We all know what Facebook’s biggest asset is: user data. And now, it has been divulged how it uses personal information.

Facebook officials have now revealed how the social network utilizes user information. Byron Acohido of USA Today wrote a piece on how Facebook uses user data such as browsing behavior and online search habits. Areas like sexual orientations, political views, and religion are some issues about users that can be utilized to turn them into potential customers. Ad targeting platforms, business propositions, and user information all generate a synergy of opportunity for Facebook.
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Some of the social network’s officials engineering manager Gregg Stefancik, spokesman Andrew Noyes, and corporate spokesman Barry Schnitt were interviewed by Byron Acohido. They told USA Today that Facebook uses accumulated data through cookies which happen to improve plugins and security. They also acknowledged that they were able to produce a running log of web pages of its userbase every 90 days. 

According to Facebook’s engineering director Arturo Bejar, “The company relies on tracking cookie technologies similar to the controversial systems used by Google, Adobe, Microsoft, Yahoo and others in the online advertising industry.” This means that user data is vital to sustain online commerce, and online tracking enhances online commerce in a significant way. Check out this infographic about Facebook’s cookie tracking technique.

Do you still feel secure about the information you share on Facebook? Is this the payoff of using a social network for free?