Just how much of your social media data is shared with third parties?

social media selling your data

Instagram is most likely to share your personal information with third parties for advertising purposes. The popular app shares data from 11 out of 14 categories with third parties, putting it ahead of Facebook, which interestingly shares fewer data with external advertisers.

We’ve all experienced this: one second you’re watching a product review on YouTube and the next you see an advertisement for exactly that product in your social media feed.

While it still feels like some kind of dark magic is at work there, we’ve pretty much gotten used to this type of thing by now – even though there are instances when it still feels a bit spooky, especially when you’re certain you’ve only talked about a product or mentioned it in a personal message.

The truth of the matter is, the social media apps and websites that we are using are collecting vast amounts of data about us, and, in many cases, this data is even passed on to third parties. This of course, shouldn’t happen without permission, which is why we usually have to agree to a long list of terms and conditions before using an app. (And honestly, when is the last time you’ve read these before clicking yes?)