Facebook: People you may know

[Pondlife]

It's starting to get a bit sinister.

Recently it has started to suggest people that I know IRL but have never searched for or have any mutual friends with on FB.

It's suggesting people from Client Co but I keep FB and work separate.

How does it know that I know these people??? Apart from accessing FB from a guest WiFi at client site I have no connection between client co and FB. These people aren't even in the same country. But I do know them well. It's freaking me the fck out.

Anyone seen similar or know how it's doing this?

[GlenW]

What's Facebook?

[EternalOptimist]

It's starting to get a bit sinister.

Recently it has started to suggest people that I know IRL but have never searched for or have any mutual friends with on FB.

It's suggesting people from Client Co but I keep FB and work separate.

How does it know that I know these people??? Apart from accessing FB from a guest WiFi at client site I have no connection between client co and FB. These people aren't even in the same country. But I do know them well. It's freaking me the fck out.

Anyone seen similar or know how it's doing this?

It correlates Pron usage across accounts and sites

[Batcher]

It's starting to get a bit sinister.

Recently it has started to suggest people that I know IRL but have never searched for or have any mutual friends with on FB.

It's suggesting people from Client Co but I keep FB and work separate.

How does it know that I know these people??? Apart from accessing FB from a guest WiFi at client site I have no connection between client co and FB. These people aren't even in the same country. But I do know them well. It's freaking me the fck out.

Anyone seen similar or know how it's doing this?

It could be using geotagging if you have that switched on your phone. Google keeps suggesting where I parked my car on my android phone. It knows I use the train because it suggests it with 'travelling time to home' but then thinks I've parked my car at the station as if I've driven in.

A few apps also suggest people who are nearby if you have location switched on in twitter, FB, etc.

[barrydidit]

Maybe they're all people who have been looking for you?

[mudskipper]

I've wondered a couple of times if it's using IP address.

If people have uploaded their address book and cc'ed you in an email once, they'll probably pop up. Friends of friends etc. Probably also matches on workplaces if you populate that stuff. Pretty clever.

My mother joined and she immediately appeared in 'people you may know'. At some point in the dim and distant past, I probably had uploaded my gmail contacts. I rushed round and deactivated her account!

[OwlHoot]

I
It's suggesting people from Client Co but I keep FB and work separate. ...

Presumably FB has logged the fact that those people have searched for you.

It emails me every day, badgering me to log in and check something or other, and listing people I may know.

[Pondlife]

Case 1: She lives in NJ, USA - a place I've not ever mentioned on FB She doesn't mention Client Co on FB or have any friends who have work at client co on their profiles. She was however my line manager for a brief time.

[mudskipper]

Case 1: She lives in NJ, USA - a place I've not ever mentioned on FB She doesn't mention Client Co on FB or have any friends who have work at client co on their profiles. She was however my line manager for a brief time.

So she probably emailed you at some point and allowed facebook to access her email.

[Pondlife]

So she probably emailed you at some point and allowed facebook to access her email.

Nope. I don't use client co email address for FB and she wouldn't know my personal one.