Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/08/how-to-get-all-your-stuff-out.html
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My MO is not just deleting content from profiles you no longer wish to keep, but replacing the filled in fields with nonsense should they decide to do something with the data on the profile after deletion. It’s probably unnecessary but you never know what shenanigans some sites/companies do with deleted profiles before they wipe them from their databases.
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Facebook keeps everything you type into their site. It’s basically a giant keylogger. So replacing a post with lorem ipsum does nothing - they still keep the original.
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While you are right about facebook logging every change, I still think that replacing user data with nonsense is a good idea. It is possible that only the current version of the database, without revision history, would get sold or stolen.
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I put my backup in an encrypted volume I promptly forgot the password to… suprisingly I don’t miss any of it.
(To be fair, I did backup my instagram photos, which chronicled my travels)
I’d happily delete my account but I find messenger kind of handy to get in touch with acquaintances I don’t have the email addresses of. Haven’t figured out an easy out for that one.
Hey, I have the perfect solution for you!
Don’t.
See how easily that works? You’ll be treating them just like you did prior to the existence of Facebook. You might have to mail them a card at Christmas, or give them a call when Aunt Myrtle is in the hospital to tell them you think of them.
For me, it was a difficult choice, but ultimate most of what my distant relatives were posting were cat memes or political diatribes (myself included). We weren’t using it to keep in touch, just amuse (or annoy) each other in different ways. I’ve only missed it once, and that was because I needed to get a letter of recommendation from a college instructor and she has almost no other online presence I can find.
Or if not nonsense, at least lies. Lots of lies. Things that would make it difficult to actually be tied back to who you are.
I’m barely a presence on my FB feed; I’ve written and shared more here since April than I have in all my years on FB.
What concerns me are all the Facebook “quizzes” my wife has taken over the years.
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The article lists the things the author doesn’t want to see on Facebook, for example: “Any quiz taken on Buzzfeed that lets you know what character on Game of Thrones (or any other show) you’d be,”
No matter what the show, I always post: “Dang, I got Miranda Hobbes”.
I find it kinda sad that so many people actually have stuff on FB that they’d actually need to download before deleting the account.
Picture-wise i don’t have much on it, purposefully so. But i can see an instance where people post pics directly on there that they might not have backups of. Same with video (which i don’t do but i know others do). I’m glad i didn’t bother with updating or posting much on FB.
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This approach has also another advantage. If you remember exactly what you lied about, and for example you will receive spam using incorrect info about you, you’ll know that your data leaked or was sold by facebook.
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