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That “most used words” Facebook quiz is a privacy nightmare

24/11/2015

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Over 16 million people have agreed to give up almost every private detail about themselves to a company they likely know nothing about just to play a quiz.
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Lately, you’ve probably seen a couple of your Facebook friends post the results of a quiz app that figures out your most-used words in statuses. Or maybe you posted it yourself. It looks something like this:
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The “quiz,” created by a company called Vonvon.me, has risen to over 16 million shares in a matter of days. It’s been written about in the Independent, Cosmopolitan, and EliteDaily. Sounds fun, right?
Wrong. That’s over 16 million people who agreed to give up almost every private detail about themselves to a company they likely know nothing about.
“ooo! if i click here and auth in with facebook it’ll scan my entire year of posts, store the data and tell my most used words. sign me up!”
— Saved You A Click (@SavedYouAClick) November 19, 2015The app, like many Facebook quiz apps, is a privacy nightmare. Here’s a list of the info quiz players have to disclose to Vonvon.me:
  • Name, profile picture, age, sex, birthday, and other public info
  • Entire friend list
  • Everything you’ve ever posted on your timeline
  • All of your photos and photos you’re tagged in
  • Education history
  • Hometown and current city
  • Everything you’ve ever liked
  • IP address
  • Info about the device you’re using including browser and language
The oxymoronic privacy policyEven if you take the “I have nothing to hide” approach to privacy, the app also collects a fair bit of info about your friends. Vonvon’s privacy policy leaves a lot to be desired. Let’s walk through it to see why you should steer clear of this quiz or any of the dozens more on Vonvon’s site. First off, for those who have already played the quiz, there’s no take backs:
[…] you acknowledge and agree that We may continue to use any non-personally-identifying information in accordance with this Privacy Policy (e.g., for the purpose of analysis, statistics and the like) also after the termination of your membership to this WebSite and\or use of our services, for any reason whatsoever.
Your information could be stored anywhere in the world, including countries without strong privacy laws. A Whois search reveals Vonvon.me was registered in Korea, but it operates under several languages including English, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Korean:
Vonvon processes Personal Information on its servers in many countries around the world. Such information may be stored on any of our servers, at any location.
Vonvon is free to sell your data to whomever it pleases for a profit. Vonvon says it will not share personal information with third parties without permission, but just by playing the quiz you’ve technically given it permission because it assumes you’re a responsible person who reads the privacy policy. Of course, most people who play the quiz are not that responsible.
[…] We do not share your Personal Information with third parties unless We have received your permission to do so, or given you notice thereof (such as by telling you about it in this Privacy Policy) […]
Yes, it actually says that. Worst of all, Vonvon skirts responsibility after it has sold your data to third parties, who can do whatever the hell they want with it:
[…] this Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of entities Vonvon does not own or control, or to individuals whom Vonvon does not employ or manage,including any third parties to whom Vonvon may disclose Personal Information[…]
Companies who you have never met can now access your entire Facebook profile–friends, photos, statuses and all–and use them in ways you never directly agreed to. By the way, if you edit the permissions before authenticating the app with Facebook, Vonvon won’t allow you to play the quiz.
Abstinence is the best privacy policyWe’ve singled out Vonvon because it recently went viral, but it’s far from the only shady data dealer to masquerade behind a viral quiz mill. Facebook is a haven for a large number of these companies and, frankly, hasn’t done enough to educate or warn users about the risks. Social Sweethearts, a similar company based in Germany, creates quiz apps that are so bold as to collect your email address. Hope you like spam, suckers!
So how can you protect yourself? The easiest way is to avoid online quizzes that require Facebook authentication altogether. Go to the apps section of your Facebook profile–where these data miners often reside–and remove anything you don’t 100 percent trust. Many of them can even hijack your Facebook and post on your behalf. Stick to quizzes that just let you share the results without logging in with your Facebook account, such as the ones on Buzzfeed.
If you insist on authenticating a Facebook quiz app, be sure to check the permissions and read the privacy policy or terms of use.

Credit for the above post and original post link below:
​​https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/that-most-used-words-facebook-quiz-is-a-privacy-nightmare/
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Why Your Facebook Likes are about to Drop!

9/3/2015

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If you manage a Facebook Business Page you may soon see some unexpected, and unwanted, changes to your Page.
On March 12, 2015 Facebook will be purging deactivated accounts.  This means that any Likes you have on your Page from these accounts will be deleted.  Causing the Like counts on Business Pages to dip.


These accounts include all deactivated personal profiles as well as memorialised accounts.  However, if these accounts are reactivated they will automatically add back into your Like count.
Page Admins are currently seeing the following at the top of the Insight tab on Pages they manage:
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“Removing inactive Facebook accounts from Page audience data gives businesses up-to-date insights on the people who actively follow their Page and makes it easier for businesses to find people like their followers through tools like lookalike audiences.” (Facebook for Business)

Comments and Posts from the deactivated accounts have already been removed.

Back in December Instagram purged “spam” accounts from many of its Users, causing many Users following count to drop by hundreds, thousands and even millions.  Kim Kardashian lost 1.3 million followers in the Great Instagram Purge.

While the dip in Likes may be upsetting, it will allow for more authentic and “real” followers as Likes on the Page.  There are also several things Page Admins can do to grow the number with authentic Likes that will be more beneficial to the business.
  • Run Facebook Ads.
  • Provide meaningful, interesting and informative content for Daily Updates/Posts.
  • Provide a discount, promotion or special offer. (industry and company based)
  • Keep the Page active with multiple Daily Updates.
While it may seem shocking at first to some, “Everyone benefits from meaningful information on Facebook. It’s our hope that this update makes Pages even more valuable for businesses.” 

So, don’t panic on March 12, be prepared to lose some Friends and have that Like count decrease and prepare to get back to actively growing the following to make up for those lost Likes. 

Steve McDonagh
Vivify Multimedia

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