Techies - Facebook.com - Why?

[vikingaero]

I'm on the Travelodge website searching for somewhere cheap to crash when we go caving/'xploring. When I enter the hotel dates and location the first thing that appears on the address bar on the lower bottom left of the screen is "Sending request to Facebook.com". Why????!!!! For all I care Facebook can Foxtrot Oscar.

[droopsnoot]

I just did a quick test, and it seems to be trying to connect to "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js", which I'm guessing from the name is a script on Facebook's server that returns nearby events for the period that you're enquiring about.

So not really necessarily that sinister.

Edited by droopsnoot on Wednesday 13th February 18:55

[ging84]

facebook and google have something embedded in almost every website

[eltawater]

It's some Facebook code which allows Travelodge to track your behaviour across their website and work out why you're not going all the way through and making a booking. It assumes that you are also a Facebook user and so tries to match up your visit to the Travelodge website with your potential Facebook details, thereby giving Travelodge a means of identifying you and targeting ads at you to encourage you to book through them.

"Events" are you clicking around and interacting with the Travelodge website, nothing to do with local events.

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-pixe...

[vikingaero]

Thanks for the explanation. FWIW I have a Facebook account only because my sister-in-law insisted on arranging my brothers 30th birthday party on it. But that was 15 years ago and I've never used it since. I've had this PC for 5 years and never accessed FB on it.

Social Media? - Some of us have REAL lives.

[PHuzzy]

vikingaero said:

Social Media? - Some of us have REAL lives.

I hope the irony of posting this on a form of social media isn't lost on you

[PositronicRay]

PHuzzy said:

vikingaero said:

Social Media? - Some of us have REAL lives.

I hope the irony of posting this on a form of social media isn't lost on you

Almost 4k posts too.

[Funk]

ging84 said:

facebook and google have something embedded in almost every website

Yep. They track everyone and will have 'shadow profiles' even for those who've never used the site. It can be mitigated to a large degree by using blocking such as uBlock Origin etc which prevents requests from even being loaded on the page.

I really hate how much we're still tracked and monitored online without our knowledge (and often consent).

[ashleyman]

Funk said:

Yep. They track everyone and will have 'shadow profiles' even for those who've never used the site. It can be mitigated to a large degree by using blocking such as uBlock Origin etc which prevents requests from even being loaded on the page.

I really hate how much we're still tracked and monitored online without our knowledge (and often consent).

I was thinking about this the other day and wondered if there was a way to be completely anonymous from Facebook. Can you uninstall the phone apps, use blockers like Ghostery & AdGuard and all those things or will they still follow you round.

[Funk]

ashleyman said:

Funk said:

Yep. They track everyone and will have 'shadow profiles' even for those who've never used the site. It can be mitigated to a large degree by using blocking such as uBlock Origin etc which prevents requests from even being loaded on the page.

I really hate how much we're still tracked and monitored online without our knowledge (and often consent).

I was thinking about this the other day and wondered if there was a way to be completely anonymous from Facebook. Can you uninstall the phone apps, use blockers like Ghostery & AdGuard and all those things or will they still follow you round.

They'll still follow you. Most webpages have a Facebook 'Like' or login button on - your PC has a unique 'fingerprint' and that can be tracked by Facebook, even when you're not a user.

As an example, if you use WhatsApp they now have your phone number and mobile device identifier. They've already slurped up all your contacts as you've probably given WhatsApp access to your Contacts list and they gained access to all of that when they acquired WhatsApp. They'll connect those phone numbers and contacts (along with any other information they can glean from your device) to those they have on Facebook so they know who your friends are, who you contact most and when you do it. They will have your name and other details from your friends' contact lists (as your friends will have allowed Facebook to access their contacts on their device)...

It's nearly impossible to stop companies tracking and monitoring you these days - even if you protect your data, others will freely give it up to all and sundry.

Edited by Funk on Thursday 14th February 11:04

[droopsnoot]

eltawater said:

"Events" are you clicking around and interacting with the Travelodge website, nothing to do with local events.

Ah, OK, I didn't look any further than finding the script name. Here was me thinking it'd just be something helpful.

[Sheepshanks]

PositronicRay said:

Almost 4k posts too.

..on a site that's probably one of the worst for sending your information far and wide.

[vikingaero]

Sheepshanks said:

PositronicRay said:

Almost 4k posts too.

..on a site that's probably one of the worst for sending your information far and wide.

Oh c'mon. PH isn't real. Most of you are just bots in cyberspace a bit bored from processing premiums.

I trust PH implicitly with their security - at the worse, it was only one redirect an hour!

[funkyrobot]

Funk said:

Yep. They track everyone and will have 'shadow profiles' even for those who've never used the site. It can be mitigated to a large degree by using blocking such as uBlock Origin etc which prevents requests from even being loaded on the page.

I really hate how much we're still tracked and monitored online without our knowledge (and often consent).

[mmm-five]

Funk said:

They'll still follow you. Most webpages have a Facebook 'Like' or login button on - your PC has a unique 'fingerprint' and that can be tracked by Facebook, even when you're not a user.

I agree, and I've blocked all the 'social media' tags and such (which breaks a lot of sites), but I still realise I'm not totally incognito unless I'm using a Tor relay, through a VPN, and logged in as Sarah, 31, from Basingstoke.

[funkyrobot]

droopsnoot said:

I just did a quick test, and it seems to be trying to connect to "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js", which I'm guessing from the name is a script on Facebook's server that returns nearby events for the period that you're enquiring about.

So not really necessarily that sinister.

Edited by droopsnoot on Wednesday 13th February 18:55

Could you recommend any tools one could use to see where things are being sent to and tracked etc?

Thanks.

[PHuzzy]

funkyrobot said:

Could you recommend any tools one could use to see where things are being sent to and tracked etc?

Thanks.

Press F12 on Google Chrome, not sure on other browsers but probably the same.

[funkyrobot]

PHuzzy said:

Press F12 on Google Chrome, not sure on other browsers but probably the same.

[droopsnoot]

Yes, that's all I did. Then click on the "network" tab, and you can see all the individual network access that the page makes, including bing, google, google ads, and more.



Looks like I've got the FB one blocked, must be adblocker.

[funkyrobot]

droopsnoot said:

Yes, that's all I did. Then click on the "network" tab, and you can see all the individual network access that the page makes, including bing, google, google ads, and more.



Looks like I've got the FB one blocked, must be adblocker.

Thanks. Interesting.