As I write this post today, social media platforms continue collecting extensive user behavioral data. Here’s a simplistic overview of the personal behavioral data on a select set of prominent mobile communication platforms. The list is simply a sample based on what I see first-hand people use on their mobile phones.
CAVEAT: I am not creating an all-inclusive list but an ad-hoc sample to get you thinking when using these types of applications!
LinkedIn is known to gather professional and career-related behavioral data, including:
- Profile views and interactions
- Job search activities
- Content engagement (posts, articles, comments)
- Connection patterns and networking behaviors
- Skills endorsements and recommendations
TikTok
TikTok collects a vast array of behavioral data:
- Video viewing habits and duration
- Content creation patterns
- Engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares)
- User-generated sound and hashtag usage
- Device and in-app activity information
- TikTok’s data collection is pervasive. The app retrieves information about users’ devices, geographic locations, and network connections.
Instagram, owned by Meta (formerly Facebook), gathers substantial behavioral data:
- Photo and video viewing patterns
- Story and Reel engagement
- Direct messaging activities
- Shopping and product interaction behaviors
- Location check-ins and geotags
- Instagram tracks user interactions with content, including likes, comments, and saved posts. It also collects data on the accounts users follow and their engagement with hashtags.
Snapchat
Snapchat focuses on ephemeral content but still collects significant behavioral data:
- Snap creation and sending patterns
- Story viewing habits
- Discover content engagement
- Bitmoji usage and customization
- Lens and filter application behaviors
- Snapchat can access detailed information about users’ interactions, including who receives snaps, how often users are online, and even metadata from images.
All these platforms and others on the Internet use the collected behavioral data to personalize user experiences, refine content algorithms, and deliver targeted advertising. Users should be aware that their activities on these platforms contribute to detailed behavioral profiles, which can be used for various purposes, including marketing and product development.
To protect privacy, users should regularly review and adjust privacy settings on each platform, be mindful of the content they share, and consider using more privacy-focused alternatives for sensitive communications. This is not only because you should not trust these organizations with your behavioral data, but most especially when, not if, they get breached, your behavioral data will be collected and then used for far worse and nefarious purposes by a malicious actor.
It is a complex digital world out there. Think before you communicate on a platform about the information’s potential use by the vendor’s “good guys,” a debatable concept, but never forget about the bad guys either!
