How to Secure Your Downloaded Information from Facebook
Note that you'll have to supply your Facebook password twice during this process, because this is sensitive information. Facebook also warns that you should protect the downloaded data, as it contains sensitive material. Your best bet would be to encrypt the data when you're not actively studying it.
You start at the Profile page, with general information about you and your Facebook account. This includes the exact moment you started with Facebook (Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 8:15 a.m. PDT in my case) as well as your address (if you entered it), birthday, gender, hometown, and so on. It doesn't distinguish between public details and those you've made private.
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At the very end, the archive lists "Advertisers with your contact info," eight of them, in my case. I recognize most of them, though I'm not sure how they got my contact info, or what it means that they did. But a couple are completely unfamiliar. I'm very deliberately not Googling these, figuring that doing so might just give The Watchers more information.
So, OK, it's true that Facebook keeps painfully detailed information about your logins and devices. You can look at it until your eyes cross. A security expert might dump this data to detect possible hacking, but the average consumer will find little of interest.
If you haven't yet done it, scroll back to the top of this article and follow the instructions to download your own archive. Page through it, think about it, do your best to get past the poorly designed parts. The archive isn't just evidence for you of what Facebook has on you. You can also make it a useful resource, assuming it doesn't inspire you to simply delete Facebook.
Facebook also records all your personal information, like relationships or places of work, and they store every change in your Facebook archive. If you have an ex-partner who you'd rather forget, downloading Facebook content will reveal when you started and ended the relationship with them - if you made it 'Facebook official.'
How to download your information on Facebook in HTML or JSON format
What data is included in your Facebook information download
How to transfer your Facebook information to another service
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How to access and review your Facebook information before downloading
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There's the option to download your Facebook data directly from the website or the app. The download from the website is most compatible with desktops or laptops - it's far easier to view, move, and change the downloaded files.
Scroll down and click on Settings & Privacy and then click on Settings. On that page, there's a panel on the left that has a long list of sub-categories within your Facebook settings to explore - but the one you're interested in is your Facebook information.
Click on that, and the first thing you'll see is the access your information tool. Here you'll find all the things you didn't realize Facebook was tracking. The access your information tool is an excellent way of exploring your data before you download it - we'll explain why that comes in handy further along.
Once you've explored the access your information tool, it's time to download all that data. Start by going back to your Facebook information page and then click on the third option - download your information.
Facebook will then present you with another list of options. At the top, you'll notice a section called Request Copy and another called Available Copies. For now, you're interested in Request Copy - the available copies section is like a Facebook backup for your downloads for a few days after the download is complete.
By default, if you went onto the next step without customizing your download, every part of your history is included in the Facebook download. But if you look just below the section that allows you to customize the date range and more, you'll notice your information.
Here, you can deselect anything you don't wish to be included in the download. Facebook Gaming, for example, might not be on your wish list. That's why it's wise to look through your Facebook information section first to see which sections you're most interested in downloading.
The time it takes for the download to finish varies depending on the data you've requested and the media quality. Facebook will display a message saying a copy of your information is being created. Just below that message is the option to cancel this process if you wish to.
Click on download, and it'll begin to download onto your desktop, ready for you to save and use. Facebook will ask you to enter your password once before it begins the download to your desktop.
Let's face it - you're not going to want to wait hours for your download to complete and then have to sit and sift through endless files to view the data you're actually interested in. Instead, you might be wondering how to download all Facebook photos.
The first option is to go through the same process listed above that takes you to the download your information section. Deselect everything other than the posts option. That will see you download everything you've posted to Facebook, including the all-important pictures, videos, statuses, and anything you're going to be interested in if you're taking a trip down memory lane.
You can also easily download pictures from your Facebook on a desktop by clicking on the image or album you wish to download, clicking on the three dots, and selecting download. That's the easiest way to download Facebook pictures if you don't want videos and posts to be included.
Open the app and click on the three lines in the top right corner. Look for Settings under the Settings & Privacy section. This section doesn't look dissimilar to the desktop website version; you'll even notice that the access your information tool is there. Explore it if you wish, or click the download your information button below it.
The download your information section also looks similar to the desktop version. You can customize your data download the same way and see available copies once they're ready. Pick your selection or stick with the original option Facebook presents you - downloading all your data since the beginning of your account creation using an HTML format with high-quality media.
Once you've typed in your password and activated the download onto your desktop or cell phone, you'll want to extract everything from your Zip file. Each folder is pretty self-explanatory as the titles for the folder feature the different sections of your Facebook data.
What you then do with your data is up to you. Some people like to have a downloadable copy of their entire Facebook history to have a Facebook back up if they somehow lose the account - which is highly possible, considering 533 million people had their Facebook accounts hacked in 2021 alone.
Did you know that Facebook categorizes every user, with ProPublica identifying 52,000 unique attributes that Facebook uses to classify its users? But they don't tell you that. What attributes they've chosen to use to categorize you won't appear in your download.
You'll also notice that some of the folders in your download will be relatively empty compared to others - such as your location history and Ad interests. Realistically, the metrics Facebook uses to decipher what ads to show you should also feature in the download, but they don't.
The best option is to select the data you know you're most interested in and download that. Although, you may be interested in learning what Facebook knows about you by downloading your entire history. You can then decide if you want to turn some features off.
Cell phones are great for on-the-go downloads, but it works better if you only need to know how to download videos from Facebook, for example. Or, it might be easier to save photos from Facebook and then create a saved photos from Facebook folder on your phone, for example.
Safety is another big thing to consider - it's essential to ensure the safety of the data you're downloading, especially if you're downloading it onto your smartphone. It's wise to ensure you're downloading your data from a private network rather than when you're using public Wi-Fi, for example. Public Wi-Fi is notorious for being a high-risk network with minimal safety features.
Other things to consider include; whether an HTML file actually suits your needs, whether you want to spend longer waiting for high-quality media rather than medium, and what date range you want to download the data for. Downloading Facebook data isn't necessarily a tricky task, but it's a long one, so it pays to get it correct the first time.
Embarking on the journey to download your Facebook data is exciting. We spend years scrolling through these apps and interacting with different people but often forget what we've done that day, let alone years ago. The download gives you a chance to relive precious memories, see how much your life has changed, or access data that you might have been struggling to find. What do you hope to find in your Facebook download?
On Sunday, the company directed CNN to a new blog post addressing data related to calls and texts. Facebook stressed that it never sells this data and that it does not "collect the content of your text messages or calls. ... You are always in control of the information you share with Facebook."
Choose the categories of information that you want to download. By default, all categories are automatically selected. For the most comprehensive view of the data Facebook has on you, keep all categories selected.
That information can include data Facebook holds about your children, and whether or not they have their own social media accounts. And its massive user base means the site has plenty of fake accounts and scammers phishing for unsuspecting Facebook users. These scammers can have a legitimate-looking face and name attached to their messages, making it easier to scam potential victims.
As is obvious from the trove of information Facebook has on you, protecting your Facebook data goes beyond privacy settings and your profile page. Facebook is a giant in the tech world, and its trails of data are long and wide. You may consider clearing your browser history periodically and using an encryption tool to protect your data. And anti-tracking software can help shield your online activity and block tracking techniques like browser fingerprinting.