, unauthorized use of the Products, violations of our terms or policies, or other harmful or illegal activity; to protect ourselves (including our rights, property or Products), you or others, including as part of investigations or regulatory inquiries; or to prevent death or imminent bodily harm. For example, if relevant, we provide information to and receive information from third-party partners about the reliability of your account to prevent fraud, abuse and other harmful activity on and off our Products.

Information we receive about you (including financial transaction data related to purchases made with Facebook) can be accessed and preserved for an extended period when it is the subject of a legal request or obligation, governmental investigation, or investigations of possible violations of our terms or policies, or otherwise to prevent harm. We also retain information from accounts disabled for terms violations for at least a year to prevent repeat abuse or other term violations.


VII. How do we operate and transfer data as part of our global services?

We share information globally, both internally within the Facebook Companies, and externally with our partners and with those you connect and share with around the world in accordance with this policy. Your information may, for example, be transferred or transmitted to, or stored and processed in the United States or other countries outside of where you live for the purposes as described in this policy. These data transfers are necessary to provide the services set forth in the Facebook Terms and Instagram Terms and to globally operate and provide our Products to you. We utilize standard contract clauses, rely on the European Commission's adequacy decisions about certain countries, as applicable, and obtain your consent for these data transfers to the United States and other countries.


VIII. How will we notify you of changes to this policy?

We'll notify you before we make changes to this policy and give you the opportunity to review the revised policy before you choose to continue using our Products.



IX. How to contact Facebook with questions

You can learn more about how privacy works on Facebook and on Instagram. If you have questions about this policy, you can contact us as described below. We may resolve disputes you have with us in connection with our privacy policies and practices through TrustArc. You can contact TrustArc through its website.
You can contact us online or by mail at:

Facebook, Inc.
ATTN: Privacy Operations
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Date of Last Revision: April 19, 2018


Elyssa D. Durant 
Research & Policy Analyst
Columbia University, New York