--- title: This Is Exactly How Much Your Personal Information Is Worth to Facebook description: Facebook doesn't sell users' information directly, but it does turn a big profit. authors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Technology - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2018-03-21T14:35:24.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T13:04:03.000Z' section: Technology tags: - facebook word_count: 574 canonical: https://money.com/how-much-facebook-makes-off-you/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![180321-facebook-money](https://img.money.com/2018/03/180321-facebook-money.jpg) *Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., speaks during the F8 Developers Conference in San Jose, California, on April 18, 2017.* Facebook is not just a place for you to scroll through Dogspotting posts and hate-read your ex's status updates. It's a gold mine for marketers — and that can present problems for people concerned about data security. Facebook profits off of its 1.4 billion daily users in a big way: According to its [most recent filings](http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001326801/c826def3-c1dc-47b9-99d9-76c89d6f8e6d.pdf) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the average revenue per user in 2017 was $20.21 ([$6.18 in the fourth quarter alone](https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_financials/2017/Q4/Q4-2017-Earnings-Presentation.pdf)). Users in the U.S. and Canada were worth even more because of how big the markets are. "They don't charge for Facebook, but they are able to sell insights based on how we use the platform and then serve it up for marketers," says Jennifer M. Grygiel, an assistant professor of communications and social media expert at Syracuse University. "It sounds kind of simple, but the marketers are willing to strategically place advertisements, from selling sneakers to ads for politics." The sheer amount of data Facebook collects on its users is impressive. In 2016, [the *Washington Post* identified](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/08/19/98-personal-data-points-that-facebook-uses-to-target-ads-to-you/?utm_term=.a93a4cf8d3ab) 98 data points the site uses to target ads, including age, gender, school, square footage of home, relationship status, political leaning, where someone shops, if they like the Olympics and whether they own a motorcycle. Though Facebook [doesn't directly sell your information](https://www.facebook.com/help/152637448140583?helpref=uf_permalink), it does "let businesses and organizations connect with the people who are most likely to be interested in their products and services," as its [ad education portal explained](https://www.facebook.com/ads/about/?entry_product=ad_preferences). That sort of data is at the heart of [the ongoing scandal](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/facebook-cambridge-analytica-explained.html) surrounding Cambridge Analytica, a U.K. company that acquired the personal information of some 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge. Cambridge Analytica is [accused](https://time.com/5205314/facebook-cambridge-analytica-breach/) of improperly accessing the secretly collected information and then using it to develop voter insight for clients (which may or may not have included Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign). Facebook [has argued](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-cambridge-analytica-was-it-a-data-breach/) that the Cambridge Analytica debacle is not technically a breach because nobody broke in and stole passwords — a small subset of users consented to their data being collected through a quiz program, and the app then accessed their friends' information. Facebook's former vice president of ads, Andrew "Boz" Bosworth, [posted Monday](https://www.facebook.com/boz/posts/10104702799873151) that it was serious about protecting its community and their data. "While this was not a data breach, I agree that this was a breach of trust," he wrote. But some people are upset anyway and have begun deleting their Facebook accounts in response. Scott Shackelford, the director of the Ostrom Workshop Program on Cybersecurity and Internet Governance at Indiana University, tells Money that certain users are worth more than others to Facebook — people with lots of friends, for example, have a bigger network and therefore provide more opportunities — but if the #DeleteFacebook movement gains enough steam, it could potentially hurt the company's bottom line. Shackelford compared it to Snapchat, which saw share prices sink after it unveiled an unpopular update and made an enemy of Rihanna when it approved a domestic violence-related ad. "It can add up, particularly when more influential people start to give \[the service\] up," Shackelford added. In lieu of deleting their profiles entirely, wary Facebook users can [check their privacy settings](https://money.com/facebook-privacy-settings-third-party-apps-cambridge-analytica/). But Shackelford warned that it's difficult to recall your data once it's out there. "Ultimately, anything you post online is written in ink, and there's really no way around that," he said. 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