It seems like the more we worry about being monitored – the more we’re being monitored, especially on social media. If you want to use it – expect them to know everything. Facebook in particular is going the extra mile to monitor our precise activities on their platform. Sources say that they may be considering gathering data from even our most minute mouse-movements.

Apparently Facebook Inc. is testing technology that would broaden the scope of data that it collects about its users, the head of the company’s analytics group said on Tuesday. Zuckerberg and co may start collecting data from our mouses – measuring how long a cursor hovers over a certain parts of the website.

This data will be used “for a whole range of purposes” from product development to more precise adverts. Reassuring.

Currently, Facebook mines two types of data from us. Behavioural and demographic. The behavioural being the stuff we do, and the demographic data being who we are, what we like who we’re associated with. As it stands, Facebook seems to think that they don’t have enough behavioural data, but by monitoring our cursor movements  they’ll be able to bump it up to no end.

In essence, advertisers want to be more precise with how they spend their money, and to do that, data needs to be more accurate. Facebook analytics chief Ken Rudin emphasises the point:

Instead of a warehouse of data, you can end up with a junkyard of data.

Sorry Mr.Rudin, we’ll try be more organised with our personal information next time.

[Source : The Wall Street Journal]