This Facebook tool will tell you instantly if your data was harvested by Cambridge Analytica
Didn't get the notification that Facebook promised to send out informing you whether your data was harvested by Cambridge Analytica? Yeah, neither did we.
But, a new tool launched by Facebook will give you an instant answer to the question at the forefront of your mind.
Per The Next Web's Matt Navarra, Facebook's tool, which can be accessed by clicking here, is now live, and ready and waiting to tell you whether you were directly impacted.
You can also access the tool by searching "Cambridge" in the search box of Facebook's Help Centre.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
After clicking on the link, you'll arrive at a page entitled "How can I tell if my info was shared with Cambridge Analytica?"
The section you need to pay attention to is "Was my information shared?"
What you'll see if you were affected by the breach
In my case, Facebook informed me that I didn't log into "This Is Your Digital Life"—the app which shared data with Cambridge Analytica—but a friend of mine did. "As a result, the following information was likely shared with 'This is Your Digital Life': Your public profile, page likes, date of birth and current city."
What you'll see if you weren't affected
If you weren't affected by the breach, you'll see the message below when you access the tool. "Based on our available records, neither you nor your friends logged into "This Is Your Digital Life."
Finally, some answers!
Mashable has reached out to Facebook for further comment.
Topics Facebook
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.