Beware of Subliminal Notification Tracking on Facebook

Recently, Francis Irving on Twitter is calling out Facebook for forcing users to agree to their tracking methods. He has discovered some "fake red dots" that Facebook displays in the notifications and messages which makes people think they are receiving spam messages. They seem to only show messages if people agree to their tracking policy. This does show a genuinely concerning trend of big tech companies doing their best to compromise the privacy of people browsing the internet, unaware of what's going on.

He also insists that the designers and software engineers at Facebook should quit and do something else for improving UIs. Another person pointed out that there are subliminal notification flashes whenever someone closes their tabs. It does seem suspicious that Facebook has changed towards intentionally misleading their users who have tracking turned off. But apparently, this is true for Instagram's messenger notifications too. So if you are concerned about your privacy, then you might as well switch to another app like WhatsApp, Signal, or just plain texting.

Also, the quality of Facebook suggestions has declined lately as people are bombarded with the names of complete strangers from foreign countries under "People you may know". It does explain why people are using plugins to customize their Facebook experience. As for Francis himself, he has been advocating in favor of Noyb, an app that protects consumer privacy, currently supported by crowdfunding. One can only hope people will stand up for their rights and walk away when social media platforms overstep their boundaries.

Some people are suggesting everyone just delete their Facebook account. But, there is a catch. Facebook only deactivates your account for up to 30 days. You'll need to install a browser extension that blocks third-party access. Facebook's decision to track your webpages has caught the attention of the EU and could result in a heavy fine for breaching the GDPR. It's been confirmed to misdirect users towards accepting Facebook's new terms. So when they click on notifications, they are sent to the app store. The complaint addresses how users are locked out of access to Facebook until they accept the tracking or else notifications are disabled.

For more information click here https://twitter.com/frabcus/status/1001029934670929920.