Cool Janrain Tool Shows The Data You Expose When You Log In Socially

We all do it, likely without much thought. We use our social media — or other digital — identities to log into multiple websites daily. It’s quick, convenient and saves us the hassle of creating another username and password.

But if you are concerned about privacy (and you should be), it’s a good idea to stop every so often and dig into what data you are exposing with those social logins. Not so easy, you say? You don’t want to wade through terms of service on a Friday afternoon?

Fortunately, that’s not necessary. Janrain, one of the leaders in the social login provider industry, has a tool that offers a quick snapshot of the data you are sharing when you sign into sites using Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or 20 other digital profiles.

Sign onto the the Social Profile Navigator with one of your social profiles (slight irony there) and you’ll be presented with a nodal map of the data you are sharing. Here’s a screen grab of how mine looks for Facebook (click to enlarge):

In my case, the Facebook data gives up a litany of personal details, from my current location and TV shows that I’ve “Liked,” from Facebook groups to which I belong to my relationship status. I wouldn’t say it’s scary, but it’s definitely eye-opening. If you are in a snooping mood, the tool also allows you to check out data maps for your connections.

One thing I learned, Facebook and LinkedIn are exposing many more data points than either Twitter and Google+, so if you are looking for a stealthier option go with one of those networks. Here’s how the Twitter map looks (click to enlarge):

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Martin Beck

Martin Beck was Third Door Media's Social Media Reporter from March 2014 through December 2015.