The original post: /r/privacy by /u/Ken852 on 2024-08-12 16:28:38.
What the fuck is this then?..
Here’s the background story…
On 8/8/2017, I created a “fake” Facebook account for my needs. It was not created by a bot, it was not part of a botnet, it was not used to mock or bully people, or to spread political propaganda, disinformation, or to upload cruel videos of people doing mean and disturbing things to each other or to poor animals. It was a perfectly normal account. It was only “fake” in the sense that I didn’t register it under my own personal name. It didn’t even have a profile picture, so I was not stealing other people’s photos or impersonating someone. I just went by the pseudonym “Johnny”, and I only did that for security and privacy reasons.
On 8/11/2024, I tried to log in and it didn’t work. My account was gone?
"Wrong Credentials
Invalid username or password"
When I tried to use the “Forgot password” option, I got to a “Find your account” form.
"Find your account
Please enter your email or mobile number to search for your account."
There was a single input field and two buttons: Cancel and Search. When I pasted in my Outlook e-mail address, I got this message:
"No Search Results
Your search did not return any results. Please try again with other information."
It seems like the account has been deleted by Facebook! Maybe due to inactivity and GDPR, or because I failed to verify it after creating it, which is highly unlikely because I am not that stupid.
I could not find anything related to Facebook in the mail inbox of the registered Outlook e-mail address. The oldest e-mail I have is from PayPal, and it’s dated 7/23/2018. But this account was registered 8/8/2017 according to my password manager. Yes, I’m that smart, I use a password manager! So it’s very close to impossible that the account was hacked as Facebook will have you believe (if you’re an idiot) when you go on a clicking safari on their so called “Help” site. So not only did Facebook delete this account, Microsoft also deleted my oldest e-mails from the inbox. Probably due to inactivity, here as well.
So on 8/12/2024, I decided to re-create the account, using the same e-mail address. If they act like monkeys towards me, I see no reason not to rub them the same way. One of the first things I saw was this:
"Do you already have a Facebook account?
If you have an account, we can help you find it and log in. If you don’t, you can create a new account."
So these fuckers know more than they are telling. Namely, they must know that a Facebook account exists or that one has existed with that e-mail address! I picked the option “No, create a new one”. Here are the dialogs that followed:
"We need more information
We’ll take you through a few steps to confirm your account on Facebook.
Complete these steps in the next 180 days to make sure you can use this account."
“Help us confirm it’s you”
"Protecting your account
Please solve this puzzle so we know you are a real person"
"Verification complete!
You’ve proven you’re a human. Continue your action."
"Enter an email address
To make sure we can update you on progress, please provide your email address. If there are any issues confirming your identity, we’ll email you directly. To verify this email address, we’ll send you a confirmation code."
"Enter confirmation code
We sent a confirmation code to the email address you provided: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])"
So I verified the e-mail address, and the new account was created. But this was not enough!? They now wanted to know exactly who I am, before letting me in. Since when is this mandatory? They usually ask for this kind of info, and maybe a photo copy of your ID, in cases where you are locked out of your account, and they want to verify that you’re a “real person” and that you are who you say you are. Even when if they didn’t ask for ID when you created your account, if you created it a long time ago, when they didn’t ask for such things, before they became “Meta” and before all the information security and privacy scandals unfolded in the years following its early years after founding. So they technically have nothing to compare your ID against if you have a very old account, they have no such records. But they will have it all once you provide them freely (if you want to regain access). Anyway… here’s what followed:
"We need more information
We’ll take you through a few steps to confirm your account on Facebook.
Complete these steps in the next 180 days to make sure you can use this account."
"Upload a verification selfie
Upload a photo that clearly shows your face. Make sure the photo is well-lit and isn’t blurry. Don’t include other people in the shot."
“We’ll store an encrypted copy of your selfie for up to 1 year to improve our ability to detect fake photos, keeping Facebook safe from impersonation. Change how long we store your selfie for or Learn more”
I wanted to dox this for posterity and future scientific research. They are not having my face. Nor will they have my ID. Who do they are? Demanding to have a photo of my face? I know, they are “Facebook”, the book of faces. But not my face, oh no. They won’t have it. Even if they only store it for 1 year, and in encrypted form. I am not going to help them train their AI system (“improve our ability to detect”) on recognizing faces! This should be criminal! I am not even a US citizen, and they have no jurisdiction here! They don’t even have my ID to compare and “verify” my face against. It’s all just a big lie! Verification? Pff! Yeah, right! All they want to do is dox your face, to help corrupt governments prosecute people.
I know Facebook is not alone in this. I see more and more big tech companies from USA doing this, including LinkedIn, the biggest corporate espionage source of them all. This is the new reality. It should be criminal! I do have another Facebook account under my real name, a very old one. I don’t even use it, or use it just to keep in touch with a few friends and other people. After this experience, and after Facebook has shown its true face, I will delete my last and only Facebook account. I will try to eradicate this “fake” account too. To hell with Facebook! To hell with all companies that do this! Including Microsoft (LinkedIn)!