Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just Facebook?
Everything you have ever done on the Internet is saved on servers. Forever.
I thought, people already know that...
Anything that one posts on social media is not private. What about the awkward Facebook statuses or tweets that you may have posted years ago but have deleted since? Can you ever actually remove something from the Internet?
Well, just that you know, whether or not something is deleted isn’t within the user’s control.
For instance, take a regular email. When you delete it from your inbox, it goes to a "Deleted Items or Trash" folder. You permanently kill that message from your end by emptying that folder.
However, even a double-deleted item could remain on your email provider's servers for an unspecified amount of time, and chances are that your details could wind up in the hands of hackers in the event of a security breach. This implies for all social media posts, emails, and text messages, too.
Since you have given clear permission to these companies to hold on to your data at the time of agreeing to their ambiguous privacy policies, you cannot do much about this.
Do you read Terms and Agreements at the time you sign to any of the websites? No? Most people don't, and then they wonder...
You see... FB saves your data for "as long as necessary to provide products and services to you and others." In other words your deleted data is never really deleted from Facebook servers. Same for Gmail, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Internet Forums, any comments, feedback, questions, data etc... etc...
At the end, every time you are about to post anything on Internet, you need to ask yourself a few important questions:
Will this get me fired? Will it hurt my chances of getting in the future? Will it hurt or offend someone? Is that "too much info"? Will I regret sharing this info with others? What if my husband/wife find out what I shared about our life/kids/sex?
What about those embarrassing tweets or Facebook statuses that you posted years ago, but have since deleted? Are they really deleted? (Hint: NO!)
If your status, photo, or text cannot pass the above set of questions, then it is most likely not worth posting it. If your heart is set on being as invisible to Internet as you can possibly be, then don't use it. Ever. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/saving...internet-ever/
Anyone who uses the internet has a file on them somewhere. (Not that there weren't files before--there are just more files today.) This info is swept up by the NSA and perhaps other agencies. The growing amount of data on every single person in this country (the world?) may well be why that humungous NSA facility in Utah was built a few years ago--to store all that data.
I found this quote from the article interesting: "Facebook not only knows everything you've ever done on its platform but via cookies it leaves in your web browser it also tracks you wherever you go on the internet — even if you don't use Facebook." I have a browser extension installed that deletes cookies whenever I leave a site and a window pops up to tell me X number of cookies were deleted and then lists the names of the cookie sites. Facebook is a name that pops up rather frequently as removed cookies--even when I have not been on Facebook.
Facebook also keeps a short profile of every user. Wish I still had the link to access that file but I don't.
I would hope everyone realizes that if you hand over your data, the person or company you handed it to now has your data.
Lots of people have an access to Internet but no clue how it works. Most are not even interested, but when they come across an article like OP, they are suddenly shocked and surprised...
I have a browser extension installed that deletes cookies whenever I leave a site and a window pops up to tell me X number of cookies were deleted and then lists the names of the cookie sites. Facebook is a name that pops up rather frequently as removed cookies--even when I have not been on Facebook.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but when you clear your history to keep your browsing activities confidential, it's like moving a folder full of confidential documents from your desk into the desk's drawer. In other words, your deleted browsing history can be recovered by unauthorized parties, even after you cleared them. Since the confidential history files are actually not gone from your computer after deletion, they can be accessed and recovered by unauthorized parties using free file recovery tools available on the web.
Even if you think, you removed them from YOUR computer, your entire internet browsing history is stored somewhere, whether temporarily or permanently, and whether by your ISP, the government, or whoever else decides to cache your list of browsed sites.
Typically, a warrant for the information would be required to get your ISP to release the details. If you really want to maintain complete privacy in regards to what websites you use, Google Tor and how to use VPN.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but when you clear your history to keep your browsing activities confidential, it's like moving a folder full of confidential documents from your desk into the desk's drawer. In other words, your deleted browsing history can be recovered by unauthorized parties, even after you cleared them. Since the confidential history files are actually not gone from your computer after deletion, they can be accessed and recovered by unauthorized parties using free file recovery tools available on the web.
Even if you think, you removed them from YOUR computer, your entire internet browsing history is stored somewhere, whether temporarily or permanently, and whether by your ISP, the government, or whoever else decides to cache your list of browsed sites.
Typically, a warrant for the information would be required to get your ISP to release the details. If you really want to maintain complete privacy in regards to what websites you use, Google Tor and how to use VPN.
If you really want to maintain complete privacy in regards to what websites you use, Google Tor and how to use VPN.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the big problem is not even internet use. It's data aggregators, credit card companies and credit bureaus. Every part of your life that is publicly available, from car registration to home ownership or rentals, is recorded and monetized. Data from every credit card purchase is collected and added to the stew. Fill out a warranty card? More bits to be stored and sold. Add into this certain aspects of our medical lives that are not governed by HIPAA, such as prescription data...
This is the part of data collection that scares me, since we have no knowledge of or access to what's collected, and because it collects actions rather than thoughts.
This is the part of data collection that scares me, since we have no knowledge of or access to what's collected, and because it collects actions rather than thoughts.
It's pretty safe to assume that every little bit of data is collected, categorized and saved for someone to use. Not only the action but thoughts too.
Pushing us to convert to paperless and cashless adds even more to the data.
You mentioned HIPAA? I work in medical field and can assure you that HIPAA it's a big, fat joke.
But actions speak much more loudly than thoughts, and are worth more, too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
