Facebook clarifies how it collects data when you're logged out
San Francisco, April 17: After Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of the US Congress last week, the company on Tuesday tried to clarify on questions how it collects data when people are not directly using the website or app.
Many websites and apps use Facebook services to make their content and ads more engaging and relevant.
"Apps and websites that use our services, such as the Like button or Facebook Analytics, send us information to make their content and ads better," David Baser, Product Management Director at Facebook, wrote in a blog post.
In return for that information, Facebook helps those websites serve up relevant ads or receive analytics that help them understand how people use their services.
"When you visit a site or app that uses our services, we receive information even if you're logged out or don't have a Facebook account. This is because other apps and sites don't know who is using Facebook," Baser added.
Many companies offer these types of services and, like Facebook, they also get information from the apps and sites that use them.
"Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn all have similar Like and Share buttons to help people share things on their services. Google has a popular analytics service. And Amazon, Google and Twitter all offer login features," Facebook said.
These companies -- and many others -- also offer advertising services.
When you visit a website, your browser (for example Chrome, Safari or Firefox) sends a request to the site's server.
The browser shares your IP address so the website knows where on the Internet to send the site content.
The website also gets information about the browser and operating system (for example Android or Windows) you're using because not all browsers and devices support the same features.
"It also gets cookies, which are identifiers that websites use to know if you've visited before. This can help with things like saving items in your shopping cart," Facebook explained.
"So when a website uses one of our services, your browser sends the same kind of information to Facebook as the website receives. We also get information about which website or app you're using, which is necessary to know when to provide our tools," Baser noted.
There are three main ways in which Facebook uses the information it gets from other websites and apps.
"Providing our services to these sites or apps; improving safety and security on Facebook; and enhancing our own products and services," Baser said.
"We also use the information we receive from websites and apps to help protect the security of Facebook. For example, receiving data about the sites a particular browser has visited can help us identify bad actors," he posted.
Zuckerberg, appearing before the US Congress last week, told the lawmakers that his own personal data was part of 87 million users' that was "improperly shared" with British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.
"We don't sell the data. We use the data that people put into the system in order to make them more relevant. I believe people own their content," he told the US Congress.
Facebook is embroiled in a widening scandal that a British data firm called Cambridge Analytica improperly gathered detailed information on its 87 million users.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
