Overview of the download & donation procedure

1. Open WhatsApp on your smartphone.
2. Think about which five chats are with people who are the closest to you (e.g. close friend, partner).
3. Pick one of the selected chats and open it.
4. Click on the contact's name in the top center.
5. Scroll down and click on Export chat. A window will open. Select "WITHOUT MEDIA".
6. Select Mail (envelope icon) and send the mail with the attached chat file to yourself.
7. Download all chat files from the email to your computer.
8. Repeat steps 3-7 for all five chats.

The official documentation on how to download your data can be found here for iOS or Android.

What type of device should I use?

Please make sure that you are storing the data on a device that no one but you has access to. Because the amount of data for Facebook data donations can be quite large, we recommend using a computer.

How long does the data export from Facebook take?

The data is requested with just a few clicks on Facebook (see the instructions below). You will receive a notification from Facebook as soon as the data is available for download and can then start participating in the study.

How can I delete my data from my device?

We strongly recommend that you delete your original data after completing the donation. Note that simply deleting the files may not be enough to permanently remove the data from your device. Further information on the permanent deletion of files can for example be found on the website of the University of Michigan or wethegeek.com and appletoolbox.com.

Overview of the download & donation procedure

1. Log into your account on the Facebook website - you cannot do this on your smartphone.
2. Click on your profile picture in the top right, then click Settings & privacy.
3. Click Settings.
4. Click Accounts Center on the left bar, then click Your information and permissions.
5. Click Export your information.
6. Click Create export.
7. In case you have more than one profile, select the profile you would like to export information from.
8. Select Export to device.
9. Select Notify and enter the email address that you would like to receive an alert to when your export is ready. Then click Save.
10. Select Customize information, and then click on Clear all in the top right corner.
11. Under Your Facebook activity, tick the field "Messages".
12. Scroll down until you reach Personal information, and again click on Clear all in the top right corner.
13. Under Personal information, tick the field "Profile information".
14. For the rest of the categories (scrolling down), please click on Clear all, and then click Save. Only "Messages" and "Profile information" should be ticked.
15. Pick a date range: Choose "Custom" to request the data for the last 18 months - please ask these dates from the RC.
16. Change the format from HTML to JSON.
17. Change the media quality from "Medium quality" to "Lower quality".
18. Click on Start export. As soon as the file is ready for download, you will receive a notification from Facebook. This may take a while.
19. Once you get the notification from Facebook, please repeat steps 1 - 5, and now you will be able to download the data.
20. For security reasons, you will be asked to fill in your account password, and only then will the file be automatically downloaded to the Downloads folder.

The official documentation on how to download your data can be found here.

Overview of the download & donation procedure

1. Log into your account on the Instagram website - you cannot do this on your smartphone.
2. Click More on the bottom left, then click Settings.
3. Click Accounts Center, and then click Your information and permissions.
4. Click Export your information.
5. Click Create export.
6. In case you have more than one profile, select the profile you would like to export information from.
7. Select Export to device.
8. Select Notify and enter the email address that you would like to receive an alert to when your export is ready. Then click Save.
9. Select Customize information, and then click on Clear all in the top right corner.
10. Under Your Instagram activity, tick the field "Messages".
11. Scroll down until you reach Personal information, and again click on Clear all in the top right corner.
12. Under Personal information, tick the field "Profile information".
13. For the rest of the categories (scrolling down), please click on Clear all, and then click Save. Only "Messages" and "Personal information" should be ticked.
14. Pick a date range: Choose "Custom" to request the data for the last 18 months - please ask these dates from the RC.
15. Change the format from HTML to JSON.
16. Change the media quality from "Medium quality" to "Lower quality".
17. Click on Start export. As soon as the file is ready for download, you will receive a notification from Instagram. This may take a while.
18. Once you get the notification from Instagram, please repeat steps 1 - 4, and now you will be able to download the data.
19. For security reasons, you will be asked to fill in your account password, and only then will the file be automatically downloaded to the Downloads folder.

The official documentation on how to download your data can be found here.

Click ‘yes, participate now’ to upload the iMessage file you extracted together with the NYU team. Please contact an NYU team member if you experience any issues.