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Thousands of Companies Are Monitoring Every Facebook User, According to a Study

By Ryan Delarme, January 21, 2024

A comprehensive investigation, conducted in partnership between Consumer Reports and The Markup, has exposed the vast extent of data surveillance that is directed at users of Facebook. Some study participants were monitored by as many as 7,000 businesses.

709 volunteers were asked to contribute archives of their Facebook user data. Consumer Reports was astounded to learn that 186,892 distinct organizations had transmitted information about these users to Facebook.

Data from each participant was, on average, disseminated by 2,230 companies; however, certain users’ data was shared by more than 7,000 companies.

This examination brought attention to a less prevalent type of monitoring referred to as server-to-server tracking, in which personal information is transmitted directly from the servers of a company to the servers of Meta. This method occurs in addition to the more obvious approach that employs Meta tracking pixels on company websites.

Emil Vazquez, a spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, defended the company’s data practices, stating: “We offer a number of transparency tools to help people understand the information that businesses choose to share with us, and manage how it’s used.”

Consumer Reports, on the other hand, identified problems with these tools, such as ambiguous data provider identities and advertising service providers frequently disregarding user opt-out requests.

An unexpected discovery was the widespread occurrence of LiveRamp, a data broker, which was detected in the data of 96% of the participants in the study. In addition to obscure data aggregators, the roster of organizations that provide Facebook with data comprises prominent retailers such as Home Depot, Macy’s, Walmart, as well as Experian and TransUnion’s Neustar, Amazon, Etsy, and PayPal. LiveRamp’s lack of response to a request for comment regarding this subject is noteworthy.

There were two primary collection categories from which the study obtained its data: “events” and “custom audiences.” The latter entails advertisers transferring customer profiles, which comprise mobile advertising IDs and email addresses, to Meta in order to target advertisements on Meta’s platforms. “Events” refer to tangible transactions that occur in the physical world, such as visits to websites or purchases from stores, and are enabled through the utilization of Meta’s software in applications, monitoring pixels on websites, and server-to-server tracking.

The deputy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Caitriona Fitzgerald, conveyed apprehension regarding the scope of monitoring in an interview with The Markup: “This type of tracking which occurs entirely outside of the user’s view is just so far outside of what people expect when they use the internet.” Additionally, she stated, “they [consumers] don’t expect Meta to know what stores they walk into or what news articles they’re reading or every site they visit online.”

Ryan Delarme

Ryan DeLarme is an American journalist navigating a labyrinth of political corruption, overreaching corporate influence, a burgeoning censorship-industrial complex, compromised media, and the planned destruction of our constitutional republic. He writes for Badlands Media and is also a Host and Founder at Vigilant News. Additionally, his writing has been featured in American Thinker, the Post-Liberal, Winter Watch, Underground Newswire, and Stillness in the Storm. He’s also writes for alt-media streaming platforms Dauntless Dialogue and Rise.tv. Ryan enjoys gardening, kung fu, creative writing and fighting to SAVE AMERICA

Jim Jordan Obtains Documents Showing Federal Agencies Flagged Transactions of “MAGA” and “Trump” Supporters
Additionally, those who shop at sporting goods stores and those who've purchased bibles are also being tracked.

By Ryan Delarme, January 18, 2024

Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, announced on Wednesday that the committee had obtained documents revealing that federal agencies have flagged financial transactions for people using politically sensitive words such as “MAGA” and Trump.”

Jordan elaborated in a letter to Noah Bishoff, a former director of FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) and current anti-money laundering (AML) officer at the fintech company Plaid, Inc., on scenarios in which the transactions of American citizens purchasing bibles or sporting goods stores might be flagged.

New documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reveal that the federal government flagged terms like “MAGA” and “TRUMP” for financial institutions if Americans used those phrases when completing transactions. Individuals who shopped at stores like Cabela’s or Dick’s Sporting Goods, or purchased religious texts like a bible, may also have had their transactions flagged. This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious concerns about the FBI’s respect for fundamental civil liberties. -Judiciary.house.gov

“The Committee and Select Subcommittee have obtained documents indicating that following January 6, 2021, FinCEN distributed materials to financial institutions that, among other things, outline the ‘typologies’ of various persons of interest and provide financial institutions with suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement,” the letter reads.

“These materials included a document recommending the use of generic terms like ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA’ to ‘search Zelle payment messages’ as well as a ‘prior FinCEN analysis’ of ‘Lone Actor/Homegrown Violent Extremism Indicators,” the letter continues. “According to this analysis, FinCEN warned financial institutions of ‘extremism’ indicators that include ‘transportation charges, such as bus tickets, rental cars, or plane tickets, for travel to areas with no apparent purpose,’ or ‘the purchase of books (including religious texts) and subscriptions to other media containing extremist views.’ In other words, FinCEN urged large financial institutions to comb through the private transactions of their customers for suspicious charges on the basis of protected political and religious expression.”

The Committee declared that senior intelligence officials, including Bishoff, are to be interviewed.

Ryan Delarme

Ryan DeLarme is an American journalist navigating a labyrinth of political corruption, overreaching corporate influence, a burgeoning censorship-industrial complex, compromised media, and the planned destruction of our constitutional republic. He writes for Badlands Media and is also a Host and Founder at Vigilant News. Additionally, his writing has been featured in American Thinker, the Post-Liberal, Winter Watch, Underground Newswire, and Stillness in the Storm. He’s also writes for alt-media streaming platforms Dauntless Dialogue and Rise.tv. Ryan enjoys gardening, kung fu, creative writing and fighting to SAVE AMERICA

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