Facebook has been in the news lately, but not for good reasons.
In yet another negative news, it has been reported that Facebook is tracking users even if they are not part of Facebook. This is indeed interesting, and scary at the same time.
Meanwhile, as if a direct consequence of this, Facebook has been declared as the least trusted tech company in the world.
Well, we are not surprised, all right!
Facebook Tracks Non-Facebook Users As Well
Privacy International conducted a study called “How Apps on Android Share Data with Facebook” wherein they found that 61% of the apps sent information to Facebook via Facebook Software Development Kit, which is embedded in their apps.
Hence, even if an Android/iPhone user has not installed Facebook or created an account there, the data shall be transferred to Facebook. And the cycle of violating data privacy continues.
The research report explicitly states: “This happens whether people have a Facebook account or not, or whether they are logged into Facebook or not,”
For example, the researchers studied an Android user who didn’t had Facebook app, or any account with Facebook, but had installed these apps: Qibla Connect (a Muslim prayer app), Period Tracker Clue (a period tracker), Indeed (a job search app), My Talking Tom (a children’s’ app).
The data which was sent to Facebook via these apps was enough to create a persona of the users: A female Muslim user whose is searching for jobs, and is a parent.
The researchers admitted that the data shared can be ‘sensitive’, sometimes.
There has been no reaction from Facebook on this.
Facebook Is The Least Trusted Tech Company
Meanwhile, as per a research conducted by Toluna, which is a research company, it was found that Facebook has won the title of least trusted tech company in the world.
Out of 1000 people surveyed, 40% said that they don’t trust Facebook with their personal information.
Twitter and Amazon were at #2 and #3 position as least trusted tech company.
Microsoft was one of the most trusted tech companies, as only 2% of the respondents had any issues while sharing personal information with them. 4% of the respondents said that they won’t share their personal info with Apple.
Netflix and Tesla were declared as the most trusted tech companies, and only 1% of the respondents had any issue pertaining to the sharing of personal information with them.
Also Read: 68 Lakh Private Facebook Photos Leaked – 5 Times Facebook Terribly Failed Us With Data Privacy