Facebook Privacy Concerns

Facebook Privacy Concerns

Introduction

With the surge in the use of social media in the last two decades for social networking and

communication, concerns about the protection of personal data and privacy have increased in

tandem. Many have contemplated quitting social media altogether as users become averse to

privacy policy breaches. In 2018, Facebook Inc., the leading social media company in the world,

was brought to the public limelight due to a massive backlash from its users over security and

privacy concerns. The company currently boasts nearly 2.5 billion users, and the platform

provides the world's most prominent social media transactions arena. Its recent scandal involved

collecting critical information of up to 87 million users by Cambridge Analytica Ltd, a British

political consulting firm that employs data mining and brokerage techniques. The company

managed to access private data from Facebook due to a confluence of several factors. The

resultant scandal over violations of privacy and personal data protection policies threw Facebook

into one of the most trying times in its history. It allegedly outlined broad terms and conditions

that created gaps for poachers to use. In addition, its developers seemingly needed to adhere to

its Application Programming Interface (API) guidelines. There was also a general feeling that

Facebook needed to do more to safeguard its users from data harvesting firms. The recent

privacy scandal breached and exposed the users' private and vital information and threatened the

social media platform as a global networking place. To restore subscribers' confidence and

promote the use of social media for networking and transacting, developers must prioritize

employing more stringent measures that protect valuable data from exploitation.
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Case Analysis

In the case of Facebook's scandal, Cambridge Analytica used a personality quiz app to gather

personally identifiable data. It used the 'Thisisyourdigitallife,' an app based on a personality

model called OCEAN (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion/Introversion, Agreeableness,

and Natural Reactions), to collect vital information from profiles of millions of users. The

Harvest company identified a gap to prompt Facebook users to add the app to their accounts. It

allowed it to synchronize information about their activities on Facebook, ranging from what they

liked to what they commented on to their friends' activities. Claims arose that Cambridge could

use the information to accurately predict human attributes such as sexual and political

orientations, levels of happiness and intelligence, religious inclination, gender, and even

ethnicity. If these claims are valid, such a move exposes the affected individuals to severe threats

from ill-intentioned parties. Moreover, the fact that there have been other previous Facebook

data privacy scandals inevitably calls for a permanent strategy to safeguard the data of its users.

Review and Recommendations

Facebook has close to decade-long cases of data privacy policy violations that indicate

underlying inefficiencies in resolving the issue. Each highlighted case differs in intensity, but all

allude to systemic problems within the giant company, which are slowly thwarting its growth,

development, and dominance. If the trend continues, social media users may resort to other safer

platforms or reduce their activities and only provide information deemed as less sensitive. It

would deal a blow to globalization, which borrows heavily from the growth of social media

platforms. In 2007, Facebook's Beacon accessed its users' activities on other websites and added

it to their feeds, a move that it dearly paid for after including videos from Blockbuster. In 2009,

Facebook received criticism for sharing private information following a sponsored investigation.
 Facebook Privacy Concerns

Other instances involved allowing intruder apps to source information through surveys in which

users were promised money in exchange. These, plus a few other cases of data breaches affecting

Facebook, have cast doubt over its capacity to secure the data of its users. Since there have been

recent attempts to secure user information, data security must be Facebook's priority in business

success strategy.

Ensuring data security involves caution in engaging in any form of agreement that could

expose users' information in one way or another. Companies such as Cambridge Analytica are

known for malicious intentions regarding data. Any deal involving such companies requires

caution and analysis to determine how vital information could be exposed and privacy

safeguards compromised. Measures such as the signing of 'non-disclosure' agreements that

attract massive fines and dealing with non-sensitive data ensure less risky data handling and, in

turn, promote data safety. Moreover, closing all the gaps within the site could provide no

opportunities for predators to access data for the wrong use. One way of mitigating such cases is

frequently developing and updating security features to match and stay ahead of technological

advancements that may provide a leeway for unauthorized data access. Instituting other internal

safeguards could prevent data leakages.

One internal safeguard that would protect Facebook users from data leakage involves

ensuring that certain sensitive activities are password-encrypted to allow only the owner to

access or authorize data release. Even with passwords, users can frequently receive prompts to

change their passwords as individual firms can develop counter-initiatives to predict passwords

often used over a long time. At the same time, Facebook can only accept robust passwords that

correlate with the users' identities and further inhibit the automatic saving of passwords on its

platforms. Such initiatives will make it easier for Facebook to monitor activities while on the
 Facebook Privacy Concerns

forum. However, measures should also be put in place to deal with suspicious activities from

users.

User activities that appear suspicious could all be flagged, analyzed over time, verified,

and appropriate action taken to protect individual users. Most Facebook initiatives to suspend or

block specific users have come from reports from the affected users. However, staying ahead of

the trouble means that Facebook can detect such malice early enough and provide solutions

before the damage. In some cases, following up on dormant accounts could help make decisions

on the way forward regarding profiles whose users have passed away, created replica accounts,

or abandoned Facebook without shutting down their accounts. Data harvesters are usually keen

on these unsuspected users and carry out activities to the detriment of the company and its

billions of users.

Conclusion

The impact of social media on business, networking, and entertainment has increased over the

past decade. However, data protection to safeguard online users from unnecessary exposure and

manipulation poses an equal threat. The success of social media in the next decade largely

depends on how well companies can secure data from the reach of predators. Preventing data

thievery includes initiating and securing passwords for certain transactions. Moreover, evaluating

agreements to ensure that data is safe and frequently synchronizing data to sieve dead users to

prevent other parties from using their accounts to carry out suspicious activities are possible

measures.