Written by Bryce Ethridge, Staff Writer

It reads your diary and writes down your secrets, all without you knowing. It’s like the big brother you never wanted, but it steals your secrets in order to show you more of what you like. It’s on your phone as the social media app Facebook.

Facebook came into our lives in 2006 like a re-skinned version of MySpace. Now it thinks it can make people like it more by using “likes,” “loves,” and “laughs,” to generate more of what people like.

According to ProPublica, the social media giant compiles data into “detailed dossiers,” which are then used to influence the advertising you see. Facebook tries to downplay its actions by saying it got user data, “from a few different sources.”

ProPublica said even though Facebook has been called out on its shady action, it rebutted with the fact that users are able to detect which third-party users are using their data, “if they know where to look.”

Steve Satterfield, Facebook manager of privacy and public policy, stated that Facebook is unable to control third-party categories in the same way it controls its categories, due to the fact that third-party providers, “make their categories available across other platforms.”

ProPublica said Facebook does not disclose the use of third-party data because the company is not responsible for collecting that data. Facebook began handling data brokers when they signed a deal with Datalogix in 2012.

While it might not be known, there is a way to find the data that is taken and stopping it from being taken again.

The process sometimes involves giving the last four digits of your social security number to data companies, and since Facebook regularly changes their data brokers, the user would have to regularly visit the help center to find the new data brokers taking data.

For example, reporter Julia Angwin attempted to opt out of all the data brokers, but she found out she was only able to opt-out of 92. Out of the 92, Angwin stated that 65 required the user, “submit a form of identification such as a driver’s license.” Even with that, Angwin was unable to take her data back from a majority of the data brokers.

After its investigation, ProPublica started an app on Google Chrome, allowing users to see in which categories Facebook put them, called, “What Facebook Thinks You Like.”

According to Forbes, companies gain an upper hand from this data by using it to increase advertising abilities, gearing advertising more toward the viewers. That being said, companies are basically taking your data for free just so they can sell you products better.