How to Check If Your Facebook Data Was Sold Off

Facebook is working hard to rebuild its reputation after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This, for the uninitiated, saw the data of tens of millions of Facebook users sold to a third party. And that data was then used in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Facebook has started notifying people whether they’re one of the 87 million users affected. However, even if Facebook hasn’t notified you yet, you can check to see if you’re one of those affected, and do a privacy checkup while you’re at it.

Facebook Starts the Cleanup Operation

As part of its ongoing efforts to regain the trust of its users, Facebook is informing everyone whether they were caught up in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Every single Facebook user should see one of two messages on their news feed.

The one for those affected gives a brief background to the incident. Facebook then assures users it’s “committed to confronting abuse and to putting you in control of your privacy”. Either way, you’re directed to the apps and websites settings.

Facebook’s tool to check if your data was accessed by Cambridge Analytica is now LIVE…

Check if you were impacted here: https://t.co/lAHaaWYvyi pic.twitter.com/92Bdv2JjHt

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) April 10, 2018

However, if you’d rather not wait to find out if your data was accessed by Cambridge Analytica, you can follow this direct link instead. This will tell you whether, according to Facebook’s records, you or your friends logged into “This Is Your Digital Life”.

If you are one of the unlucky ones there isn’t anything you can do to reclaim that data from Cambridge Analytica. However, you can see what other apps and websites you’ve given permission to, and revoke their access to your Facebook information.

Revoking Access to Apps and Websites

Most people will be surprised by how many apps and websites they’ve accessed via Facebook. And while the majority won’t be doing anything underhanded with your data, if you no longer use the app or website in question you should revoke access.

This is just the start of Facebook’s cleanup operation. Mark Zuckerberg is facing congressional hearings, and it’s possible that politicians will try to rein Facebook in a little. In the meantime, some people are considering deleting Facebook altogether.

Image Credit: Lord Jim/Flickr

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