Anybody who has ever heard of the infamous social media site, Facebook, is probably already aware of the numerous contraversies surrounding it. With this in mind, we shouldn’t be all to surprised that the site has been violating privacy laws in its collection of personal data.

As you maybe aware, or not, anything you post to Facebook is considered fair game. So, that boyfriend/girlfriend breaking up with you post…don’t be surprised when you start getting ads for dating sites. Now, that collection of information is not what we are here to discuss.

If you go to your account settings, there is an option to download a copy of what Facebook has collected on you. Upon doing this, I found that they had more information than what they legally should have. Text messages, my phone contacts, etc. are just a couple of things they had stolen from my personal phone. So, is collecting this information legal? No.

In order for law enforcement to obtain this information, they must first get a warrant. To get a warrant, they must have probable cause. Now, because Facebook is not law enforcement, they cannot obtain a warrant. However, they can conduct internal investigations if you are employed with them. So what does this have to say about their collection information on you?

Your text messages, your contact list, who you called, the duration of said call, etc., Facebook obtained in violation of Federal privacy laws. Because they cannot obtain a warrant, shrouded their collection in secrecy, and made no attempt to inform people, we now see the newest hashtag, #DeleteFacebook.

With this hashtag trending, it does make us wonder rather or not Facebook has finally come to its end. Although, there will always be people associated with the Social media site, alternative sites have taken this oppurtunity to grow their user bases. Given the extensive, and yet, contraversial history of Facebook, leaving the mega site may not be a bad idea.