Does Facebook ever suggest you “friend” someone who you know in real life, but you have no mutual friends with them on Facebook and you don’t have them recorded in your contacts?

It’s a common occurrence and a lot of people have suspected Facebook of security breaches because of it. The social network used to give very vague explanations for its friend-finding abilities, but repeated questions have made the social network more transparent.

Here’s how Facebook finds friend suggestions:

• “Having friends in common, or mutual friends. This is the most common reason for suggestions”

• “Being in the same Facebook group or being tagged in the same photo”

• “Your networks (example: your school, university or work)”

• “Contacts you’ve uploaded”

Here’s what Facebook doesn’t use:

Facebook no longer uses location to find friends. It also does not draw suggestions from people you’ve texted or emailed. It does, however, pull from this list if you have synced your email contacts or phone contacts with your Facebook account.

Additionally, if you’ve recently looked through someone’s profile, then they won’t be receiving your name as a suggested friend. So Facebook creepers, breathe a sigh of relief.

The most likely answer for the question of seeing a stranger’s name show up in your Facebook friend suggestions is that they have uploaded your contact info or are linked into a network with you – just without your knowledge.