If you thought Facebook didnโt know a lot about you than youโre sorely mistaken. The reality is that Facebook knows almost everything there is to know about you. Perhaps youโve noticed that the ads on your news feed is shockingly similar to the sites youโve visited in the past. Well, this is because Facebook has the data. But how does this work? Well, itโs a simple answer: data brokers.
But what is a data broker? A data brokers collects your information from various sources whether itโs online, offline, or both. For example, if you make an online purchase, the data from your purchase is collected by a company. What happens from there is that Facebook then buys this information, allowing advertisers to use this information in order to target ads to a specific audience. Yes, the information they collect is anonymous, however, the details collected are able to be matched with your Facebook profile and have a complete profile of who you are. Though this may be creeping you out, whatโs important to know is that youโre able to opt-out of data collection from many data brokers, including ones who are partnered with Facebook.
Who Are the Data Brokers?
Well, through Facebook, there are seven main companies which are โAudience Data Providersโ under the Facebook marketing partners program. These are the seven companies which supply data information to Facebook:
โข Acxiom
โข CCC Marketing
โข Quantium
โข Epsilon
โข KBM Group
โข Oracle Data Cloud
โข Experian
Sadly, these arenโt Facebookโs permanent partners as the network rotates its data providers. So, youโll have to check and opt-out of any additional companies which are added to the list.
How to Remove Your Data from or Completely Stop Tracking by Facebook's Data Providers
Every one of these companies has a different way to opt yourself out of the data collection.
Acxiom
You can fill out an online form which prevents your data from being collected.
1. Go to https://isapps.acxiom.com/optout/optout.aspx in your web browser
2. Click the checkboxes for what you want to be removed from
3. Choose who the subject of the data removal is for
4. Click the green + sign on the box that says Full Names
5. Add your name
6. Click add
7. Click submit
8. Enter the email address to which youโd like Acxiom to send a confirmation to
9. Click submit
10. Go to your email and click the link that they sent you
11. Click submit on the confirmation page
Quantium
Go to Quantiumโs Opt Out Website and click confirm under Facebook Targeted ADvertising.
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Epsilon
Youโll have to contact them directly by email at optout@epsilon.com. Provide your full name and address.
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KBM Group
KBM offers a cookie-based opt-out solution for your web browser. To activate it, youโll have to head to KBM Group Interactive Opt-Out website. Once there, click the button which says โto complete the opt-out processโ, then, follow the step-by-step procedure to complete the process.
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Oracle Data Cloud
Go to Oracleโs Opt-Out Tool website and click the big, orange Opt-out button. You can also check out Oracleโs offline opt-out websites and fill out the form, finalizing it by clicking submit.
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Experian
Itโs a little harder than the other companies which offer opt-out services but once you complete it, youโre good to go. They offer seven different products which will hold your information. Depending on the product though, it will require different methods of data removal. Send them containing all the relevant information that you want suppressed to optout@experian.com. You can also opt out by going on their website and going on their โTargeted Advertisingโ โPartner Programsโ and โOmniActiviation Strategic Servicesโ pages.
If you thought that Facebook having all your personal data is something thatโs mandatory, itโs not. You do have some control over your personal information. Though it will take some time and effort, once completed, it means that you wonโt have to worry about Facebook having all your personal data being sold to third parties.