If you haven't heard on the news (or on Facebook ;) regarding the recent data scandal that recently happened, it's kind of disturbing to say the least. As many already know, Facebook's' "bread and butter", or largest asset, is their user's data. Every page we like, every person we follow or befriend, is recorded and never deleted for multiple reasons.
Facebotch Photo by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Facebook just may be the real life version of what The Eagles sang about in "Hotel California" - you can stay but you can never leave. Their primary use case for our data is to sell it to marketers and advertising agencies, and we allow it based on the agreement we all signed in the "terms & conditions", they own it. So what we buy, and our political or racial views are basically assets, just not for us.
Facebook gets 98% of its profit from Ad revenue, that is close to $40 Billions! Individuals and Institutions pay dearly to make sure their ads reach the right people at the right time. I know because I've paid for ads before and know how to operate the Ad manager, which is a whole new Facebook world within Facebook. Yet, when our data falls into the wrong hands, like what just happened with Cambridge Analytica and their investigation tied to the Russian election scandal.
Cambridge Analytica is a data firm that collected information on more than 50 million users through an app that was essentially a personality test. Facebook claims they thought it was just for" research". Regardless of the facts, which we will probably never find out, when users took their app's quiz they gave access to not only their information, but all of their friends!
Facebook took steps in 2014 to set stricter policies for developers that wanted to access their users profile data. However, as we fast forward to 2018 we can see the damage is irreversible. Especially with the political turmoil that is also now pointing back to this.
So if you have a Facebook account, follow these steps in your profile to see exactly what they know about you, and how to manage your account to the best of your ability. It may be too late for the information that was already sold, but we can minimize the amount they are able to sell and manipulate in the future.
If you are using a Desktop, follow these steps:
Click on "Settings"
Left panel - Click on "Ads"
Click on "Your Information" and then "Your Categories"
If you are using a smartphone watch this video:
How to Update Privacy Settings Using the Facebook Smartphone App
It is good to go through all five or six of the Ad Preferences in order to reduce the amount of information that is available online to who knows who now. Not only can companies gain access to our personal profile data, but Facebook can sell this data without anyone knowing.
Regulators and lawmakers are calling for more accountability and transparency, and many investors are already starting to sue Facebook for this breach of data, so there is no telling where this is headed. Currently, there is minimal regulation set for tech-giants like Facebook when it comes to data and advertising. So while they are worried about cryptocurrencies, it turns out we should really be looking at these social media platforms that most of us use on a daily basis.
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