Many of you may have heard about a data analytics company called Cambridge Analytica who in 2014 accessed the data of over 50 million people using the Facebook Platform. Some media outlets are referring to this as a data breach, but it isn't. This is exactly how the Facebook Platform API was intended to work.
Truly vast amounts of personal data were collected, stored and analyzed by Cambridge Analytica. The way this worked initially was that CA would put out surveys on platforms like Amazon's Mechanical Turk, a micro-workers platform where users can perform usually menial or repetitive tasks for small amounts of money. These users were asked to connect to their Facebook profiles to fill in the surveys, and when users did that, CA could then mine the data of not just that person's profile, but their friends too.
Most users trust companies like Facebook with their personal data, and this latest scandal has started to get people to think about their personal information and how it's treated and stored. Internet safety is a really important topic, and more people need to be aware of the possible pitfalls that one might encounter online. Too many people sign up to these surveys and quizzes; Which minion are you? Find out your true love, just by answering some questions! No-one seems to care about what the true purpose of these seemingly innocent ways of passing time are, and that is to simply mine your information.
There is something you can do however, that'll prevent your information from being harvested so easily on Facebook again. You need to go for a dive into the privacy settings of Facebook and disable the Platform API. The downside to this is that it disables all Facebook apps, so if you sign into another site using Facebook, you'll no longer be able to do so using that method. If you don't use Facebook to sign into any other apps, then you might as well disable the platform API.
Disable Facebook Platform
- On Facebook, go to the Application Settings
- Now click the "Edit" button under "Apps, Websites and Plugins" and then click "Disable Platform"
If this seems a bit excessive to you, there is one other option. You can try limiting the personal information accessible by apps that others use. Normally by default, your friends and those who can see your information can bring it with them when they use apps, and your info then becomes available to those apps.
- From the same page under Application Settings, click "Edit" under "Apps Others Use." Then uncheck the types of information that you don't want others' apps to be able to access.
Personally, I do use Facebook to sign into other services online, so I've only limited the personal information that others can access. I do recommend you go through at least one of the above options to ensure to information on Facebook isn't being passed around like a joint between data analytics companies. What are your thoughts or feelings on the subject? Did you find this post helpful? Let me know in the comments down below, and as always make sure to follow me for the latest Cryptocurrency, Internet and Pop Culture updates. Until we meet again, Peace!
Update
Mark Zuckerberg has released a statement on Facebook about the Cambridge Analytica situation which you can read here: Mark Zuckerburg Facebook Post
I also wanted to share this from BBC News, which genuinely made me choke on my coffee as I read it. I find the idea of Zuck trying to imitate the right human noises to be hilarious.
Source:
How To Change Your Facebook Settings To Opt Out Of Platform API Sharing (https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/03/how-change-your-facebook-settings-opt-out-platform-api-sharing)