this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
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A charity I'm volunteering for and a contractor I know insist I have a facebook account for contact reasons. Naturally I bought a separate device to use for that, but I was wondering if there were ways to make my data undesirable to potential buyers. So far I got the obvious tiennamen square posting and that gay putin pic, but I was wondering what else I could do

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

That sort of data doesn’t make you less desirable. They will have algorithms that can put together what you’d still most likely want to buy just from those pics. The best way is to generate no data. Keep it blank, post nothing, connect as little as possible, use a VPN, stuff like that.

Also posting those pics on your Facebook isn’t a great idea if you’re using it for charity and work purposes lol

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago

Unfortunately it’s not just not posting on Facebook. Facebook uses tracking pixels and those little like and share buttons on sites to track you outside of Facebook domains (that’s why porn videos have them. No one is sharing porn on Facebook and Meta doesn’t expect them to; they just buy the tracking). As much as possible separate your devices and networks from any device that accesses Facebook, and disable cookies and trackers using an ad blocker and privacy-respecting browser all over. You’d be amazed at how adept Facebook and others are at linking you across devices and networks.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Search how to poison the well. Choose other wherever possible and lie about the rest. Get creative. I’ve done my best to make FB think that I’m a 7’ 4000-yr-old gay Amazon warrior princess.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Did you grow to full size and then stay static in height, or do you grow 0.05334 cm a year?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

My last growth spurt was about 3500 years ago.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Math is interesting

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Grow balls, tell them to email you instead.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This is the real answer. Any organization that can’t be arsed to communicate professionally using grown up channels is not one I’m going to be associated with anyway. Use email and Messages like normal people. Leave FB to… whoever uses that garbage.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Is Messages referring to SMS/MMS?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Yes. Even a phone call (for those who remember them) would be preferable.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Choose an unclear gender (other, agender, etc) and your data becomes less useful. Marketing campaigns are based on broad categories, like male or female, so choosing neither lowers your data's value.

Similarly, lie about your education and your employment. Pick a made up job, be a wizard, or a spaceman. Jobs, again, are wide categories, so nonsense jobs, the more niche the better, the less they have to market things to you.

In theory you can do the same with hobbies, but three points of data, even made up data, is sellable somewhere.

Lie, of course, if you can. I'm sure there are more denizens of Hell on Facebook than the real place.

Where possible, choose other.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Hitachi noticed your career in wizardry, and would like to recommend you the Magic Wand Original! Buy one today!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Do they not have phones or emails? Why do they specifically need to contact you via Facebook? The whole setup sounds rather intrusive and unnecessary, just tell them to call or email you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

You know he's the slave and the boss is the master, right? It's not like HE can tell THEM what do 'just' do....

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

As the other comment said, it doesn’t matter what you post. What matters is that you’re using it. So just have an account for contact reasons as you were told. Don’t use it for anything else. Don’t put info on your bio and don’t browse because the more you scroll and navigate, the more data points they get from you. Also, if it’s really for contact purposes only, you can just use messenger on your phone and never install the main app.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

If you deactivate your Facebook account (not delete) you can make it where you can only access Facebook Messenger, but you don't have a public facing Facebook account. That way you only get the messaging side of it, minimizing the data they can collect on you. The account still exists but you give them less data. Giving bogus data doesn't help as much as not giving it at all, being as generic as possible, since buyers pay more for targeted data regardless of the content.

I wouldn't leave those posts up if you're volunteering for a charity regardless.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Be weird. Be a weird fucking outlier of a person. Then you degrade the signal quality of any data pool yours is added to.

Just be fuckin weird as possible

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

If you can't avoid being tracked, add a tons of extra data every chance you get. Have fun with it. Your goal is to get company to write new policies just for you.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't know, but I know I'm protected a little by being multilingual.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I just get ads in multiple languages, even in podcasts.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Don't do shitposting, they'll ban your account, so you won't even be able to use messenger.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, this sounds like a good thing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Well, he needs the account, that's why I warned him... cuz that's how I got mine permabanned 😁. And I also consider that a good thing 😉.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

What kind of stuff are you putting on there?

If they are making you have it for contact purposes, don’t put anything extra on there. Leave it as the most bare and basic for contact only. No personal interaction at all.

And as everyone else is saying you can’t make in unsalable. But don’t give them anything

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Run a VPN on the device so it's harder to figure out where it connects to the Internet. Leave it at work or home or, if you must travel with it, keep it turned off.

See if you can friend or follow people in foreign countries and who don't speak English.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Simply have the pages blank as possible, and use a pseudonym. Shit posting Is it going to do anything to make data less desirable. Just follow all of the typical advice for staying anonymous on the internet.

Also, insist on only using the secret message feature of Facebook Messenger. Those messages are and to end encrypted and at least if you believe facebook, not even Facebook can access them.