Analyze Your Facebook Usage

Facebook collects a lot of your data, but you might never get to see what they really learn about you. Data Selfie aims to give you a glimpse by letting you analyze your own Facebook usage.

While there’s no way to know exactly how Facebook analyzes your data without working for the company, Data Selfie gives you a rough approximation. Once you add it to Chrome, the extension tracks your activity on Facebook. Everything from what you click on to what you type. Data Selfie stores that information locally and doesn’t share it with anyone (though obviously Facebook is tracking it).

After a while of usage, you can generate a report that will let you explore what someone could learn about from your activity. It shows simple things like the pages and people you spend the most time with, as well as complex thoughts like how you lean politically, or whether you’re more relaxed or emotional.

If you’ve never paid attention to how simple things like your Facebook activity can turn into powerful data profiles, this is a good tool to play around with. You might think that companies can’t know how you lean politically or what your religion is if you don’t tell them, but data analysis can figure it out pretty quickly. Whether you’re still comfortable using Facebook after seeing reports like the ones Data Selfie generates is up to you, but it’s important to know how your data could be used

Comments

Bitcoin Laundering” Study: Where Do Criminals Turn to Mask Illicit Cryptoassets?

A recent study ( PDF ) from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance and blockchain analytics company Elliptic explored the “bitcoin laundering” ecosystem. In the study, Elliptic’s forensic analysis of the Bitcoin blockchain and other publicly available data were used to track the flows of illicit funds from 2013 to 2016. “This study aimed to identify where individuals turn in order to cash out or transmit bitcoins (BTC) acquired from illicit entities and to discover typologies for criminals ‘laundering’ bitcoins,” the report says. The study describes bitcoin laundering as a special type of money laundering that exists within the Bitcoin network where a user moves some bitcoins to a new address in a manner that obscures the original source of funds. The conversion of bitcoins into fiat currency on exchanges that lack adequate anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) policies can also fall under the category ...

Soaring Bitcoin Price Leads $159 Billion Crypto Market Recovery

Bitcoin Well, somebody bought the dip. Just as critics were rushing to proclaim that the bitcoin bubble had burst, the markets staged a $159 billion recovery. The rally was headlined by the bitcoin price, which rebounded from its sub-$10,000 fling and is currently flirting with $12,000. Several other top-tier coins, meanwhile, returned single day increases in excess of 40 percent. Source: CoinMarketCap Altogether, the cryptocurrency market cap clawed its way back to $574 billion, representing a 38 percent recovery from Wednesday’s intraday low of $415 billion. Bitcoin Price Eyes $12,000 Wednesday served as a trial-by-fire for recent bitcoin investors, some of whom had purchased the flagship cryptocurrency for $19,000 at the height of the rally in mid-December. Bitcoin Price Chart The correction forced the bitcoin price below $10,000 for the first time since early December, but Thursday’s rally enabled bitcoin to regain a bit...

How to Boost Your Credit—or Build it Up From Nothing

Now that you know how credit works , you probably want to know how to make it work better . While nothing is better for your credit than paying your bills in full and on time, there are ways to give it a boost. Like it or not, credit matters . It’s also complicated. In our “Everything You Need to Know About Credit” series, we’re breaking down the basics. When a lender or landlord looks at your credit, they’re not just looking for a three digit number, they want to know how you actually handle credit. That’s why your credit report is more important than your score. That said, your score matters, too, and the good news is, there are shortcuts for boosting it in a relatively short amount of time. And if you don’t have credit at all — let’s say you’re a teenager about to start college — your biggest focus should be on building up a credit history. That way you can apply for student loans, apartments, and make sure you aren’t gouged on bills . Here are some options...

Gsbt

Search This Blog