Social networks are in vogue. No wonder: Facebook & Co. enable fast and uncomplicated communication across the globe. Videos, pictures and comments can be exchanged in seconds. Social networks are free of charge at first glance: At second glance, it can be seen quite quickly that the company is financed by personal data. Personal data is collected on a grand scale and used to target advertisements. We enlighten you about what to know about personal data.
Personal data in social networks
Social networks are widespread and are used by several billion people worldwide. It is common knowledge that networks collect personal data. Which data are collected is not known to most users. The most used social network is Facebook, which is why we use it as an example for the collection of personal data. The benefits of Facebook can hardly be denied: The provision of photos and videos and the sharing of contributions enables an exchange with friends and acquaintances. Network content can be discussed and the activities of clubs, associations and parties can be followed. Friends who are on the other side of the globe can be easily reached within seconds. On the other side of the coin are personal data with which the free service is "remunerated". Facebook is far from being the only social network that collects personal data - the technologies and methods used by the providers are usually in no way inferior to each other.
Basic knowledge about personal data
Users of the Internet must reckon with data being collected about them at all times - not only from social networks. For each activity, the user's details are searched for keywords in order to place targeted advertising. Individual user behaviour is tracked by web tracking and web analytics software. By setting cookies, we track which websites users are visiting. The method of web tracking is quite problematic in terms of data protection: this is still little discussed in public - presumably due to lack of knowledge or lack of interest. A lot has happened in social networks like Facebook in recent years. This is not least due to the commitment of individual users. Facebook has moved its European headquarters to Ireland, where comparatively low data protection regulations apply. As a result, only pan-European regulations can create a real limit. Facebook does not function like a detective agency that simply releases data about its users. Facebook is primarily financed by the placement of personalised advertisements based on the behaviour of its users. Facebook does not share personal information without the consent of its users. The users are only sorted by target groups, which receive individual advertisements. Since many online shops use web tracking or a Facebook plugin, Facebook knows which users have searched the Internet in recent days, for example, for items of clothing or kitchens.
What data is collected by Facebook?
The social network Facebook collects various data. This includes registration data such as name, gender, email address, place of residence and birthday. Other information such as workplace, school attendance, university and similar are voluntary. Further data can be collected based on user behaviour. This includes comments, "Like" information, friendships, status messages, groups, events, photos, videos, texts, chats and links. When uploading photos or videos, the place and time of the recording are recorded. In addition, it is filtered out from which end device the data originates, e.g. laptop, smartphone or computer. IP address and location are also recorded, so that Facebook knows where a user is at any time based on the smartphone (if the corresponding Facebook app has been installed). When users click on "Like" buttons on websites, the associated data is uploaded to the Facebook server. Transmitted data includes language settings, location of the end device, web browser, screen resolution, IP address and much more. Facebook states that all data will be deleted or made anonymous within 90 days.
Right of access to personal data
European law stipulates that any user can request information about personal data collected about him. Facebook collects such a large amount of data that in some cases entire "data DVDs" have to be sent. The social network provides every user with a link in the "General account settings" section, which is called "Download a copy of your Facebook data". Afterwards, a normal or extended archive can be chosen. The "normal archive" contains personal information, friend lists, photos, events and all private messages. The "extended archive" includes other data such as logins, active sessions, cookies, ad clicks, chat histories, applications and locations. Even if you don't care about the data collection rage of social networks, it's interesting to see what details about your private life are made available to a private company. It is especially worth mentioning that Facebook can collect personal data even if the person in question is not logged into Facebook at all. Through other websites or address books of friends and acquaintances it is quite possible that files are created about a complete stranger. This data can be requested via the email address datarequest@fb.com. Alternatively, a form is available on Facebook. The possibility of requesting personal data goes back to activists who have put immense pressure on Facebook. One of the most successful projects was "Europe versus Facebook", which specifically addressed the social network Facebook on data protection issues. The highest European data protection authority, which is located in Ireland, took up the criticised arguments in its investigation report and thus endorsed the comments of the user project. In 2012 Facebook created the possibility to download personal data.
Deleting a Facebook account - harder than expected
Users who want to delete their Facebook account only have to click on a "Delete" button, right? In practice, it is not so easy to delete a Facebook account. The social network only offers its users the option to deactivate the account. Personal data and settings are still retained. These can no longer be seen - but they are still in the memory of Facebook. If you decide to use Facebook again later, you can start where you left off. If you want to delete your account, you must request deletion. This process can take up to 14 days and can be interrupted at the request of the user. If the 14-day period has expired, the deletion of the personal data can take up to 90 days again. It is worth mentioning that personal data may still exist at this point in time. If you have uploaded photos that were subsequently shared with friends, you will not delete the shared photos. These must be deleted on the page of the person concerned. Chat messages to other users also remain in their accounts. The user must therefore ask his friends to delete the photos and chat transcripts.
Personal data and law enforcement
Data collection by social networks such as Facebook causes considerable problems. Law enforcement agencies are already working with data published on Facebook. Much of the data is publicly available and can be viewed by all users. Limited user data that can only be viewed by friends or Facebook itself is also available to law enforcement agencies. This requires a court order, which must be received by Facebook in advance. The frequency of court orders of this type is now so high that Facebook maintains a separate department for such cases. In 2010, the social network even published guidelines for law enforcement agencies.
Personal data and employers
Employers are extremely interested in personal data from social networks. No wonder: these can be used to create a relatively reliable applicant profile. Some employers in the USA asked in job interviews whether the applicant would make friends with them in a social network. Experience shows that this is not the rule and is prohibited in Germany anyway. However, it is common for employees who criticized their superiors or their company in social networks to receive a warning. The exact legal consequences always depend on the individual case and cannot be generalized.
Discrimination through personal data
Facebook expressly assures its users that personal data will be made anonymous. However, potential applicants are indirectly disadvantaged in many situations. Facebook users are divided into groups for advertising purposes. Employers who publish job advertisements select target groups such as "Academic, Lawyer and under 25 years of age". Potential employees who do not fall into this group are disadvantaged in advance. Finally, users outside this group do not receive any suitable advertisements at all. Besides professional aspects, information from social networks can be used to assess the creditworthiness of individual users. Credit agencies such as the German credit bureau Schufa have already examined in the past how such data can be used. After protests from Facebook users, Schufa stopped its efforts.
The Facebook system
Social networks are based on a rather simple system: the more users a network has, the higher its advertising revenue. Basically, each user has to decide for himself to what extent he trusts a network like Facebook. Since Facebook wants to keep the large number of its users, it can't need any major scandals. Data protectionists criticize that Facebook presets privacy settings when changing its service. As soon as new features are integrated, they are set to "Public" status. Users must therefore actively inform themselves as to which services and functions Facebook will activate and in which direction the privacy settings will change.
