Doesn’t matter if you’re using an iPhone or android. They have your number, email, etc. (either given by you or by someone else when they uploaded their contacts to Facebook/instagram/whatsapp) and everything you do is tracked and logged.
That’s the thing about Meta. They gather info from literally billions of people, it doesn’t matter if you personally handed it over or not. Everyone who has your info — name, phone number, email, work number, etc. has probably already shared all or some of it with Meta. The moment you sign up and give them any info at all that matches your info in someone’s contacts, they’ll know it’s you.
If you don’t want them tracking you, your only option is to not use their services and block all their trackers. They’ll have your info anyway, but at least they won’t be able to track your activity.
Edit: a lot of people don’t grasp how bad the situation is with Meta. They trick people into uploading their contacts by requesting access to “help you find your friends” across their services, and they match that info and create a shadow profile for everyone. As soon as you sign up to any of their services, they’ll match that shadow profile to you. That’s why you immediately see people you know even though you just created an account. You’re in their contacts. Facebook has outed countless gay and trans people, as well as sex workers. They will also recommend your therapist’s clients to you as “people you may know” because you all have the therapist’s phone number.
It’s a nightmare. I’ve been trying to make people aware of it for like a decade or something like that. No one listens.
There are so many platforms anymore that I have neither the time nor desire to keep up with even a quarter of them. So maybe eight years back, a friend suggests I check out Snap Chat.
I jump on there to find about 20 pages of names of people who thought it was okay, acceptable, to share my info from their database. I’ve always been very careful and discreet with mine. But to have it thrown right in my face like that, whew. Here’s my message to those folks:
If you think it’s okay to share my private number, or anything else I’ve provided in confidence, with the planet, please delete my number.
Doesn’t matter if you’re using an iPhone or android. They have your number, email, etc. (either given by you or by someone else when they uploaded their contacts to Facebook/instagram/whatsapp) and everything you do is tracked and logged.
That’s the thing about Meta. They gather info from literally billions of people, it doesn’t matter if you personally handed it over or not. Everyone who has your info — name, phone number, email, work number, etc. has probably already shared all or some of it with Meta. The moment you sign up and give them any info at all that matches your info in someone’s contacts, they’ll know it’s you.
If you don’t want them tracking you, your only option is to not use their services and block all their trackers. They’ll have your info anyway, but at least they won’t be able to track your activity.
Edit: a lot of people don’t grasp how bad the situation is with Meta. They trick people into uploading their contacts by requesting access to “help you find your friends” across their services, and they match that info and create a shadow profile for everyone. As soon as you sign up to any of their services, they’ll match that shadow profile to you. That’s why you immediately see people you know even though you just created an account. You’re in their contacts. Facebook has outed countless gay and trans people, as well as sex workers. They will also recommend your therapist’s clients to you as “people you may know” because you all have the therapist’s phone number.
It’s a nightmare. I’ve been trying to make people aware of it for like a decade or something like that. No one listens.
There are so many platforms anymore that I have neither the time nor desire to keep up with even a quarter of them. So maybe eight years back, a friend suggests I check out Snap Chat.
I jump on there to find about 20 pages of names of people who thought it was okay, acceptable, to share my info from their database. I’ve always been very careful and discreet with mine. But to have it thrown right in my face like that, whew. Here’s my message to those folks:
If you think it’s okay to share my private number, or anything else I’ve provided in confidence, with the planet, please delete my number.