{"id":135396,"date":"2019-04-16T17:06:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T17:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=135396"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:06:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:06:22","slug":"zuckerberg-leveraged-facebook-user-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/zuckerberg-leveraged-facebook-user-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaked docs: Zuckerberg leveraged Facebook user data"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-135402\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/700_Zuck_w7ztf1.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Zuckerberg\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News about Facebook selling our personal data is nothing new. However, this time we got a little more insight about the <strong>backdoor dealings with our data.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Facebook\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_optimized,f_auto\/p\/8a6eafba-96d2-11e6-b334-00163ec9f5fa\/77332936\/facebook-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Facebook<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/author\/facebook\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--70\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"70\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"7\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">7<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/author\/facebook\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Leaked documents show that Mark Zuckerberg, along with his board and management team, used Facebook user data as a\u00a0bargaining chip\u00a0with its business partners.<\/p>\n<p>The documents were shared with\u00a0NBC News, Computer Weekly, and Germany\u2019s S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>Private information included <strong>info about your friends, photos, and relationship data.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In one case, Facebook gave Amazon extensive user data information. This was because Amazon was spending money on Facebook advertising, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/social-media\/mark-zuckerberg-leveraged-facebook-user-data-fight-rivals-help-friends-n994706\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to an article from NBC.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Is this anything new?<\/h2>\n<p>Companies share data about you with other companies. That&#8217;s nothing new. The issue is that<strong> there isn&#8217;t another company like Facebook that knows this much about<\/strong>\u00a0<b>you <\/b>or\u00a0one that has the ability to <strong>profit from your data this much.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These leaked documents showed that Facebook was <strong>monetizing user data through third-party methods.\u00a0<\/strong>These methods include direct payment, advertising spending, and data-sharing arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>The data wasn&#8217;t sold to just anyone. According to the documents, the company instead dished it out to app developers considered to be <strong>&#8220;friends&#8221; of Zuckerberg, or Facebook advertisers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Facebook has a lot of data on you. Even if you permanently delete your profile, some information will remain on Facebook for <strong>up to 90 days after you delete your account.<\/strong> Even then, some <strong>traces of your Facebook presence will still be detectable<\/strong>, according to the Facebook Help Center.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-starred-link\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-starred-link__img\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/facebook-privacy-192.jpg\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-starred-link__col-title\">\r\n        <p class=\"sc-card-starred-link__title\">How to find out what Facebook knows about you<\/p>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-starred-link__button\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-find-out-what-facebook-knows-about-you\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer sponsored\">Find out now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-starred-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-find-out-what-facebook-knows-about-you\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer sponsored\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<h2>Why is this dangerous?<\/h2>\n<p>Last year, you might have heard of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/just-how-bad-is-the-facebook-data-breach\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Cambridge Analytica scandal.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A political data firm hired by the Trump campaign <strong>took data from millions of Facebook users.<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/17\/us\/politics\/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html?module=inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This was done<strong> without their knowledge<\/strong>.<\/a><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Although<a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.fb.com\/news\/2018\/03\/suspending-cambridge-analytica\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica from its platform<\/a>, it insisted <strong>what the firm did was not a data breach<\/strong>. Furthermore, Facebook claimed that users <em>opted<\/em> to have their data taken.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook took action against Cambridge Analytica after the deed was already done. Whether or not you&#8217;re a fan of Trump, the facts show that this Facebook deal helped his election. If our <strong>personal data can alter election outcomes<\/strong>, then selling it can be dangerous.<\/p>\n<h2>What should I do?<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-135404 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/700_Deactivate_Your_Account_at4xpz.jpg\" alt=\"Deactivate your Facebook account\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/dakota-shane\/research-shows-users-are-leaving-facebook-in-droves-heres-what-it-means-for-you.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">users left Facebook in droves. <\/a>After this scandal, we wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if those numbers grew.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook needs to<strong> hold itself accountable.<\/strong> Unfortunately, as long as the company keeps making money, they may not change without government oversight.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/hud-charges-facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HUD recently charged Facebook with discrimination<\/a>. We are still waiting to see how that unfolds. Hopefully, this and the current scandal will inspire Facebook to make some changes. Until then, it might be time for us to <strong>join the millions of people who have already decided to leave Facebook.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And if Facebook is selling your data, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/selling-your-personal-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">you might as well do it, too.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-white\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-white__title\">More about Facebook's scandals<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"Facebook deliberately shared your data with 60 companies \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-shares-your-data\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/06\/revised-image.png)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Facebook deliberately shared your data with 60 companies \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"Facebook banned \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-banned-papua-new-guinea\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/Facebook-banned-1024x576.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Facebook banned \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"Facebook suspends over 200 apps in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-app-suspensions\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/facebook-spy-1024x576.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Facebook suspends over 200 apps in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"Facebook deletes over 200 accounts and pages linked to Russian troll farm \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-deletes-over-200-accounts-and-pages\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/04\/facebook-257829_1280.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>Facebook deletes over 200 accounts and pages linked to Russian troll farm \u25ba<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new leak shows that Facebook cherry-picked partners, advertisers for who got our personal data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9180,"featured_media":135401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[2353,1059,1908],"usertag":[839],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-135396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionfacebook","tag-facebook","tag-personal-data","usertag-vpn"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326253,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135396\/revisions\/326253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135396"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=135396"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=135396"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=135396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}