Who would have thought that Facebook would have enough shady things about it that I could
do 3 videos about it and still have only scratched the surface? Well, I did. And you. And pretty
much anybody who has heard the word Facebook before. OK - so its no surprise that were
here then, but here we are anyway, my name is Danny Burke and this is the Top 10 Scary
Facebook Dark Secrets - Part 3.
Starting off at number 10 we have People You May Know[a]. Many of you are familiar with
the -People You May Know- feature on Facebook. Facebook will recommend people to you that
it thinks you should be friends with. OK - that sounds fine right - Facebook says it comes
from things like mutual friends, being tagged in the same photo as someone or networks you
belong to such as schools, universities and workplaces. In may 2018 though, Mashable published
an article that suggested Facebook may be using shadier tactics. The author reported
that they had been suggested to be friends with people they had been on dates with in
the past, people with whom they had no mutual friends with. Their co workers Dad was also
suggested, someone they had only one mutual connection with. They were also suggested
to be friends with people they had no mutual friends with whatsoever - sometimes even people
who incomplete profiles. They inquired about whats going on with Facebook - a spokesman
said -Confirming that the help center content is accurate and reflects the most common types
of information that inform suggestions- … the fact that Facebook said -the most common types-
made people think that they have other types of data on you - data that you or anyone else
may never know - what data is this, how do they get it? Either way, Im sure its all very
credible. Facebook has never done anything strange with peoples data. Ahem.
Moving on to number 9 we have The Like Button[b]. Heres something I never knew - have you ever
been to a page with a Facebook like button. It could be a news site, a gaming site, a
forum, whatever it is - Im sure you know what Ive been, youve probably even been on a site
like that today. Its supposed to be a quick way for you to like or share the content on
Facebook - but it has a pretty creepy underbelly to it - if any site has a Facebook like button
- then Facebook knows youve been there - and I mean any site, even sites that you maybe
want to keep hidden from other people. Facebook says -"We collect information when you visit
or use third-party websites and apps that use our Services (like when they offer our
Like button or Facebook Log In or use our measurement and advertising services)- … so
by you agreeing to use Facebook and those websites agreeing to include the like button
- Facebook can accurately track wherever youve been. Im sure that when some people learn
that, they start noticing the like button a lot more …
Next up at number 8 we have Your Profile Picture[c]. Did you know that Facebook basically owns
your pictures. Many people don't realise that Facebook can legally use your pictures for
whatever they want. You might think theres no way this is possible - their your pictures,
right? You either took them or they include you - that sounds like enough for you to own
them. Well, apparently not, apparently the moment you upload a picture, youve agreed
to certain times. If you don't believe me, lets take a look the terms and conditions
that Im sure weve all read. Try not to mouth the words along with me - no matter how tempting
it is. Facebook says -For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like
photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject
to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable,
sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or
in connection with Facebook (IP License).- … so there you go - technically speaking,
Facebook can use your picture however they want - they could even slap a 10 storey picture
of you on the side of a skyscraper. Theyre not gonna do that though so don't worry - or
maybe just worry a little bit - a little bit of worry is good …
Next up at number 7 we have The Face Map[d]. Did you know that Facebook has a map of your
face? This is where things start to get really weird. Facebook actually knows whos in your
pictures or if youre in someone elses pictures before youve even managed to tag them in it.
Some of you may have already realised this when Facebook suggests who to tag before youve
even typed in any names. The reason now is clear, Facebook scans and maps faces so that
it can recommend tags for pictures. A lot of people may just find this a useful feature
but if you think about it - this feature means that Facebook has mapped everyones face who
has ever been tagged in any picture on Facebook - thats a few billion people. Facebook can
probably track faces better than some police departments. Welcome to the future.
Next up at number 6 we have Specific Searches[e]. Generally, people use the search bar on Facebook
to either search for people and places - its just the name of a friend or the name of a
restaurant, something like that. Most people arent aware though that you can search for
creepily specific things in the search bar. If you want to search for single people in
Chicago who like Ed Sheeran - you can do that - Facebook will bring up people who tick all
those boxes. These people didndt sign up for anything to be listed in this way, theyre
just single on Facebook, they have set their location to Chicago and they may have hit
like on an Ed Sheeran page two years ago. Other searches can include searching for married
people who attended an event, searching for friends in a certain area who had pictures
as a certain restaurant - the list goes on. Some may see that as a helpful feature, others
may be deleting their account as I speak …
Next up at number 5 we have Facebook Depression[f]. A lot of people have reported that increased
Facebook use has a correlation with being depressed. But is that actually true? Well,
in fairness, there have been studies that have found no link at all but there have also
been some well discussed ones that do. One of those came from Harvard[g]. They found
that real world social networks were a good thing. Thats groups, families, friends or
networks who have regular contact in the real world. Facebook was negatively associated
with overall well being. The results were particuarly strong for mental health, most
measures of Facebook in one year predicted a decrease in mental health a year later.
They found cosistently that both liking others content and clicking links significantly predicted
a subsequent reduction in self reported physical health, mental health and life satisfaction.
Honestly, of all the reasons to give up Facebook, that seems to be the most compelling for some
people, what do you guys think?
Moving on to number 4 we have No Deleting[h]. We may have touched on this point in previous
videos but I this deserves its own point. YOU can delete anything you want on Facebook
- but that doesnt mean Facebook deletes them. Deleting a picture on Facebook is more like
deleting something on your computer - it goes to your recycle bin. You have to go into your
recycle bin to actually delete it for good. The recycle bin in this analogy is Facebook.
In their own words -When you delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying
the recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content may persist
in backup copies for a reasonable period of time.- … so there we have it, they even
admit they are like a recycle bin. Of course, just like weve talked about before, this doesnt
mean Facebook is just randomly saving peoples pictures they delete - but the capability
is there. I also find it interesting that their backup copies remain for -a reasonable
amount of time- … that could be anything, it could be a day, a week, or forever …
Next up at number 3 we have The Right To Remove[i]. So by now in the video, weve already established
that Facebook can track you, they can keep your deleted content, they can do a lot - but
at least they cant delete things you don't want them to - wrong. Facebook reserves the
right to remove whatever it wants from your page. Before you freak out too much - they
will tell you that theyve done it if they do - so if you havent been informed by them,
they probably havent done it. They also give you the right to appeal it which is good.
But when it comes down to actually deleting it, they don't need your permission and they
don't have to inform you. The Facebook terms and conditions read -We can remove any content
or information you post on Facebook if we believe that it violates this Statement or
our policies- … some people think this is fine, that Facebook would only use to this
power to remove something that incites hatred or violence, others have pointed to examples
where they believe Facebook was silencing free speech. This topic really does tend to
divide people, where do you stand on it?
Moving on to number 2 we have Selling Your Face[j]. We talked earlier about Facebook
owning your pictures and reserving the right to use them yourself - well this is kind of
the next progression from that. Facebook can actually sell your pictures on to a 3rd party.
When you sign up for Facebook, you give them express permission to use your face in advertising
for them or another company. Again, if we refer to what Facebook says in their own terms
and conditions, they say -You give us permission to use your name, profile picture, content,
and information in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand
you like) served or enhanced by us. This means, for example, that you permit a business or
other entity to pay us to display your name and/or profile picture with your content or
information, without any compensation to you.- … I like how that last bit is just salt
in the wound, they can use your face in advertising, and youre not gonna get a penny for it - sorry.
Can you imagine how freaky it would be to see your own Face on a poster for Facebook
or another company? Maybe its already happened …
And finally at number 1 we have The Facebook Bots[k]. OK, this isnt quite the same level
as The Terminator - but it freaked a lot of people out. In 2017, Facebook was forced to
shut down a pair of chabots they had created when they discovered that the bots had created
a secret language of their own. The algorithms behind the bots were created by Facebooks
AI Research lab as a way to improve the conversations that their chatbots were having with humans.
However, in their effort to boost the bots ability to negotiate and speak, the bots ended
up realising that normal language was actually inefficient. As they talked to each other,
they started saying gibberish sentences like -I can can i i everything else- … another
time one of them said -Balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to
me to- …. I started to creep myself out a bit there. The point is, they were talking
to themself in a new language that people at Facebook didnt understand - they still
arent even sure what some of the phrases actually meant. The company pulled the plug on it - but
some people worry that they just went deeper with the experiments and eventually, they
may end up accidentally creating Skynet. Oh look, weve come full circle with the Terminator
reference.
That seems like a good place to end it - if youd like me to dig up some dark secrets or
just weird things about some other big company - I can do that for you. I cant do that about
people though. Big companies is where I draw the line. As always, I have to say thank you
for watching guys, my name is Danny Burke and Ill see you all in the next video!