Dan Brown is one of the few American authors who are millionaires. His book about the National Security Agency was fiction but so much of it suddenly seemed true after the Edward Snowden incident. In his book “Digital Fortress”, Brown has written that there is not a single sentence in any single e-mail of the World Wide Web that doesn’t pass through American filters located in the NSA headquarters. The state agencies are not only spying on their own citizens, but also on people in other parts of the world. The villain in the book sends a virus to destroy the system that in his opinion was a violation of the human rights. Like Edward Snowden, he too was an NSA employee. If this doesn’t disturb you enough, try the points below. Some of them will definitely freak you out.
10. Facial Recognition
Facebook is collecting its users’ data in huge amounts. In layman terms we can say that it is collecting data equal to 510,000 movies everyday. What does it do with so much information? When you tag any of your friends on Facebook photos, you are actually sending in some data for their facial recognition software. With every new photo that is uploaded, they get better at recognizing the face. Their algorithm is so good that they claim it is 98% accurate.
9. Your location
Whenever you check into a good restaurant or somewhere interesting, Facebook knows you are there. Although you are telling your friends that you are having a good night out- the data is used to evaluate your habits regarding outing and sporting. In case you are at some place which is deemed suspicious by the American authorities- well who knows! Facebook turned off the location option on Messenger app after someone used it to give exact coordinates of a person by using Marauder’s Map- an app much like the map in Harry Potter except that it replaces the castle with the world!
8. It can affect your mental health and make you a show-off snob!
That is not actually true about Facebook alone, in fact it is true about technology in general. People who spend a lot of time near laptops and other devices are affected by the rays emitted from these devices. Since Facebook is addictive and you can’t seem to leave it alone, its use has been reported to be deteriorating for your mental health. When you see the upside of other people’s lives who are giving the world an impression that everything is great, you feel sad and leftout. And yea, did we mention that Facebook actually has the tendency to make you a snob and a show-off?
7. Facebook is harmful for your intellect
Why is it that you always see what you like on Facebook? Why don’t you see sponsored posts that you dislike? The data that Facebook collects based on your likes, political preferences, statuses and inclinations is used to filter news in such a way that you only see that side of things which you want to. For example the supporters of right wing politics would hardly see anything “nice” about left wing politicians. In case of Brexit, the evidence of fake news affecting the opinion of people through social media was so strong that Mark Zuckerberg had to promise the world to look into it through filtering “fake news”. Unfortunately, no matter how much lies are put into it- the most common source of news for people, especially youngsters, today is Facebook.
6. Negative health consequences regarding the body
Imagine seeing posts by smarter friends all day long. You will start having issues regarding your body for sure. In a study by the Florida State University, out of 84 students that participated those who used Facebook a lot were seen to have eating disorders. Also the Washington University has reported in a study that girls and women tend to show dissatisfaction towards their bodies if they use a lot of Facebook.
See also; 10 Unmistakable Signs of Facebook Addicts!.
5. Fear of Missing Out or FOMO
Facebook induces FOMO in people who are very active users. Reported by a study conducted by New York University, people continuously see what others are doing and then they develop a fear of missing out the fun part. The interesting part is that when we post something, that is also always the upside, why then we don’t realize that behind every happy post by others there could be a sad story too? Facebook thus makes lonely people even lonelier. Instead of bringing people closer, it is actually drifting them apart.
4. Facebook KNOWS a lot about YOU
You might have forgotten what you posted four years ago but Facebook remembers and it also reminds you. It makes me anxious to see how stupid I was four years ago but Facebook makes sure it keeps reminding me of those silly posts. Interestingly it does it in such a sweet way! By the way, what I like, post, share, close, open and play on Facebook gives them indication of what my hobbies, pastime, likes and dislikes in general are. So basically Facebook can virtually write my whole personality profile and even assess my intelligence level based on what I write and post (this part really freaked me out).
3. Facebook censors political information
We already know that Facebook posts what we like, but they also stop posts that the state does not like. The idea was to promote openness and sharing but Facebook has defied its own core philosophy by censoring certain posts. It does it at a state level. For example, a page citing protests in Russia was blocked by Facebook on direct orders of Russian government. Try making a controversial page on Facebook about let’s say “How Zionists are paving way for Armageddon” and see it get deleted soon!
2. Facebook can sell your data
Have you ever wondered where you get advertising messages on your phone from? Cellular companies use your phone numbers to send you ads that they are paid for. Facebook will also sell your data based on the information that it has about you. Let’s say if you prefer online shopping over real time shopping through cash- Facebook might tell that to Mastercard in order to boost online sales as well as credit cards.
1. Facebook can devise your sleeping patterns
The Facebook Messenger app shows when a person was last active. This way Facebook can tell when you sleep and when you are up. Does that mean a lot of us open Facebook the first thing after we open our eyes? Looks that way!