Keeping your information private online

We’ve all heard the stories of companies data mining and Big Brother watching our every online move, but how much of your data have you really lost track of? How many people have your information and how do you find out?

Social media has connected us all in so many ways, but there can be a risk to using it.

Does this sound familiar? “Look this ad’s exactly what we said!” or “I need something from Dollar Tree, and it pops up!”

Each social media app has a way for you to request your data. For Facebook, click Settings and then Privacy, then click Your Facebook Information.

For Google, visit takeout.google.com.

For Apple, visit privacy.apple.com. Simply follow the prompts and then wait for the email.

You’ll get a copy of every comment and post you’ve made, every website you’ve visited, every real location you’ve logged in from, every online interaction you’ve had, your facial recognition data, targeted ads, and lists of all the advertisers that have your information.

The best ways to protect yourself? Limit the apps on your phone and considering using a VPN when browsing the internet on your computer to keep your information hidden.

Sites like Facebook track your web and location history as much as possible and you won’t find all of that in your data request download.

You can view your location history on Facebook by going to Settings > Location > View Location History.