Last year, I covered how to get someone’s Facebook information in discovery. Basically, you have the party use the Download Your Information tool and send it to you. Facebook calls the file you get the “Downloaded Info.”
But what does this Downloaded Info even look like? I decided to use the Download Your Information tool on myself to give readers a sneak peek into what you might get when you receive this information in connection with your case. What I got—and what I didn’t—may surprise you.
Overall, I didn’t personally think my Downloaded Info was very interesting. I finally joined Facebook after I had kids, so you can imagine that most of my posts are pretty tame. However, I can see how a more active (and more scandalous) Facebook user’s Downloaded Info could really help (or hurt) your case. Here are my main takeaways from using the Download Your Information tool on myself:
The information you seek may be in the Activity Log, not the Downloaded Info. This was by far the most surprising thing I found. If you solely rely on the Download Your Information tool, you may miss critical information for your case. Some (very important) information is only available through the Activity Log, like anything you post to your own timeline (think photos, videos, and status updates). Click here to see exactly what categories of information you’ll get using the Download Your Information tool versus the Activity Log. To access your Activity Log, type “activity log” into the search; you can also select it from the same menu where you find Settings. Remember, a party’s Downloaded Info is not everything—ask for the Activity Log, too.
Don’t think Facebook friends see all! The Downloaded Info you get using the Download Your Information tool lets you see things a regular Facebook friend couldn’t. Here are a few things I noticed that were available only as Downloaded Info:
- Private Groups were visible. In the Profile section, both my private and public group memberships were listed, so that’s definitely more than a Facebook friend could see.
- IP addresses. You can see which IP addresses were logged when you logged into or out of Facebook.
- Every ad and every event. Under Ads, it showed hashtags that must be ads targeted to me. It also showed every ad I ever clicked on. Events listed every event I’d ever been invited to, and showed whether I’d accepted, declined, or failed to respond to the invitation.
- Messages were a goldmine. While not scandalous, my Facebook messages were by far the most interesting part of the Download Your Information payload. Like many people, I treated them like texts. Every silly link I sent my spouse, every offhand comment, and every private (or so I thought) note I ever sent was there.
You can’t see what has been deleted. It’s important to know that you CAN’T see what has been deleted before the party uses the Download Your Information tool. Knowing I’d be downloading my information, I went in and deleted a few posts before I used the tool. Those deleted posts did NOT show up on this report. If you have screenshots of a party’s post that isn’t there now, he or she just may have deleted it.
As you know, Facebook is a goldmine of information—the key is knowing how (and where) to get it. If you know what information you need, requesting a party’s Downloaded Info and/or Activity Log may be the break you need.