Facebook: People you may know

[Bunk]

Do you have their email address or phone number in your phone? Have you ever given Facebook access to either email contacts or your phonebook? Those are about the only ways I can think of that FB would know I'm connected to some of the people it has suggested.

[norrahe]

It's starting to get a bit sinister.

Recently it has started to suggest people that I know IRL but have never searched for or have any mutual friends with on FB.

It's suggesting people from Client Co but I keep FB and work separate.

How does it know that I know these people??? Apart from accessing FB from a guest WiFi at client site I have no connection between client co and FB. These people aren't even in the same country. But I do know them well. It's freaking me the fck out.

Anyone seen similar or know how it's doing this?

No idea, only joined recently and they suggested I may want to befriend the ex Mr N

Ah.
No.
Ted

[sal]

Maybe they're all people who have been looking for you?

This ^^

Just because you keep FB and work separate doesn't mean the people on the other side are doing the same.

Also do you have LinkedIn profile?

[Pondlife]

Case2: Lives in Scotland, doesn't list his workplace. I know I've never seen his profile before because I've only just seen that his given name is not the one he uses at work. I look at his friend list and the first half a dozen are people I know from client co. Non list client co as work place however, he has one friend further down that does list his workplace but I've never heard of them. I speak to this guy weekly.

How the FCK is it doing this?

[ELBBUBKUNPS]

I had weird one at weekend.

Girlfriend had fb up on her phone and was looking at suggested friends, and there was dude on there being suggested to her that I went to school with 20 years ago, I was like WTF ! This guy only had 2 friends on fb and is not linked to anyone we are friends with at all, there is no way he could be linked to my gf what so ever, plus me and gf are not friends on fb or ever have been, though I was tagged in a pic with her one point (tag removed years ago).

So I started thinking how could he come up on my gf suggested friends list, the only way I recon it could of happened is that this guy was a bit noisey and had viewed my profile seen this tagged picture then checked my gf profile out and it made some link. What kind of confirmed of it was from my gf facebook we looked at his profile and then all of a sudden the guy also appears in my suggested list.

Anyway in a nut shell I recon one way they do suggested friends is based on who's viewed your profile and been noisey, which is a bit worrying.

[Pondlife]

I have one of them on my phone contact list inc email but not the others. I have never knowingly given FB access to my contact list (For this very reason).

I would have looked at ex line mgrs linked-in profile when our paths first crossed.

[ELBBUBKUNPS]

I have one of them on my phone contact list inc email but not the others. I have never knowingly given FB access to my contact list (For this very reason).

I would have looked at ex line mgrs linked-in profile when our paths first crossed.

The guy who appeared on my gf suggest list then on mine, neither of us have his number ever so 100% not in phone books, this guy only has two friends none with links to anyone we have links with or either distance links to, the guy went a bit weird and had no contact with anyone including his family, it was totally random for him to appear, hence my theory on suggested friends also being based on who has been checking out your profile and others profiles who you do have a link with.

[alreadypacked]

I uploaded some photo on FB, they were tagged automatically, FFS!

Facebook’s facial recognition software is now as accurate as the human brain

ExtremeTech

[OwlHoot]

Case2: Lives in Scotland, doesn't list his workplace. I know I've never seen his profile before because I've only just seen that his given name is not the one he uses at work. I look at his friend list and the first half a dozen are people I know from client co. Non list client co as work place however, he has one friend further down that does list his workplace but I've never heard of them. I speak to this guy weekly.

How the FCK is it doing this?

Again, it must be analyzing name searches and suchlike recursively and assembling "possible acquaintance" networks.

That meddlesome smartass trickery typifies what I dislike and distrust about Facebook. Why can't they simply let their users decide who they want to add to their list of friends or whatever it is called. (Haven't logged into the thing for years, so that terminology may be wrong.)

[Pondlife]

Hmmm, I have my mobile number in my profile. I'm guessing that if they allow FB access to their contacts and it finds a number it recognises then it figures I would want to be their friend.



Edit: I don't mind being associated with these people but I'd rather make that choice myself.