Facebook has been facing a lot of controversies for some time now. With the personal data of 50 million users leaking, the responsibility of the famous social network is being questioned. A journalistic investigation into Cambridge Analytica, the company that obtained the data of millions of users, raised alarm over the British company’s practices and the US social network’s lack of security and therefore established an enduring distrust.
Personal data used by Cambridge Analytica
Facebook’s current turmoil begins with revelations from a consumer research firm called Cambridge Analytica. In 2014, she developed an application (This is Your Digital Life) to answer an opinion questionnaire. To register, users must log in with their Facebook account, revealing all personal data as well as geolocation data and friends. With a small fee, the craze resulted in 270,000 people signing up, but since the developers at Cambridge Analytica had access to those people’s friends, it actually affected 50 million people. Not only was this data not specified for users and their friends, but it was used to establish political and psychological profiles for the purpose of creating advertising campaigns. This data leak may have made it possible to orient the opinion of some voters during the 2016 US presidential campaign or during the referendum on Brexit.
An alleged illegal acquisition, according to Facebook
Even though the allegations are primarily directed at Cambridge Analytica, Facebook is responsible for not informing its users and allowing such a company to recover only personal data. According to the US social network, the data was obtained illegally, but in 2014, access to personal information was not yet restricted. In 2015, Facebook restricted access to application developers. According to the US firm, the data collected by Cambridge Analytica should therefore have been destroyed in 2015, which may not have been the case. The US company is facing outrage for not protecting its users enough.
distrust of facebook has grown
The case calls into question the legitimacy of the social network in the 2016 US presidential election, because if, ultimately, Cambridge Analytica used profiles developed using personal data for advertising campaigns, many Internet users would be able to influence their vote. were able. So Facebook has recently found itself embroiled in a complicated situation, as the company has been accused of not properly managing the spread of “fake news” during the presidential campaign. The social network finds itself in turmoil again due to the enthusiastic management of its platform.
Mobilizing Internet Users Because of Scams
Following the scandal, the reactions of the Facebook giant were delayed. CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded a few days after the scandal began. The company is accused of not knowing how to protect its users and preferred to respond with: “There was a breach of trust and I am truly sorry for what happened. It is our responsibility to protect personal data. If we don’t do that, we don’t deserve to serve people.” Even though Mark Zuckerberg has apologized, mistrust on the social network continues to grow and users choose to turn their backs on him. revealed, a massive unsubscribe campaign ensued. A hashtag was launched against Facebook (#deleteFacebook, “deleteFacebook”) on the contestant’s platform, Twitter, with the hashtag still trending more than a week later.
ways to stop criticism
Such a scam calls into question the integrity of social networks and the impact of the dissemination of personal data. To try to reassure users, the Facebook CEO mentioned new measures that will soon be taken into account by the social network. In dealing with criticism, a business has an obligation to quickly find solutions to thwart the problem that has arisen. The first support will pertain to applications that had access to all personal data prior to a 2015 ban to detect potential flaws. Developers will need to be honest and disclose whether they still have access to Facebook users’ personal data, and if so, remove it. If developers want access to additional information other than profile pictures, names and email addresses, they will need to obtain permission from Facebook and sign an agreement. Now it will be up to the US firm to protect its users, not to read all the terms for them (which almost no one actually reads). And the last step would be to show Facebook related apps at the top of news feed so that permissions can be removed from some apps if needed.
Finally, after the spread of “fake news” on its social network in 2016, Facebook is facing harsh criticism that demonstrates the power of security breaches and their impact. Even if the social network has apologized, the recovery can be full of pitfalls. The advent of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe from May 2018 requires the social network to be more careful with its European users and Facebook will have to do the same. Controversy coming at the right time to make countries around the world respond to this problem that is repeatedly occurring.