PrivacyFix: learn how your data worth to Google and Facebook

For those unfamiliar, the PrivacyFix developed by AVG is a tool that allows users of Facebook , Google and LinkedIn have greater control and manage the privacy of your accounts within these platforms. One of the most interesting features of the program is to inform you as true for the first two developers. The calculation takes into account factors such as active settings, frequency of use, breadth of posts and number of contacts on social networks.

If you were curious about how much worth your data, just do a quick test in AVG PrivacyFix, which is very easy to use. You must first install the application, available for Android and iOS, and as an extension for Chrome and Firefox . Upon entering the home screen, just click on the button that reads "Get AVG PrivacyFix for free" as in the image below.


A short tutorial of the application is displayed. The fourth and final screen contains the button to connect to Facebook, which will allow the system to the analysis of your data. Clicking it and enabling integration with social networking, your stats will automatically appear and settings.


Understanding the calculation

The method to get the amount varies by platform. For Facebook, where the revenue comes from paid advertising due to the characteristics of the profile, the estimate is based on the financial information provided to shareholders own the company from Cupertino.

The data cover number of users, geographic location and its average value according to where you live. The revenue in each region may differ because of the advertising markets, population income, spending patterns and quality of Internet connections, among other reasons.

These averages, PrivacyFix set value depending on the gender of the user, since advertisers are willing to spend more to reach to women than to men. Thereafter, the algorithm considers the frequency in the social network, measured by "likes" and how many friends you have. The trend is that the more interactive you are, the more time it will spend in the social network, and thus more interesting for advertising.

AVG recognizes that the analysis is inaccurate; it does not take into account characteristics that affect yourreal value in Facebook. Some of these data are the number of times you click ads, accesses the network from mobile devices or cookies that Facebook and its partners can use to target advertising.

In Google's case, the system counts the number of searches on service, made to last 60 days, producing a speculation which the search index may be worth it to Google. As the search engine charges advertisers for clicks on advertising data, the value depends on the user clicking on the ad or not.

Improving privacy settings

Despite the amusing idea of measuring our value for giants like Google and Facebook, the goal of the software is to increase the security of user navigation. By accessing your privacy settings, AVG PrivacyFix points which are the problem and that connections can be redefined. Just click on the "Fix" button to fix the corresponding item (or not) the problem.


The program also has a category showing which technology companies are tracking you online. You can prevent tracing all at once by clicking "Fix", or select which companies you want to block.

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