Facebook: How it tracks you

Facebook has for the first time revealed details about how it tracks users across the Web. According to USA Today, the complete picture how the social network keeps tabs on its 800 million users was revealed through series of interviews with the social networking site's engineering director, spokesman, corporate spokesman and engineering manager. Facebook does not track everybody the same way, as it uses different methods for members who have signed in and are using their accounts, members who are logged-off and non-members. The first time you arrive at any Facebook page, the company inserts cookies in your browser. If you sign up for an account, it inserts two types of cookies and if you don't set up an account, it inserts only one of the two types. These cookies record every time you visit another website that uses a Facebook "Like button" or other Facebook plugin, which work together with the cookies to note the time, date and website being visited. Unique characteristics that identify your computer are also recorded. Facebook keeps logs that records your past 90 days of activity and deletes entries older than 90 days, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. If you are logged into a Facebook account, your name, email address, friends and all of the other data in your Facebook profile are also being recorded. Data about web searches and browsing habits could be used to figure out political affiliations, religious beliefs, sexual orientations or health issues about consumers.