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Four Corners: April 10

Four Corners delves into what Facebook really knows about you.

On Monday’s Four Corners Peter Greste presents “Cracking the Code: What Facebook really knows about you.”

“What’s on your mind?”

It’s the friendly Facebook question which lets you share what you’re thinking and what you’ve been up to. It’s also the question that unlocks the details of your life and helps turn your thoughts into Facebook’s profits.

“They are the most successful company arguably in human history at just gathering people’s time and turning that time into money.” Reporter

On Monday night, Four Corners explores the world of Facebook and how your data is being mined to drive the huge success of the social media giant.

“Facebook’s very well aware of our sentiment, our mood…it can put all that data together and start to understand who our ex’s are, who our friends are, who our old friends are, who our new friends are, and that’s how it really works.” Marketing executive

Reporter Peter Greste examines the Facebook business model and shows why your private life is making them billions.

“Facebook has very cleverly figured out how to wrap itself around our lives. It’s the family album. It’s your messaging to your friends. It’s your daily diary. It’s your contact list. It’s all these things wrapped around your life.” Digital privacy expert

The program investigates how Facebook has the ability to track much of your browsing history, even when you’re not logged on, and even if you aren’t a member of the social network at all.

“Even if you close your account, even if you log out of all of your services, the way that they’re set up, with their sharing buttons, they’re still going to be able to build a profile for you. It’s very difficult to opt out of Facebook’s reach.” IT security consultant

And shows how the methods used to deliver targeted advertising also drives what ‘news’ appears in your Facebook feed, and why you are unlikely to see anything that challenges your world view. This feedback loop is fuelling the rise and power of “fake news”.

“We’re seeing news that’s tailored ever more tightly towards those kinds of things that people will click on, and will share, rather than things that perhaps are necessarily good for them.” Media analyst

With more than 16 million Australian Facebook accounts, joining more than a billion other users, Four Corners investigates how much we are giving up to be part of the social network.

“If somebody was going to build a dossier on me based on what Facebook knows about me, what would it look like? I should be able to know that so that I can make informed decisions at how I’m going to use the platform.” Internet privacy advocate

Monday 10th April at 8.30pm on ABC.

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