What social media has on you

Social media collect all sorts of data points on their users: their name, age, gender, interests, political leanings, etc. It is perhaps easier to list data points, which they do not gather (yet). This is, at least to some extent, public knowledge. It is less clear, however, what happens to all this information.

Three possible things happen to the data social media gather on their users:

1. Nothing — some data-points are recorded and registered, even if they do not pose any direct use. Sometimes deleting it would cause more problems than leaving it there, because of how information storage is organized. Sometimes, there is hope that information might prove useful at some point in the future — similar to how detectives often preserve evidence, hoping that future technologies can make use of it one day
2. To make their algorithm more efficient, social media want their users to engage with their content. They can (and do) use the information about their users to make sure the content they are shown is closer to their interests
3. A third party might use it: data on individual users (often in large batches) can end up in the hands of third-party users, including through being sold by the social media platform.

Third-party users are people, organizations, governments, etc., other than the individual user and the social media they use, but who somehow still access the information that an individual gave to social media. They can use it for different purposes:

1. Government agencies can use it for their investigation and/or intelligence gathering. This can be connected to potential crimes, but can also be part of general surveillance (consider the example of Edward Snowden, for instance)
2. Criminal organizations can use it to break into accounts, extort, spread malware, etc.
3. Companies can use it to sell their products, employ targeted advertising, etc.

There are three ways third-party users can access the data of individuals:

1. breach: a hacker might access the social media’s database and extract information
2. sale: social media might sell the information
3. public access: some information is publicly available, sometimes even already coupled together

This exercise begins with the download of the user data on the main social media used by your students. This must be done in advance as it takes some time for the platform to compile the data and make it available to the user. You can focus on one social media or on more of them. It is useful to check what social media are most used by your class.

Instagram

The instructions for downloading data on Instagram can be found here: https://help.instagram.com/181231772500920?helpref

TikTok

The instructions for downloading data on TikTok can be found here: https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/personalized-ads-and-data/requesting-your-data

Snapchat

The instructions for downloading data on Snapchat can be found here:

https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/a/download-my-data

Facebook

The instructions for downloading data on Facebook can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/help/1701730696756992

Twitter

The instructions for downloading data on Twitter can be found here: https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-download-your-twitter-archive

The exercise bit should be broken down into several activities:

1. Analyse the data-points that are collected (15 minutes): students should identify what different information about them is gathered by social media. They should make a list.
2. Analyse how data-points could be used by either social media or third-party (15 minutes): teacher should ask students to give some data-points that they have gathered, put them on the board, and ask the class to suggest ways in which they could be used.
3. Analyse what steps the social media platform you are analysing takes to protect your data (15 minutes): students should access the internet and perform a quick search on the security of the social media at hand. They should also look for any data-selling scandals or breaches.

1. Did the amount of data you have found here surprise you? What was the most surprising?
2. Which types of data do you think are the most harmless in the hands of a third party? Which types are the most problematic?
3. Which one is the bigger priority for you - using social media without constraints, or online privacy?
4. Are you thinking about taking steps to better protect your online privacy in the future?