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A detailed look at how Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) collects, stores, and uses your personal data.
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Terrible
Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp)'s privacy score of 12/100 reflects their data collection practices, transparency, incident history, and user control options. This score indicates significant privacy concerns that users should be aware of.
Cambridge Analytica scandal (2018): Data of 87 million users harvested without consent for political profiling and manipulation during the 2016 US election.
2019 data breach exposed 540 million Facebook user records on publicly accessible Amazon cloud servers, discovered by security researchers at UpGuard.
2021 leak of personal data of 533 million users from 106 countries, including phone numbers, full names, and email addresses, posted on a hacking forum.
In 2022, Meta was fined 265 million euros by the Irish Data Protection Commission for failing to protect user data that was scraped and leaked.
Meta settled a $1.4 billion lawsuit with Texas in 2024 over its unauthorized collection and use of biometric data through facial recognition features.
Minimizing Meta's data collection requires a multi-layered approach across all its platforms. Start by going to your Facebook Settings, then navigate to Privacy > Privacy Checkup and restrict every option to the most private setting. Under Settings > Apps and Websites, remove all third-party app connections. Disable Off-Facebook Activity by going to Settings > Your Facebook Information > Off-Facebook Activity and clearing your history, then toggling off future activity tracking. For ad preferences, go to Settings > Ads > Ad Settings and disable all personalization options including 'Ads based on data from partners' and 'Ads based on your activity.' Turn off facial recognition under Settings > Face Recognition. On Instagram, switch to a private account, disable Activity Status, and restrict data sharing under Settings > Privacy. For WhatsApp, disable read receipts, turn off profile photo visibility to non-contacts, and review privacy settings under Settings > Privacy. On your mobile device, revoke Meta apps' access to your location, contacts, microphone, and camera when not in active use. Use a browser extension like uBlock Origin to block the Meta Pixel tracker across the web. Consider using Facebook Container extension on Firefox to isolate Facebook tracking. Download your data archive to see what Meta has collected, then use the 'Manage Your Information' tool to delete old posts, searches, and location data. For maximum privacy, delete your accounts entirely using the permanent deletion option (not just deactivation) and wait the full 30-day deletion period. Install a DNS-based ad blocker like NextDNS to block Meta's tracking domains at the network level.
Looking for a privacy-respecting alternative to Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp)? We recommend:
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