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Facebook Tracks the Status Updates and Messages You Don't Write Too

Posted by samzenpus on from the let's-have-a-look-at-what-you-have-there dept.

Jah-Wren Ryel writes "It turns out Facebook tracks the stuff that people type and then erase before hitting the post button. If you start writing a message, and then think better of it and decide not to post it, Facebook still adds it to the dossier they keep on you. From the article: 'Storing text as you type isn't uncommon on other websites. For example, if you use Gmail, your draft messages are automatically saved as you type them. Even if you close the browser without saving, you can usually find a (nearly) complete copy of the email you were typing in your Drafts folder. Facebook is using essentially the same technology here. The difference is that Google is saving your messages to help you. Facebook users don't expect their unposted thoughts to be collected, nor do they benefit from it.'"

10 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Do they turn up in the downloads? by rvw · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Facebook has an option to download all your data. Do these texts turn up in these downloads as well? If not Facebook violates EU law.

    1. Re:Do they turn up in the downloads? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Don't find this in my data download.

  2. Time to switch gears by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can see myself following a policy of "never type directly into a web browser, only copy and paste" in the near future. (And here's yet another reason to avoid "cloud" services and prefer local storage for anything personal.)

    1. Re:Time to switch gears by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Somehow I just can't picture vim phoning home like a proprietary software product.

      Oh yeah? Well, emacs doesn't phone home better, and hasn't been doing it longer!

  3. Message saving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The difference is that Google is saving your messages to help you."

    Well, we hope at least. When Google's robot army kicks down my door for looking up subversive material, will we still be saying this?

  4. Can we just call it... by Akratist · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..."Stasibook" and be done with it?

  5. Hmm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Must kill Zuckerberg, Must kill Zuckerberg, Must kill ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
    Must post cat video.

  6. Facebook doesn't store this stuff. by MarsLander · · Score: 5, Informative

    FTFA: "In their article, Das and Kramer claim to only send back information to Facebook that indicates whether you self-censored, not what you typed. The Facebook rep I spoke with agreed that the company isn’t collecting the text of self-censored posts."

    1. Re:Facebook doesn't store this stuff. by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Funny

      I guess Slashdot accidentally stored a hilariously inaccurate version of the summary.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  7. Re:Thought process by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Capturing a person's though process has a lot of value, sometimes more than the actual post written. Think of brand recognition, for a simple example. I like Pep... oops, I mean, Coke.

    And that is quite harmless. Its if writing a draft "dear mum and dad I'd like to telly you I'm gay. I know its against your religious beliefs", then deleting it will result in adverts for gay support groups, or anything else that could give someone an idea of what might not have been said that there is a problem.