Facebook Wants To Know Even More About Your Private Messages

Eye Looking Through A KeyholeWhen Facebook launched its “Reactions” emoji buttons last February, many experts warned that it was just another way for Facebook to harvest user data — in this case, information about our emotions. Now, the social media giant has taken its quest for our private info to the next level by introducing Reactions in Facebook Messenger.

The feature will work much like Facebook Reactions currently do, except users will now be able to “react” to individual messages in a conversation.

Facebook has never been shy about the fact that it reads your private messages, spelling out the practice clearly in its own privacy rules.

“We collect the content and other information you provide when you use our Services, including when you sign up for an account, create or share, and message or communicate with others,” Facebook’s privacy policy reads. There has been some controversy over whether Facebook reads user messages or not. The best course of action is to not post sensitive information  in Messenger or anywhere else on Facebook.

Many, if not most, users of the site likely do not know what they’re providing when they interact with Reactions. Facebook has introduced several educational measures to help people understand what it does with their data, but emojis feel like a particularly insidious way to gather our info. After all, they’re bright, innocent-looking and fun to interact with. No one would ever guess they’re just another way for the site to learn about you — in your private messages, no less.