One of the most common problems related to privacy is social networks. Like it or not, that’s where we expose a lot of personal information. Beyond our name, we may make public where we are, upload images, the list of contacts, where we work… All this, moreover, can be used by that social network for profit. In this article we talk about how Facebook tracks us when browsing and Mozilla’s work to have more knowledge.
Why does Facebook collect data?
Our information is worth money. That is a reality. Knowing what programs we use, what our tastes are, where we live… All of this is used to send us personalized advertising, for example. And whether we like it or not, we always leave traces on the Internet when we enter a web page or use any social network.
Facebook uses this information from users to personalize content and also show advertisements that may be more relevant. For example, if it knows that you do sports, that you like to ride a bike, it may show you advertising related to cycling, stores to buy helmets, etc.
One of the methods it has to track us is through pixels . A single pixel can collect information about which sites we visit, for example. And beware, this can be done even without a Facebook account. This can happen, for example, with the typical buttons of the social network that are on many pages to give Like.
The case of Facebook is not unique, since there are many Internet services that can also collect personal data. They can use them to learn more about users, create profiles for advertising campaigns or even sell it to third parties for financial gain.
Mozilla wants to discuss this with volunteers
From Mozilla they have proposed a study to collect information on all this that we mentioned. They want to know more about how Facebook gets the data, what it can do with it, etc. For this, it has launched what it has called Facebook Pixel Hunt . Look for volunteers who want to sign up.
The goal is to learn more about the data sent through Facebook pixels as we browse. Also knowing what the URLs of those pages are or the time that users spend on a website.
To be able to carry out this study, another point to take into account and that Mozilla will need is to know whether or not there are Facebook login cookies in the browser. In addition, it will conduct a survey for the user to answer a series of questions.
Mozilla has a link where we can sign up for this study and collaborate as volunteers . They ensure that the information they collect will not be shared with third parties and that all efforts will be directed at improving Mozilla’s security to, finally, eliminate everything they have collected.
Ultimately, Mozilla wants to learn more about how Facebook handles user data. The objective is to achieve greater knowledge so that privacy is greater. You can always take into account tips to improve privacy on Facebook.
