It’s no secret that social media apps collect an incredible amount of user data. These apps know so much about you — from your location to your contacts to your political affiliations and more. Also not surprisingly, apps (especially those that are free) depend upon a profit model that involves selling your data to third parties. Those third parties can then target you in advertisements that it deems suitable for your needs and wants.
That explains why the minute you search for “winter boots” you become bombarded for weeks with ads for — you guessed it — winter boots.
There are some steps that you can take to help mitigate the security risks of using these apps. Here are three common social media apps that are selling your data, and what security experts say you can do to keep yourself protected.
Facebook (Meta)
Facebook is the original data collector. It primarily uses your data to target ads to you within its website, but there is much concern that it also uses third party tracker. As with all apps, there is only so much that you can do to keep Facebook from using your data however it wants. Some steps you can take include: limiting the kind of information you share — never share your address or very personal info — disabling location services, adjust privacy settings so that you can opt out of targeted advertising, and using a browser extension or ad-blocking software to limit the number of ads you see from Facebook.
Twitter (X)
Twitter’s revenue model is largely ad-driven. Make sure you review X’s third-party app permissions, opt out of personalized ads, avoid clicking on any ads, and limit location sharing. You can also use private browsing mode to limit tracking and reduce the amount of data X can collect.
Like Facebook, Instagram is a Meta app that collects a lot of user data. This data is used to personalize ads and content recommendations, but concerns have been risen about just how the data is used and whether it is being sold to third parties. Limiting the information that you share is a start — the less data you provide IG, the less data it can collect and use. Opt out of targeted advertising and review which third-party apps are connected to Instagram. Cut off their access to your data if you do not trust them.
As always, the only surefire way to keep these apps, and any app, from collecting your data and profiting from it is to delete the app and find an alternate app that boasts better practices.
