Thinking about taking that Facebook quiz in your feed? Think again, the Better Business Bureau warns.
As Facebook continues to grapple with concerns over its privacy settings, the BBB in Chicago and northern Illinois urged consumers to beware of such online content.
"One of the primary missions of the BBB is to alert and protect consumers from potential fraud,” said Steve Bernas, president and CEO of BBB in Chicago and northern Illinois. “We want all consumers to be aware that an organization as large and influential as Facebook could expose consumers to the dangers of data mining, a practice that can potentially open them up to scammers. I stand with other leaders in their actions and urge consumers to take all necessary efforts to protect themselves and their information online."
According to the watchdog group, sharing profile data, quiz answers and more can be used to steal your money, passwords or “let a scammer pretend to be you in order to steal someone else’s money.”
“Even seemingly innocent information can be used to build a profile on you that can be sold to anyone trying to influence society,” the group said in a statement.
Last week, Cook County filed a lawsuit against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica for fraud after revelations that the latter obtained data on millions of Facebook users.
The suit states Facebook failed to protect its users' privacy and misrepresented how their data would be used. London-based Cambridge Analytica has been accused of using Facebook data to influence voter behavior in 2016.
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Zuckerberg apologized for a "major breach of trust," admitted mistakes and outlined steps to protect users following Cambridge's data grab.
In response to criticism over its data practices Facebook announced plans to makeover its privacy tools, attempting to make navigating the company’s privacy policies easier for users and give them a new way to access and download the data collected on them.
