Facebook -- What Is It Doing In The Background?

[bangkokrick]

Click settings the the profile tab at the top .Second tab. then manage FB connect.

Am I at the right place?

Yes click on manage FB connect in the list on the left.

[wpcoe]

Thanks, George. But, as you can tell, sometimes I'm like a dog with a bone. I just want to know *why,* and from some of the replies I got above, I feel like I'm so close to finding out, that it's frustrating.

[Crushdepth]

Even after I've closed the Facebook window several minutes ago? There is no "logoff" button, so I guess I stay logged on?

When you login to Facebook, do not tick the 'keep me logged in' box. That thing is just plain evil.

[bangkokrick]

WPCOE at the bottom the is an option to disconnect the accounts if they are active.

Disassociate Facebook

This will log you out, remove the account link from Facebook and will remove the Facebook Application.

[wpcoe]

Yes click on manage FB connect in the list on the left.

Well, duh... I didn't even see that!

Okay, on that tab, I get:

and clicking on the "Login with Facebook" link leads to:

I clicked on "Don't Allow" and that same page (last image) reappeared. I logged out of Facebook manually, just to be sure. Then I clicked on the ThaiVisa Forum link on the home page again, and it's still sending stuff to Facebook.

I surrender!

[wpcoe]

WPCOE at the bottom the is an option to disconnect the accounts if they are active.

At the bottom of *which* page? Neither the "Manage Facebook Connect" page nor the "Request for Permission" page have that option.

[edited to add]

Or, am I not seeing that option because there are no connections?

Edited October 16, 2010 by wpcoe

[wpcoe]

When you login to Facebook, do not tick the 'keep me logged in' box. That thing is just plain evil.

Thanks for that reminder. I forgot to mention that that box was unchecked. I read about the "evil" a long time ago and unchecked it at that time.

It's because of the stuff I read about what Facebook does if you check that box that prompted me to start this topic. I was thinking Facebook found some other way to track stuff in the background. Then, once this thread got going, I realized it was ThaiVisa that was sending the links, and I trust George and ThaiVisa enough to believe nothing "evil" is going on, but my curiosity was already piqued, and here we are!

[Xircal]

Even after I've closed the Facebook window several minutes ago? There is no "logoff" button, so I guess I stay logged on?

You need to go to Account --> Logoff.

As for the activity, it looks like it's fetching ads from servers to display to you. Nothing to get excited about.

[bangkokrick]

When you login to Facebook, do not tick the 'keep me logged in' box. That thing is just plain evil.

Thanks for that reminder. I forgot to mention that that box was unchecked. I read about the "evil" a long time ago and unchecked it at that time.

It's because of the stuff I read about what Facebook does if you check that box that prompted me to start this topic. I was thinking Facebook found some other way to track stuff in the background. Then, once this thread got going, I realized it was ThaiVisa that was sending the links, and I trust George and ThaiVisa enough to believe nothing "evil" is going on, but my curiosity was already piqued, and here we are!

You are not seeing it because you are not connected, so that' s good. But now I don't have a clue why the connection.

Good Luck,

Rick

[wpcoe]

You need to go to Account --> Logoff.

As for the activity, it looks like it's fetching ads from servers to display to you. Nothing to get excited about.

Thanks for the Logoff tip. I already found it (see above).

I believe George when he says that it is a standard script that ThaiVisa has added to the forum pages and links, and that it is (probably <g>) benign.

Again, my original concern was that *Facebook* was up to no good (as indicated in the thread title), and later realized that it was ThaiVisa doing something, and George explained that something, and I'm not so worried any more.

[wpcoe]

You are not seeing it because you are not connected, so that' s good. But now I don't have a clue why the connection.

Thanks, Rick, for all your help. It was like having an online chat with a help desk!

[bangkockney]

I'll digress slightly, but in a way you are right to be concerned Facebook is up to something (potentially) naughty. Did you know the following:

fbcdn = FaceBook Content Delivery Network

A CDN distributes your static content across servers in various, diverse physical locations. When a user’s browser resolves the URL for these files, their download will automatically target the closest available server in the network.

Used by Facebook to store and serve all the millions of pictures, video etc that are added daily. In fact, Facebook stores 4 different image sizes for every image, meaning a quarter billion new files every week!

What this actually means is that when you post a photo or video to your Facebook profile, you think you are uploading to the Facebook-owned server in Califronia. Wrong. The photos are actually stored on servers maintained by an external company which runs the content delivery network. So delete an embarrassing picture off Facebook and it still remains out their in the ether, until removed from all caches on all servers in all CDNs in use! A typical CDN has around 61,000 servers and Facebook uses at least two external companies.

Of course all this is buried in Facebook's privacy statement somewhere - bet you haven't come across it before though.

[bangkokrick]

You are not seeing it because you are not connected, so that' s good. But now I don't have a clue why the connection.

Thanks, Rick, for all your help. It was like having an online chat with a help desk!

No worries WPCOE. I quite enjoyed myself. Glad to be of help.

Cheers, Rick

[Xircal]

There is yet another scam floating around on Facebook at the moment details of which can be found on the Sophos site

It would appear that scammers will try to convince a user that they can see who viewed their profile. Judging by the screenshots, it's been cleverly done and looks for all intents and purposes, quite authentic.