Here’s One Solution to the Facebook Hack…But Facebook Won’t Do it
Last Friday, it was revealed that at least 50 million people’s accounts were put at risk after an attack on Facebook. While we don’t know the hackers’ intentions, we do know that they had access to people’s entire accounts, possibly including all their personal information and even private messages from Messenger.
Data breaches like this are, unfortunately, nothing new to Facebook, which is still recovering from the backlash caused by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where up to 75 million people’s information was shared behind their backs.
While many are calling for government investigation and increased regulation, we at Afari propose a simpler solution for social networks to mitigate the impact of security breaches like the recent hack and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, one that researchers, like Zeynep Turfecki, also advocate for: Don’t store people’s data.
We embrace this philosophy at Afari, as part of our effort to protect user privacy. We leverage a decentralized naming and storage system, Blockstack, to ensure that we store as little information about users as possible. Rather than keeping user data in Afari-owned data centers, users keep their data in storage systems that they own and have full control over. The data is end-to-end encrypted and users own the encryption keys. This means that non-public information is not visible to anyone who’s not approved to see it, even Afari. We’re well aware that moving from centralized to decentralized storage of user data is only one part of a strategy to give users more security and control on social media, but we think it’s a step in the right direction.
This policy of not storing user data can only work when coupled with a business model that’s aligned with putting user privacy first. However, Facebook’s business model is one where it deliberately monetizes its users’ personal data through its advertising platform. This is why Facebook will probably never stop storing user data and will continue to make itself a target for hacks like the one in question: It won’t give up control over the data of it’s 2.2 billion users.
As long as Facebook maintains its current advertising based business model, it has the incentive to hoard user data against which it can sell ads. This has caused Facebook to go as far as to use phone numbers which users provided for security purposes, as information which they use for selling ads. In addition to advertising on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram, Facebook will soon have targeted advertising against user personal data on WhatsApp. This is something that WhatsApp co-founder and former Facebook employee, Brian Acton, expressed his disappointment with and moral opposition to, in his recent interview with Forbes.
In conclusion, it’s worth noting that Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said that “[Facebook has] a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you.”
It’s safe to say that by Mr Zuckerberg’s own metric, Facebook doesn’t deserve you anymore. So, if you’re looking for a place where you can connect with those you care about, that cares about your privacy and gives you ownership over your data, sign up for the Afari waitlist.
Afari is a decentralized social media platform that gives you more control and ownership over your data. Email hello@afari.io with questions or feedback!
Article written by Avthar Sewrathan. Our sincere gratitude goes out to Sarah Schneider andGoodman Lepota for their help revising this article.
