Facebook Admits They Can See What Users Type — Even if the Status or Comment Is Not Posted

Facebook can see what users type in unpublished status updates or comments, the company admitted.

The social media giant told the Los Angeles Times that it is perfectly within its terms of service to view the content of posts that are never published.

The revelations come after two Facebook researches said they had conducted a study on self-censorship using such information from 5 million random Facebook users. According to The Times, any time a user typed a post over five characters, it was tracked.

[sharequote align="center"]“This is something we looked at to understand to what extent people self censor."[/sharequote]

“This is something we looked at to understand to what extent people self censor,” Facebook spokesman Matt Steinfeld told The Times.

Facebook admits they can see what users are typing, even if they never publish the post or comment. (Image source: Shutterstock)

Facebook noted that they are no longer tracking unpublished posts, but pointed to its Data Use Policy to justify its ability to do so.

"We receive data about you whenever you use or are running Facebook, such as when you look at another person's timeline, send or receive a message, search for a friend or a Page, click on, view or otherwise interact with things, use a Facebook mobile app, or make purchases through Facebook," the policy states.

According to The Times, users can browse Facebook with Javascript turned off to prevent Facebook from tracking what they are typing.

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