


How hard you want to pull back depends to a certain extent on how much you trust Facebook. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to limit the volume of data that it logs. But Facebook has ways of keeping tabs on people who aren't even signed up for the service. Some of this comes with the territory of using Facebook: If you want to take advantage of its features, then you have to give up a certain amount of information about yourself. Facebook's tentacles stretch out across other websites and services, into the various apps you're using on your phone, and to the places you physically visit in the real world-especially if you decide to check in on Facebook while you're there. It won't come as much of a surprise that Facebook tracks you on its platform-that's why it can resurface your birthday photos from five years ago-but you might not yet realize the scope and the depth of its tracking all across the internet.
