- Tech
-
-
Tech
The gadgets, platforms, and software that make your digital life possible. if it bleeps, clicks or blinks, you’ll find it here.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- Viral graphic shows the moment Apple became the top brand 5 Years Ago
- Feds say college student operated drug business through gaming app Thursday 4:36 PM
- Facebook let advertisers target users interested in infamous Nazis Thursday 1:58 PM
- Trump randomly calls for companies to ‘step up’ their 5G efforts in U.S. Thursday 10:28 AM
- 12 essential Amazon Echo accessories for your smart home Thursday 6:00 AM
-
-
-
- Internet Culture
-
-
Internet Culture
There’s a community for everyone online.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- Viral graphic shows the moment Apple became the top brand 5 Years Ago
- This ‘buff bunny vs. small bunny’ meme is here for when you’re feeling inferior Today 10:53 AM
- Ocasio-Cortez slams trolls who come at her with ‘weak’ memes Today 10:52 AM
- This Loki meme is the new way to play dumb Today 7:30 AM
- Bowser is taking over Nintendo—and the memes make themselves Thursday 7:02 PM
-
-
-
- Streaming
-
-
Streaming
You’ve cut the cord—now what?
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- The Oscar-nominated movies you’ll actually want to watch again 5 Years Ago
- Jake Paul calls out KSI for a YouTube boxing match Today 11:31 AM
- ‘Captain Marvel’ is already a box office hit Today 11:06 AM
- YouTube just made it awfully easy to harass creators Today 10:16 AM
- Mark Duplass and Ray Romano transcend the typical bromance in ‘Paddleton’ Today 7:00 AM
-
-
-
- IRL
-
-
IRL
Where your off- and online identities collide.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- This elementary school made students play ‘runaway slave’ Today 11:20 AM
- Feds say college student operated drug business through gaming app Thursday 4:36 PM
- Disturbing Snapchat video shows 17-year-old throwing dog on trampoline Thursday 12:16 PM
- Florida prisons sued for depriving inmates of music they paid for Thursday 11:36 AM
- The Twitter accounts taking on journalism’s straight, white, cis male problem Thursday 6:30 AM
-
-
-
- Social
-
-
Social
If it happens online, it’s here.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- The Oscar-nominated movies you’ll actually want to watch again 5 Years Ago
- Viral graphic shows the moment Apple became the top brand 5 Years Ago
- Jake Paul calls out KSI for a YouTube boxing match Today 11:31 AM
- This elementary school made students play ‘runaway slave’ Today 11:20 AM
- ‘Captain Marvel’ is already a box office hit Today 11:06 AM
-
-
-
- Bazaar
-
-
Bazaar
The Bazaar specializes in the stuff you don’t actually need…but you really, really want.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- Allow your wallet to be your spirit guide during this rad anime sale Tuesday 10:43 AM
- 14 artsy cartoon mugs that’ll help make your days more creative Monday 12:15 PM
- Get your nerd on with ThinkGeek’s Funko Pop B2G1 sale Monday 3:00 AM
- Play all your NES games in high def with the Hyperkin RetroN HD Tuesday 8:39 AM
- The Introvert Activity Book is perfect for those who find solace in alone time Monday 11:30 AM
-
-
-
- More
- Search
See all Editor's Picks →
See all Popular →
Represented by Complex Media, Inc. for advertising sales.
Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Ethics
Latest
- The Oscar-nominated movies you’ll actually want to watch again 5 Years Ago
- Viral graphic shows the moment Apple became the top brand 5 Years Ago
- Jake Paul calls out KSI for a YouTube boxing match Today 11:31 AM
- This elementary school made students play ‘runaway slave’ Today 11:20 AM
- ‘Captain Marvel’ is already a box office hit Today 11:06 AM
- This ‘buff bunny vs. small bunny’ meme is here for when you’re feeling inferior Today 10:53 AM
- Ocasio-Cortez slams trolls who come at her with ‘weak’ memes Today 10:52 AM
- YouTube just made it awfully easy to harass creators Today 10:16 AM
- Report: Trump the only 2020 contender who won’t rule out using stolen data Today 9:01 AM
- House Republicans offer bipartisan net neutrality bill—but there’s a catch Today 8:30 AM
- This Loki meme is the new way to play dumb Today 7:30 AM
- Mark Duplass and Ray Romano transcend the typical bromance in ‘Paddleton’ Today 7:00 AM
- 15 new thrillers on Netflix you need to see Today 7:00 AM
- Indie horror movie ‘The Hole in the Ground’ is legit terrifying Today 6:40 AM
- Every Apex Legends character, ranked Today 6:00 AM
Someone discovered some interesting code in BuzzFeed quizzes

Which data-hoarding BuzzFeed quiz are you?
If you’re reading this story after just having completed a “Which 80s cop show sidekick are you?” quiz that you found on your Facebook feed, it wouldn’t really be surprising. BuzzFeed’s endlessly shareable, click-multiplying quizzes have taken the Internet by storm. But if you’re a privacy buff, you might want to rethink which of the site’s addictive surveys you take. Software engineer and Web guru Dan Barker says he has discovered BuzzFeed is absolutely in love with your precious data.
While poking around in BuzzFeed’s site code, Barker came upon a massive list of items that the website is logging about each and every visitor who stops by. It starts out with some pretty basic things, like whether you’ve connected your Facebook account to the website, your home country, and your age and gender (if that information is available). But things quickly get a bit more serious, especially for anyone who spends a good deal of time filling out the site’s popular quizzes.
Aside from giving you a shareable quiz result when you’re done with a long list of questions, BuzzFeed is actually recording and archiving those responses as well. This isn’t a big deal if you’re answering questions related to which 1950s mobster you would fall in love with, but some of the site’s quizzes can get very personal.
Barker specifically points out an extremely popular questionnaire that ran back in April titled “How Privileged Are You?” The quiz includes questions about your sexual orientation, whether you’ve ever been a victim of rape, and even whether your parents pay some of your living expenses. That’s a whole bunch of data that you might not want saved, especially when it’s unclear whether BuzzFeed has the ability to associate that information with personally identifiable info like your email address or Facebook account.
A commenter on the original article who allegedly works at BuzzFeed claims that the information gathered is indeed archived, but is not linked in any way to each user’s account. This aside, there doesn’t appear to be any official statement from BuzzFeed at this time.
Of course, there’s another side to this coin, which is the fact that if you have information about your personal life that you don’t want stored on a hard drive in a data center somewhere, you probably shouldn’t be typing it into a goofy online quiz. As always, the best defense against losing control of your private information is to never put it out there to begin with.
H/T Dan Barker | Image via Martin Pettitt/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Mike Wehner
Mike Wehner is a former tech editor for the Daily Dot who now writes for BGR. His work has appeared everywhere from Yahoo to CNN, and there’s a good chance his Apple Watch is dead right now.