How Facebook Knew Man was Gay Before He Came Out

As many LGBT individuals know, for a time, the most closely held secret we have is our sexuality. Several nights ago, I texted a close and dear friend for advice on revealing such sensitive personal information. The next morning, I woke up to a “sponsored story” on my Facebook page that asked “Coming Out? Need help?” How did Facebook know such a specific ad would apply to my profile? [BuzzFeed]

The answer may have had to do with his commenting history. Many websites use Facebook’s API to power their comment sections. A quick investigation of Matt’s Activity Log showed he had commented twice on a BuzzFeed article called “Ohio senator Rob Portman announces support for marriage equality.”

Of course, that’s just the part of the story we’re privy to. (What other websites had he visited? Etc.) Like Matt, if most people knew the extent of Big Data’s tab-keeping on would-be customers, they too would be mortified.

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