There are a lot of websites that can keep and save what you are typing or what photo you're trying to post, even if you don't click "Submit," "Post," or "Enter." Most websites are taking a step further where it allows a company to track and see what its user is currently typing.
According to the South China Morning Post, only a few people are aware of this kind of "undead" data - a particular post discarded by the user but still save by the website. Experts believed most companies aren't informing their users regarding privacy, leaving some anxious about the information they share online.
Tiffany Li, who is a fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project in the United States, said users don't realize that certain apps can track not only what they post, but also the activity on that app. She said that if people weren't aware of the risks, then they were likely uninformed, and the problem was on the company.
Although it's hard to identify how many websites do these things, researchers at the Princeton University found out last year that hundreds of sites recorded all typed text and mouse movements of users without telling them they're doing so. In short, the site can replay all the things a user had said and done.
This particular type of software was discovered on the websites of Spotify, LiveJournal, WordPress, and many others. The researchers said the tracking could expose the passwords, credit-card details, and other sensitive information to identity theft or scammers. But, the presence of the software does not necessarily mean everything was being recorded, it's still up to the website if it would save the data of the user or not.
Meanwhile, Facebook said it save the pictures that users abandoned before posting it just in case they decided to post it later on. Email services, like Google's Gmail, automatically save messages to drafts so users can decide later on to send or delete it. Twitter and Instagram officials also said they don't photos, videos, or messages on their servers until they're posted. The drafts were only saved on the user's phone and only viewable by them.
Most users don't also read the website's privacy policies since they are long and complex. And although they read such policies, it's still unclear whether unsent posts and messages will be saved and stored. For instance, the data policy of Facebook said the company collects content, communications, and other information a user provides upon using the product, yet it doesn't mention about unsent messages and photos.
