I’m a big advocate for data privacy and I left Facebook many years ago without feeling the need to go back. However, there’s several local groups and a couple of local businesses that specifically communicate via Facebook that I’d like to interact with.
This presents a problem - I have to use the platform to interact with these people but I don’t want to use the platform. So how do I keep my data safe from Zucks greedy hands? So far I’m thinking:
- use a throwaway email or email that is specifically for fb
- only access via Firefox inprivate browser and use addons to clean cookies after every session
- utilise ad blockers in said browser
- set fb privacy settings accordingly to opt out of ad personalisation, othrr site fb logins etc
- potentially only access via VPN but that might be cumbersome
- maybe do all of this via android work profile but not sure if that’s much benefit
Anything else I can do to remain reasonably safe?
Tell those local businesses that you really want to support and follow them, but that you boycott Meta and the reasons that you do.
Honestly there’s so many reasons businesses should also avoid Meta, like the fact Meta is literally collecting and selling their most valuable business data about their customers to other competing businesses. Tell them for their own good that Meta is not their friend, it might help them at first to get exposure, but only long enough to get that data and sell it off to a bigger fish.
Check the facebook conrainer app for firefox
First of all, figure out your threat model. What data are you trying to keep secret from Facebook? What will happen to you if Facebook gets that data? What lengths are reasonable to prevent that outcome?
Then figure out how to consistently prevent that data from leaking.
I don’t want Facebook knowing my address, name, age, and face - basically I don’t want to be doxxed. I’m not willing to go through the effort of hiding my IP, so I’m willing to give up on that, but the others are easy enough to lie about.
The assumption that there is only one kind of threat model relevant to a person / business is a bad assumption.
If you have different threat models for different data, then you should enumerate them and work through each.
