Social media networks collect information about you and use it to sell advertisements that you can’t resist. Then they give you a chance to interact with other users across the globe. Your data is a product that these social media companies enjoy and take advantage with. Here is a list of data sites that have collected information about you, and how to view, download and delete your personal information online.
If you wish to see the topics which Instagram thinks you will take interest by ads, go to Settings > Security > Access Data > Ads. Then it will display a list of topics which Instagram thinks you want to see on ads. The results can be accurate and weird, but sometimes it’s just completely off. You can download your Instagram data, including photos and captions. Simply go to the same Security tab and look for the Data Download section. Then you can request a download link of all your data.
Facebook compiles a lot of user data. There’s so much data on each user that the company splits up the downloads into sections and logs to view it more manageable.
If you wish to view and download your Facebook data, simply go to your Settings > Your Facebook information. Then you can pretty much find everything here. Just take note that the file will be huge, summing up to multiple gigabytes of personal data.
Apple
Apple gave U.S. users the ability to download their personal data. Since Apple is primarily a hardware company, it doesn’t rely much on collecting user data to get income. In the end, your Apple data might prove to be boring.
If you wish to see your personal data, just go and login to the Data and Privacy page of Apple and login. Then you are able to check some of your privacy settings to make you feel comfortable.
By checking the My Activity page in Google, you will find a list of everything you have done using Google products. It probably includes everything you searched, every time you use Google Maps, all Youtube videos you’ve watched, and smart home functions you have done using an app or Google Assistant speaker. You can also listen to your Google Assistant voice requests.
If you wish to delete this activity, simply click the trash icon at the right side of each activity or click the horizontal three dots at the right of the Search your activity bar and select Delete activity by. There you can select to delete all your activities by the Last hour, Last day, Last week, All time, or a Custom range.
Before you manage your Google account, try doing the Privacy Checkups, which will run through your settings and show you what the services are collecting.
Amazon
Going through the information on your Amazon account can be easy with the regular menus on the site or through the app. However, you may not have heard that Amazon keeps audio from your Alexa requests and links them to your account.
To find them, simply go to the devices page and select the box under which says, Actions. You can also check out the Alexa Privacy Hub which provides easy access to your security data.
Snapchat
For Snapchat, you can visit the support.snapchat page and there you can find an instruction to download your data. You can submit a request and a zip file will be sent to you which you can download.
To check your Twitter archive, go to your account settings and navigate to the Download your data section. Same with Snapchat, Twitter will compile your data into a zip file and send you a link for downloading.
Microsoft
Microsoft will have information about you when you use any of its services like Xbox and Skype. You can go to Microsoft’s privacy hub and sign in. Then you can download a compilation of all your personal data.