Social networks x Blockchain: Privacy [Part 1]
Why are we comfortable using these platforms at the expense of our privacy?
In recent years, an increasing number of privacy scandals have come into the spotlight.
Cambridge Analytica used Facebook to attain the data of 50 million users. Google had two privacy scandals in the last twelve months, having leaked the information of 52 million users via Google+.
This is common knowledge now. Companies, especially social media giants, have been collecting user data for years now — for targeted advertising and monetisation. There are two main ways privacy is being violated: simply collecting and selling user data, or using data to manipulate feeds and push forward targeted ads — which can influence one’s bias and preferences (there is evidence of Facebook swaying the election in Trump’s favour after all)
The problem does not lie entirely with these two or three firms that seem to dictate the market. The Government of India leaked information of virtually every citizen of India in the Aadhaar (a mandatory state-issued identity card) scandal — and that information was being sold on Whatsapp.
The overarching issue is deeper. It’s centralisation, when the power lies in the hands of a single constituent in a society, it’s almost always misused. Governments and organisations can be inefficient, but repeated scandals show that it’s more than inefficiency, it may be purposeful — content removal requests have been growing each year.
Only about 17% of users in a survey conducted believed that using their personal data for targeted advertising was ethical, yet, targeted advertising remains a large revenue stream in social media networks.
So, why have movements such as #banfacebook and #deletegoogle failed? Is it because we are too dependent on these applications for social interaction? It’s possible. Nearly 3 billion people use Facebook each month — and 2 billion use it everyday. These companies may have grown too big to be brought down (re: FaceBook owns Instagram and Whatsapp which constitute the most common networking platforms) — but also because of disparities in information — not many users are aware of alternatives, and many prefer routine over change in their social networks.
Replacing the government is not an action I foresee in the near future, but we do have replacements for all these social media sites.
Blockchain technology was created and strives for the benefits behind decentralisation — handing the power back to the individual — not to mention with technology that is more efficient. It’s not only about bitcoin and crypto.
Brave, a browser backed with blockchain technology — a competitor to Chrome — can run upto 8 times faster than Safari & Chrome on mobile, and 2 times faster on desktop.
This isn’t to state that dApps (decentralised apps) are more advanced than current leaders in the social network space. But keeping in mind that they have had a decade-long headstart — it’s not surprising. We have alternatives — worthwhile ones — that defend user privacy, and we need to be aware of them.
DuckDuckGo is an alternative search engine to Google. It blocks off tracking websites and does not save any user data. MINDS is a mesh of FaceBook/Twitter — minus the use of targeted advertising to induce bias, or invasion of privacy. Steem.it for Reddit, and so on.
Going beyond alternatives, HowDoo is an upcoming dApp backed by IBM coming in the first quarter of 2020 — aiming to move away from exploitative media.
Social chat dApp Consentium is moving the focus of social networking to reward users for the quality of their shared content and contributions to discussions.
The solution is not to abandon all current social media sites and move to decentralised applications (although that remains the aim for the future) but simply, to reevaluate our priorities.
Are we too comfortable to fight for our privacy? Have we reached a point where we value convenience over privacy? Are we willing to give a chance to applications that would fight that fight for us? The dApps I listed are not perfect, but they’re more concerned about their users and their privacy — which in itself is a reason to support them.
There’s a long way to go before dApps can reach mass adoption. But change is necessary, and every contribution makes a difference. If you want to contribute — try these dApps for a week!
I’ve compiled the links below:
