Even in case you haven’t created an account on a social media site, they might need a hidden profile with more details than you’d imagine. Sneaky, right?
That’s why you need to say no thanks when an app offers to absorb your contacts to seek out all your folks. It’s not your info to provide away.
Should you use social media, it’s price clearing out all of the things (and other people) you’ve looked up. Listed here are easy steps to save lots of yourself some potential embarrassment later.
Perhaps you deleted Facebook years ago or never made one. Meta might still have your cell number, landline, or email address.
The shady side of social media
Over time, most of us have willingly overshared. Hopefully, you’ve removed your phone number and email address out of your social media profiles.
Even in case your account is private, anybody can take a screenshot. If you have got any contact information in your profile, delete it now.
Those hidden accounts I discussed are called Shadow Profiles. They exist because of all of your contacts who passed along things like your full name, birthday, phone number, email address, and possibly much more.
If someone you already know shared their address book with Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger, Meta probably has your details. Excellent news: You possibly can remove them.
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Opt me out, please
First, head to this help page for non-Meta users. There’s a very important line buried under the heading, How Non-Users can exercise their rights:
- “Click here if you have got an issue in regards to the rights you will have.”
That links to a contact removal tool, where you’ll be able to ask Meta to delete your information from its address book database. Yeah, they don’t make it super easy to seek out.
Here’s the best way to delete your contact information from Meta:
- Go to facebook.com/contacts/removal.
- Select the form of information you desire to remove. Select from a mobile number, landline or email address, then hit Next.
- Enter your phone number and/or email address to get a confirmation code.
- Select the platform you would like it faraway from (Facebook and Messenger or Instagram), or select All.
- Click Next and enter the confirmation code on the following screen. Hit Next one last time.
- If something is found, hit Confirm to delete the info.
- Hit Close on the following screen, or use the link to go looking for an additional number or email.
You possibly can still use the removal tool if you have got a Facebook account, but there are more steps you need to take to guard your privacy.