Facebook ‘can predict when you will die’, new report claims

It’s no secret that Facebook knows an alarming amount about you – but a new patent shows the chilling depths of the social network’s knowledge.

A patent which Facebook applied for shows that the social network may be able to use data such as your ‘Likes’ to predict when you will die.

The patent application, unearthed by the New York Times said, ‘This patent application describes using your posts and messages, in addition to your credit card transactions and location, to predict when a major life event, such as a birth, death, or graduation, is likely to occur.’

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Several studies have shown that it’s possible to work out highly private details using Facebook information – such as when people sleep, and whether they have children.

A University of Cambridge study found that it’s possible to guess a person’s sexuality with a high degree of accuracy, based simply on their Facebook ‘Likes’.

This isn’t a case of people liking, say, topless models if they’re straight – it’s a more complex process where a computer algorithm compares your ‘Likes’ with typical choices for certain groups, such as male straight people, or female gay people, and makes a guess.