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A recently published Facebook patent application imagines a disconcerting way to use your data. The company has filed a patent that explores the ability to gather information about a user's entire household based on uploaded images, likely for targeted advertising. And yes, Instagram photos were also cited in the rankings.
The patent application was filed in May 2017 and made public yesterday. In this document, Facebook details a face referencing system with other data, including shared IP addresses, hashtags, the frequency with which a person appears on your photos, your comments, all the bazaar to determine who is part of your household and what is its demographic composition. . The ranking also indicates that Facebook could potentially scan everything from previous publications and status updates to information about messaging and web browsing. And it does not even have to be your photos. Something as simple as your cousin posting a photo marking your Thanksgiving dinner with the caption: "Grateful for my # family" might be enough for Facebook to glean information from your home especially for, perhaps, becoming a better target for Black Friday and Cyber Monday the commercials.
If you feel a little uncomfortable, you have every reason to be. For all the data collected by Facebook, it does not have the best experience in terms of security or any particular transparency as to the use that is made of it. Whether giving advertisers your dummy contact information or monitoring the data reported to phone manufacturers, it's hard to count all the ways that Facebook has mishandled or misrepresented its use of user data.
On the positive side, the technology described in this particular patent application would glean data from photos that users publish themselves – not private messages. Companies regularly file patent applications and, as always, there is no guarantee that they will ever use the technologies described. We contacted Facebook and they told us: "Patents should never be considered as an indication of future projects; we do not usually comment on the specific coverage of Facebook patents or the reasons for filing them, "said a spokesman.
Nevertheless, next time, do not risk giving a hard time to your friends and family, who are paranoid, when they stand out from your photos.
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