As we pass the two week mark since the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach, little has changed to secure our information, and our privacy is still vulnerable. New information is being released daily as investigation into Facebook practices continues, so feel free to post any relevant articles you find in the comment section below.
Here are a few unresolved takeaways that still stand out so far:
According to The New York Times, data from 50 million Facebook user profiles was extracted by Cambridge Analytica to build datasets, or, psychographic profiles to specifically target those users for advertisements during the past election.
Facebook’s mildly apologetic response to the breach was widespread across most major news networks but did little to ensure public confidence that it would in fact secure user data on its website with regards to privacy.A recent Bloomberg article detailed how Facebook salespersons aided affiliate advertisers with deceiving its users with ads they knew to be false.
A 2009 BBC News clip with Mark Zuckerberg was recently unearthed and has gone viral. In the interview he makes contradictory statements regarding ownership of Facebook content and user data privacy.
A leaked 2016 memo by Facebook executive Andrew “Boz” Bosworth justifying Facebook’s user data procurement practices states, “we connect people. Period. That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified.” The Huffpost article author echoed outrage that Zuckerberg himself has not been sufficiently outraged that these “practices” have contributed to terrorism and deaths of innocent people.
Make no mistake, there will not be a mass exodus of Facebook users deleting their profiles anytime soon. Despite the initially popular #deletefacebooknow and related hashtag trends, Facebook’s network effect is simply better than most of their competitors and the idea of moving one’s entire social profile to another platform that isn’t Instagram or Whatsapp is not feasible for many users.
The promise of better social media days might not be that far away. Decentralized applications have been gaining popularity due to the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies and the privacy and security benefits that come with them. Below is a short list of some of the most promising blockchain applications:
Steemit is similar to Reddit and Medium, but it runs on blockchain technology and users are paid in Steem cryptocurrency for both uploading content and voting.
Lbry is similar to YouTube, but is completely decentralized without fear of censorship. Users can charge a fee for viewing the content they create, or they can receive compensation for viewing, promoting, and referring content on their platform using “LBC” cryptocurrency tokens.
Mastodon is an open source Twitter-style social network that is distributed and decentralized.
Wildspark by Synereo offers their AMP cryptocurrency for content creators and curators that eliminates the need for centralized content hosting.
Dock aims to be the comprehensive professional network on the blockchain.
Another notable decentralized social media projects in the works is Diaspora, a non-profit, privacy-focused distributed social network.
In the end, Facebook’s user data woes won’t stop with the latest privacy fallout. Their business model dictates this clearly, and with the company's lack of accountability, the time is ripe to start looking for ways to make social media safe, private, and fun again. Decentralized social media applications may just just fill that void but it will take years of added development and user adoption for it to become solid reality.
Update: I’m very happy to report that Mozilla Firefox just added a browser extension called Facebook Container which makes it much harder for Facebook to track your activity on other websites via third party cookies. You can learn more about it on Mozilla’s website here