The Value of Personal Data
The world is becoming more connected and less private every day. The internet has shifted the level of ‘connectedness’ in the digital world. Social Media plays a large role sharing people’s personnel information, activities and online openness in this digital age. The data people put online can be captured by millions of people. It can be used, stored and shared by anyone. Businesses receive large amounts of personal information in various ways such as registration to their website, social media posts and search platforms. Many businesses use this valuable personal information for financial gain. They then analyse the gathered data, depending on the business, they conduct targeted advertising and sell the personal data to other firms. Unfortunately, there are cases where people use personal information in the wrong way for purposes such as online theft and harassment.
How Facebook collect and use data
Facebook is one of the largest conglomerates for data collection and usage. Their 1.7 billion active users are generating money for Facebook through targeted adverts which pop up on a user’s Facebook page. They essentially categorise the user’s personal data into specific interests so that certain advertisements which may interest an individual depending on what they may have liked on Facebook or searched for. Facebook does not charge the user to use their website; the user’s data is essentially the price they pay for using their social media. The personal data and information is gathered from their website, smartphone applications and the Internet of Things (IoT). Facebook monitor practically everything that their users do, from messages, to recent pages that they have liked and even the location that they log on and off from Facebook. According to the World Economic Forum, 50 billion devices/IoT by 2020 will be connected to the internet. This will pump the amount of personal data stored on the web to an unthinkable figure, thus Facebook will make a fortune.
Facebook’s unethical use of data
There have been recent cases of the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg refusing to give any evidence regarding the Cambridge Analytica data breach. The data mining firm Cambridge Analytica were apparently boasting over the fact they could entrap politicians and use former spies to gather data which could influence foreign elections. Furthermore, they had improperly obtained access to more than 50 million user profiles. Moreover, Damian Collins the digital, culture, media and sport select committee requested that Zuckerberg should speak to the UK parliament to be questioned over the data abuse. Zuckerberg refused and said he would send his chief executives instead. Furthermore, there was another case of Mark Zuckerberg refusing to admit how Facebook works. Zuckerberg allegedly avoided questions regarding what types of information Facebook collects and how it uses the data for its advertising purposes. As mentioned before, if the users have to put up with the personalised advertising they receive on Facebook in return for the free use of the Facebook platform, the users should have the rights to understand how it all works.
Facebook however, does allow the user to control their own privacy settings so they can orchestrate who they want to see their posts or pictures. The argument of inability to control the data Facebook collects about the user still remains. An article by Recode, breaks down how Facebook uses data for ad targeting by answering popular queries as to how Facebook collects and uses the data. It answers the question, does Facebook share data collected with businesses and advertisers. Outside businesses can gather data only if permission is granted by the user through logging into a third-party website or app such as Spotify, Uber or Instagram. A recent update was made to stop these companies from collecting data about the user’s friend without their permission, which was the case with the Cambridge Analytica breach. In a user’s Facebook settings they can find a copy of their Facebook data, this is all the information that Facebook has collected from the user. Furthermore, the user can block ads which users are not interested in or information which they don’t want Facebook using to target them.
Who is affected and what regulations are put in place?
The Individual living in this digital world has to adapt to its rapid changes by becoming more aware of the value of their own personal data. A fellow student peer Hannah Berrisford pondered about whether the benefits of IoT are worth giving away our personal data for? Does it make sense to allow platforms such as Facebook to gather personal data in return for their online services? Individuals have to protect their rights and also be responsible for what they put online. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was created to regulate businesses use of data, putting citizens in charge of their own online information and how it is shared. Moreover, people with ad blockers installed on their digital devices can still be tracked by publishers, such as The Telegraph to detect the ad blockers and ask for them to remove the programme in order to use their website. This will be implemented on the 25th May 2018, the reinforcement will have a huge effect on large businesses such as Facebook as it will be harder to use target advertising.
Another student peer, Lucy Harley-Mason, says that she does not use Facebook as frequently as she used to because of the targeted advertising filling up her news feed. With this being said, if we are living in a forever increasing digital world and are becoming concerned about how our personal data is being used. It is crucial that ethical implications are put into place. In order for the individuals to take control of their valuable personal data and not be used as a product for large businesses.
“we’re are not forcing anyone to publicise any information about themselves” — Mark Zuckerberg
Reflections
Upon reflection, the digital society course has brought to light how involved I am in the digital world. The course not only outlines the importance of understanding the digital reality, but also makes you ponder as to how it can affect you as a person. In regards to the themes mentioned above, they made me more aware of checking what information I have about myself online. It is extremely important to keep updated with social medias and online presence as employers now can easily make background checks online. Furthermore, the course has made me keep track and control my privacy settings for social medias, so that it is less easier for unethical businesses and people to use my data for their financial gain, as now I understand the value my data has. I have been using various social media platforms and registered with many websites online since I was in my early teens, making it hard to find out what information I have put online from the very start. The course had suggested doing a background check on what information people can find from searching my name, this was a really useful exercise to monitor what could be found about myself.
I feel like the course offers students a new and different approach of learning by involving the digital aspects. I did not expect to be performing a PechaKucha presentation, it meant a lot to me that we were not marked on how we presented the PechaKucha but instead it was turned into a fun activity. My strengths could shine through as we were able to perform research on any given topic which we were interested in. The freedom the course offers in terms of choice over what the student’s interests are, really made the course more enjoyable. Moreover, doing this made you understand how far the digital world has progressed in recent years. My PechaKucha was based on Manchester City Football club, it was hard for me to believe the staggering technology and digital advancement that they made on football. My weaknesses were definitely revealed during the process of making my PechaKucha as it was very time bound, I was struggling to understand how I could fit everything I wanted to say inside a short slide with only one picture.
I believe it would have been in my best interests to improve on and set my priorities towards the three main topics I learnt and found most interesting from this course; the internet has made the world a lot less personal, I will now keep on top of my data which is currently online and become more aware of policies that are in place. The Internet of Things, has changed my view completely of what people can gather from digital devices. Therefore, I will make sure that I do not agree to let certain applications have access to my microphone, documents or camera. Lastly, as an Individual I am more sceptical about how my personal data is used online. I am glad that there are new regulations and rules being implemented to allow individuals to have more control over how their valuable data is gathered and used.
