At the end of 2017, Facebook saw 1.4 billion people, on average, log on daily - more than any other
social network. Most of us are wondering
what did Cambridge Analytica really do
with the Facebook information and should I close my account or do something to
protect my personal information on Facebook?
Could what happened during the
elections, be the beginning of the end of the goliath social network? While most of us agree that Facebook is too
big to collapse, we are still left feeling uneasy about the safety of the
personal information we put on the social network, and the long reach that
Facebook seems to have over what we naively thought was our “private” lives.
Why is the scandal such a big deal?
While Facebook used personal information before, for things like ad targeting, it was based on the information provided by the user—political affiliation, location, pages liked, etc. This time, according to The Guardian, Cambridge Analytica “used personal information [through Facebook] without permission to build a system that could target U.S. voters with personalized political advertisements based on their psychological profile.” To obtain this information, Facebook users were prompted to take a quiz called “thisismydigitallife,” which then gave Cambridge Analytica access to both their own and their friends’ personal information. Even though a little over 270,000 users took the quiz, because they gave access to more than just their own information, researchers were able to obtain data from 50 million user profiles.
While Facebook used personal information before, for things like ad targeting, it was based on the information provided by the user—political affiliation, location, pages liked, etc. This time, according to The Guardian, Cambridge Analytica “used personal information [through Facebook] without permission to build a system that could target U.S. voters with personalized political advertisements based on their psychological profile.” To obtain this information, Facebook users were prompted to take a quiz called “thisismydigitallife,” which then gave Cambridge Analytica access to both their own and their friends’ personal information. Even though a little over 270,000 users took the quiz, because they gave access to more than just their own information, researchers were able to obtain data from 50 million user profiles.
This breakthrough has also brought to
light the fact that Facebook collects metadata from its users. For those using
the Messenger app, Facebook requests access to users’ contacts, call and text
history, locations and time spent there. Facebook attempts to make it clear
that the reason they compile and track this information is to help users
connect with people they care about and have a better experience on the social
platform.
What should I do now?
While we’ve seen swarms of people leave Facebook over the scandal, overall, the vast majority of users have moved on with their lives and continued to scroll through their newsfeeds. With the information being presented as of now, Facebook is attempting to regain their credibility by creating stronger privacy settings and promising to make amends by publishing privacy shortcuts that will allow you to quickly access privacy. Also, Congress has entered the scene and Mark Zuckerberg is currently in Washington saying, “sorry,” and promising big changes in how they protect their billions of users’ information. In the meantime, it’s important to remember that all users have options when it comes to the site. To protect your privacy, consider turning off features such as location-based settings and automatic updates. Review your current settings to see what data you’re making available and consider whether you really need to have instant gratification or is protection of your privacy a better choice. Don’t give all the information requested just because they ask! Remember, it’s impossible to retrieve what you have put out there in cyberspace, so think twice, even three times before you reveal personal data.
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