All The Data Facebook Collects - And How To Stop This
Want to know what data Facebook collects about you? In this guide we outline what data Facebook collects about its users and how they use it.
What data Facebook collects
According to the Facebook privacy policy, the tech giant collects the following data:
• Any activity you’ve performed on the platform – including content, comments and messages
• Information regarding friends, subscribers, groups and accounts you are connected to and interact with
• Information from or about the devices you use
• Information from partners, providers and third parties – including websites you visit and cookie data
How do I stop Facebook from using so much data?
Here’s a quick overview of how to stop Facebook from collecting and using your personal data:
• Review your privacy settings so others can’t track you on Facebook:
◦ Who sees your activity?
◦ How can people search and contact you?
• Review your privacy settings so Facebook gets less data about you:
◦ Disable location settings
◦ Review apps linked to your Facebook account
Lastly, while this does not stop Facebook from tracking you, you can remove Facebook’s incentive to track you: money it generates via advertisements. Control the ads Facebook shows you by updating your Ad Preferences and – more importantly – by downloading an ad-blocking program which ensures you stop seeing ads generated by Facebook.
Another useful tip is to lock down your Facebook login against malicious attacks and account take-over scams: Improve your Facebook account’s security: update your password, turn on 2FA and enable unrecognized login notifications. It’s 2009, Facebook is the most exciting platform around and of course, you have to get an account. Over the years, it has served as a platform to keep up with friends, connect with people from the past, and a way to share your life with others. It’s now 2026, you’ve been an active user for years, sharing pictures, liking posts, and watching videos. While sharing your life with the world, you’ve also become aware of Facebook’s multiple data breaches and scandals. While Facebook posed as a platform to connect with others at the start, it has become smarter, offered more features, and became more greedy for your data to drive its own profits.
It’s no surprise that you’re left wondering what Facebook knows about you, and what data it collects about you.
What data does Facebook collect about its users?
Facebook was created to allow you to share information about your life with your friends and family, so it’s not surprising that Facebook knows everything you’ve posted and shared on your page. What you might not know, is that Facebook knows A LOT more than what you’ve willingly posted. Facebook’s data collection has become so sneaky and invasive that without you knowing, it has managed to creep into every corner of your online life.
It’s understandable that Facebook knows just about everything you’ve ever done on its social network, but what’s worrying is that it also knows what you’ve been doing online, off its site. Below we explain what data Facebook collects about its users and what it does with this user data.
Related If you have a teenager who has a Meta Teen’s Account, they are still being tracked and a lot of their data is also collected.
A detailed overview over the data Facebook collects about you
According to its privacy policy, Facebook collects the following data from you:
• Your activity and the information you provide:
• Any activity you’ve performed on the platform – this includes the content you create, post or comment, messages you send and receive as well as its metadata, and hashtags you use
◦ Content you provide via Meta’s camera function or your settings for recordings
◦ Interactions with Meta AI
◦ How you engage with content as well as the types of content
◦ Your purchasing or transaction habits online and in stores, including credit card information
◦ Apps and features you use as well as the actions you take in them
◦ Time, frequency and duration of your activities on Meta’s products
◦ The photo or video selfie you provide if you contact Meta Support
• Friends, subscribers and other contacts:
◦ Information regarding friends, subscribers, groups, accounts, Facebook pages you are connected to and interact with
◦ Information from your contacts and connections – like name, email address or phone number
◦ If you use Meta products without an account or do not use meta products at all, your information may still be collected
◦ Information about you based on the activity of others will be collected
• App, browser and device information:
◦ Information from or about the various devices you use and also how you use them
◦ The device you’re using or software and other device properties
◦ What you’re doing on your device – whether you’re moving your mouse or whether the app is in the foreground
◦ Identifiers that distinguish your device from the device of other users
◦ Signals from your device
◦ Information you shared with Meta about the device settings – this includes GPS location, camera access, photos and related metadata
◦ Information about the network you connect to and connect your device to, including your IP address
◦ Location-based information – even if the location services are turned off
◦ Information regarding the performance of Meta’s products on your device
◦ Information of cookies and similar technologies
• Information from partners, providers and other third parties: ◦ Your device information
◦ Websites you visit and cookie data
◦ Apps you use
◦ Games you play
◦ Transactions and purchases you make through Meta’s products
◦ Advertisements you look at and how you interact with them (when Meta shows you advertising)
Facebook knows all your profile information and activities: *every click, your name, everything you’ve ever shared
Facebook tracks every click you make on its platform. Because you created a personal account, you’ve given it your name, date of birth, and email address. If you use Facebook Messenger, it knows your phone number, too. In addition to these personal details, it has all your publicly shared messages, posted statuses, comments, and likes.
In short, because you use its service, you’ve agreed to give Facebook your information. Facebook knows who you’ve added as a friend, friend requests you’ve received as well as who you message. Additionally, Facebook has access to and tracks the metadata attached to any files you upload to the platform. For example, it is able to determine your location from the metadata attached to the pictures you upload.
How long does Facebook store your data?
According to its privacy policy, Facebook keeps “your information for as long as we need it to provide our products, fulfill legal obligations, or protect our interests or the interests of others. We decide on a case-by-case basis how long it will take us to provide information.”
Meta even threatens you if you are not willing to share your information with it as it further writes in its privacy policy: “[I]f you do not want to provide certain information, your experience may be affected when using the Meta products. For example, you may see less relevant recommendations in the products or your use of the products may be limited.”
Whether you’re an active user or have never signed up for Facebook, the social media giant has managed to gain access to your data. One might say, we’ve all been Zucked!
Related: Meta found guilty of collecting Flo app users’ menstrual data.
Facebook collects your technical data: it knows your phone brand, installed apps, your behavior, and clicks
You may have thought Facebook collecting metadata was the most reach it had on your private life, but you’re wrong. In addition to this metadata, it keeps track of far more technical data. Because of this technical data tracking, it has a lot of information about the device you use. Facebook knows your phone brand, what operating system you use, your installed apps, device IDs, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cell tower signals, and stored cookies.
Other technical data that is shared with Facebook includes your phone’s default settings, language, IP address, internet speed, time zone, and any devices connected to the same network. Because of this, Facebook has probably figured out who you live with if they also use Facebook and the same network.
While Facebook can figure out who you live with, it can also trace your device’s actions. Every time you scroll the app, open a video, or read two minutes of a boring article it is app tracking your activity. Meta does this to see how much time you spend looking at advertisements and posts, and from this app tracking, the tech giant makes huge profits off your data.
Your Facebook friends and Facebook partners also reveal data about you
You may think you’re solely in charge of the information Facebook gets about you but that isn’t the case. When a friend tags you in a photo, posts or comments, or mentions you in a status, your activities, interests, and connections could be disclosed. When your friends comment and interact with your posts, you are providing insights into your relationships, preferences, and activities.
Facebook also has an extensive network of partners that work together and share user information. If a company collaborates with Facebook, it gives them the data which is added to Facebook’s database. Because of this, Facebook knows which websites you’ve visited, how you interact with other sites, and your online behavior. The company has so much data, trends, and information on you, it’s no wonder advertisers want it. The more detailed your profile is, the better for advertisers, and the higher the profits for Facebook. As you become the product, Facebook and the advertisers on the Meta platform win.
Facebook’s partner network is vast, and this raises concerns for user security. Each time you use a platform that allows you to login with Facebook or every time you click on a website that uses Facebook pixels (usually found on news websites), this data is sent to Facebook. This extensive network linked to Facebook then raises concern for user security, because it means that there is almost nothing that Facebook doesn’t know about your online activity.
Even if you’ve never signed up for Facebook, it still knows about you.
Additionally, even if someone has never had a Facebook account, Big Tech is still able to collect their data, and escaping this data collection as a non-Facebook user is close to impossible. As a non-user, Facebook can still collect your data mainly from your browsing history and from friends. Each time you surf the internet, any site that uses Facebook’s advertising pixel or a social API linking to Facebook sends data about the site visits to the Big Tech giant. With these Facebook tools being used by other sites, the Silicon Valley tech giant is able to collect your data whether you’re a Facebook user or not.
Beyond advertising alone, Facebook has begun offering a login service for other platforms including dating sites. By choosing to “Login with Facebook”, you are granting it access to even more data about you.
Another scary way Facebook gets your data if you’ve never signed up for an account is through its contact upload feature. Many people choose to upload their contacts to Facebook, as a way to find friends to connect with – but this creates alarming privacy concerns for you - the contact. If someone shares their contact list with Facebook, as a contact on their phone – your data including your phone number is shared with the social media giant.
Yes, Facebook knows where you are and where you’ve been
Facebook is known for its extensive and intrusive methods of collecting location data of its users, which poses a significant threat to you and your safety. It uses GPS data, Wi-Fi points, Bluetooth signals, and other sources. Facebook can accurately pinpoint your location, even when your GPS is disabled. Additionally, its ability to figure out locations from images posted on the platform adds another layer of surveillance.
The Facebook app on your smartphone has a detailed location history. This history log reveals where you live, work, where you go for your daily activities as well as shows insights into your family’s movements, like your child’s school location. This location data is used to create targeted advertising. Some of the ads you see pop up on your screen are targeted at you based on your locations and activities.
A big problem is that many Facebook users unknowingly expose sensitive aspects of their lives, like their locations. The fact that this happens and people don’t realize the extent to how much Facebook knows and tracks them is unacceptable. While a major revenue source for Facebook is from its targeted advertising, it raises major concerns about privacy and security. Why should your sensitive user data be exploited for revenue purposes?
GDPR implications for Facebook
Because of the different laws around the world, Facebook’s strategy for information gathering is different depending on the region and country you’re situated in. In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) means certain data is automatically protected - this is one reason the “Choose EU movement” is growing, especially in tech: More and more countries are choosing to ditch Big Tech and to become digitally sovereign. The protected information includes political affiliation, religious beliefs, and health information. Even if you choose to share this information, the GDPR automatically protects it. Additionally, EU authorities banned Facebook’s owner Meta from using EU citizens’ personal data for advertising. This was a big step forward toward protecting EU citizens’ basic human rights.
While the EU has upped its data and protection laws, little protection is present for users in other parts of the world. Users in the United States have different degrees of security and protection. Unfortunately, if you live in a state with weak privacy laws, you’re at risk of Facebook using your sensitive data for marketing purposes.
In areas where Facebook has access to your sensitive data, it may know your political preferences (crazy right) which helps it find out which advertisements are more effective. For example, the same product is tailored to its target group to be more attractive to that set of users. This means that if you aren’t protected by local privacy laws, Facebook is able to use any information it can gather about you, and use this to influence you in ways you can’t comprehend.
The Map above shows the top five countries ranked for the best data privacy protections, and the worst five countries with little to no data privacy protection.
Facebook collects big data
You may ask yourself: What data does Facebook collect about their users? The answer is: All of them! Facebook is involved in big data collection, this means that it gathers and analyzes huge amounts of data generated by Facebook users. In Q3 of 2023, Facebook reportedly had 3.049 billion monthly active users, making it the biggest app in the world, so you can’t comprehend the unimaginable amounts of information it harvests about its users. The data it collect includes user demographics, online behavior, interactions and interests.
How does Facebook use your personal data?
Through this big data collection, it provides targeted advertising to the user. Because Facebook sells this data to advertisers, it can target adverts to specific groups more likely to buy the products.
Facebook uses this big data to personalize the content that its users see on its news feeds, pages you may like, and friend suggestions. Facebook pushes content that is aligned with the user’s preferences and activities. While big data collection could enhance the user experience, and benefit Facebook and advertisers, it raises concern knowing the potential dangers associated with big data collection.
Facebook’s privacy policy states that it allows users to access, erase, port and rectify data with a simple click. However, in its privacy policy it also says, “We decide how long we need information on a case-by-case basis.” So for how long Facebook keeps your information isn’t defined for all.
When it comes to Facebook’s marketing campaigns and policies, it often portrays themselves as allowing you, the user, to be in control of your data. It’s worth noting that this is very often privacy washing and simply clever wording to make you feel in control of your data.
Worried about your data privacy? Google is just as bad as Meta, but now you take back control of your data and join the growing group of people choosing to De-Google.
Does Meta AI use my personal data? – Yes, it does to train its AI!
We already knew that Facebook collects our data to sell to advertisers, but now it even wants to use EU citizens’ Facebook and Instagram data to train Meta AI. Unfortunately, for US citizens, MetaAI was introduced in the US in 2023. Since then, Meta has been collecting data dating as far back as 2007 from its Facebook and Instagram users and incorporating it into their generative AI features. For people in the US, there’s no way to opt out of this.
Meta has also turned to Europe and wants our data to train artificial intelligence (AI). Facebook and its sister company Instagram, plan to use your public posts and images to train Meta’s AI tools. In 2024, Meta, Facebook’s parent company started informing its users in the EU and UK that new privacy policy changes would come into effect on June 26th 2024. What the changes to the privacy policy meant was that user information could be used to “develop and improve” Meta’s AI products. So if you use Facebook or Instagram, anything you’ve ever posted including images, picture captions, stories, and comments could be used to train its Large Language Models (LLMS).
Within the EU, Meta has faced a lot of backlash from both people and regulatory agencies over plans to train its AI models with EU citizen’s Facebook and Instagram data, because of this its initial plan was put on hold. Of course, Meta did not accept this, and in March 2025 it proudly announced on its blog that it is now rolling out Meta AI in the EU. This means that for EU citizens Meta AI’s intelligent chat function will now be available on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp - whether you like it or not.
Where do you go from here?
After reading this article you’re probably wondering why Facebook still has so many active users. And why so many people still use Meta’s range of applications like WhatsApp and Instagram. Well, like you, (before reading this article) most users are ignorant and unaware of Meta’s deep reach into the public and private lives of its users through its range of apps. A lot of what Facebook does on a larger scale is unknown to us. Two steps you can take to get back your privacy is to firstly reduce your digital consumption, and secondly sign up for a private email service that shares no data with any of Meta’s companies, like Tuta Mail!
What started out as an exciting social media app, has turned into a privacy nightmare! Luckily, there are better alternatives that respect user privacy. Image source: Thought Catalog on Unsplash.
Time to quit Meta completely!
Leaving Meta doesn’t mean you need to live under a rock. There are a number of great privacy-focused social media and WhatsApp alternatives you can start using. For example, Mastodon or BlueSky to replace Facebook, and Signal or Element X if you’d also like to ditch WhatsApp. There are also great Instagram alternatives like Pixelfed you can use.
If entirely leaving Meta seems like too big of a step, you can easily harden your Facebook Security Settings to help at least reduce just how much insight Facebook has into your life.
