Sexuality, political leanings and even intelligence can be gleaned from the things you choose to "like" on Facebook, a study suggests.

The algorithms proved 88% accurate for determining male sexuality, 95% accurate in distinguishing African-American from Caucasian-American and 85% for differentiating Republican from Democrat.

Christians and Muslims were correctly classified in 82% of cases and relationship status and substance abuse was predicted with an accuracy between 65% and 73%.

the results had implications beyond social media to all digital records - from browser histories to search queries.