The leading social media platform Facebook can locate where users are even if they opt out of having their locations tracked, the company revealed in a letter sent to U.S. senators.
In the message, which was later widely shared on social media, Facebook clarified how it can still figure out where people are, after they have selected not to share exact location data with them.
Facebook, which was reverting to a plea for information by two senators, contended that knowing a user’s locations has advantages varying from showing ads for nearby shops to fighting hackers and battling misinformation.
“There is no opting out. No control over your personal information,” Republican Senator Josh Hawley said in a tweet.
“That’s Big Tech. And that’s why Congress needs to take action.”
Facebook said that hint for calculating a user’s location include being tagged in a photo at an exact location or a check-in at a location such as at a restaurant during a dinner with friends.
Facebook said knowing a user’s general location helps it and other internet organisations save accounts by finding when doubtful login behaviour happens.
Facebook announced recently that it is all set for a data privacy law that is to go into effect in its home state of California at the start of 2020.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will give internet users the right to see what data big tech companies collect and with whom it is shared.
