Download your data from Social Media
It is your data, so you should have the right to it. The introduction of the Data Protection Directive (1995) in Europe caused several companies to start making users’ data available. Back in 1995 they sometimes sent printed copies in the mail, but now most large companies offer you the right to access your own data for free digitally.
In this activity you will be:
- Selecting a company/organization
- Going through the process to request your own data
- Downloading the data
- Opening the data
Potential places to get data
You may download your data from any internet service that supports it. The following is a list of companies that support data download and a link to get you started.
Open the data
Open up the data in whatever format it is in. You may need to try some different file formats. Below are some things you can try looking for in the data:
- Logins to your account. Sometimes these include GPS locations and/or IP addresses. Are they accurate?
- Lists of friends. Do you still know all these people?
- Photographs uploaded.
Reflection questions
- What was the download process like? Did it feel easy and effortless or was extensive technical experience needed?
- How useful is the data? Now you have your own data on your computer, do you feel like you could actually use this data for anything?
- What surprised you most about the process of downloading your own data?
Other things to try
If you have some extra time try:
- Downloading data from more than one source and comparing the file structures.
- Try uploading some of your data onto another platform. In theory some of these download platforms are intended to allow users to move their data between companies.