
How Facebook Figures Out Everyone You've Ever Met - uptown
https://gizmodo.com/how-facebook-figures-out-everyone-youve-ever-met-1819822691
======
shobith
This is a creepy thing to be in possession of a profit driven public company.

------
smn1234
" Behind the Facebook profile you’ve built for yourself is another one, a
shadow profile, built from the inboxes and smartphones of other Facebook
users. Contact information you’ve never given the network gets associated with
your account, making it easier for Facebook to more completely map your social
connections. "

Careful sharing your addressbooks... you may have non-personal (friends)
contacts in there you may not wish Facebook to link to your profile and
"People You May Know" suggestions

------
badrabbit
Is there really no legal option to stop this? Can't users who don't use
facebook file a restraining order?

~~~
gumby
From the article (emphasis mine): > It doesn’t like the term [shadow profile]
because it sounds like Facebook creates hidden profiles for people who haven’t
joined the network, _which Facebook says it doesn’t do._

Facebook absolutely does, but can get away with claiming that it doesn't since
it is a little different from the "profile" you create when you sign up. This
makes your experience more personal and amazing as soon as you do sign up,
among other "benefits" (in quotation marks because _cui bono_?). They also
need it for their ad network. LinkedIn's builds its shadow profiles even more
aggressively.

> Can't users who don't use facebook file a restraining order?

I doubt you could prove standing in the US (it would be difficult to claim
"harm" in the US's legal sense of the word). In Europe you'd have a pretty
good shot, though I haven't seen anyone try this tack yet. But Max Schrems'
successful suit would be an excellent precedent for anyone who wanted to try.

BTW I like FB, though I haven't been on in weeks.

~~~
zimpenfish
> In Europe you'd have a pretty good shot, though I haven't seen anyone try
> this tack yet.

Since (as best I know) the GDPR requires positive informed recorded consent
for a company to hold your personal data, Facebook would almost certainly be
in direct contravention of this if they hold any personal data on people who
haven't joined.

Which is going to be fun because the fines are steep (well into the $Ms for
each incident.)

