Cambridge Analytica

The case in the audio file is about a company, Cambridge Analytica. This company took individual data from Facebook and build a data model to help to create extremely targeted ads, especially related to political election. Facebook includes information about users’ individual privacy, using preferences and multiple classified and non-classified data. Regulating and manipulating these data on social media platforms can create tremendous benefits but also can cause some problems potentially. Indeed, when Facebook allows other organizations to use their data from their users or operates these data by themselves, they already expose some part of the privacy and profile of users. However, personally, I agree that these social media platforms regulate the data they reached by their own users. First of all, before the users, the general public, chooses to expose their information on this social media, they must acknowledge that their personal data would be shared with the company and they commit that. They already decided to share this information on social media. Even though they only allow this data to reach by the specific group of people rather than the whole public, the companies already receive the permit to regulate their users’ data. Second, as I mentioned, users already share some information about themselves to the company. Even though social media platforms never plan to classify or regulate these data, they are still there. There is still a risk that those data may be used illegally in an improper way. Therefore, I insist that those raw data on social media platforms should be regulated but only in the proper way and under the constitution.
Regulating these raw data and putting them into appropriate categories can bring plenty of advantages to both social media companies and the user side. Personally, I had a user experience that the social media platform would observe my using habits and record what I do like and what I do not like. By my media using record and potential preference, the company can easily choose targeted content to me and recommend some type of information that I may like but I never reached before. The preference records customize the contents which are brought to users by the platforms. Every user can, therefore, approach their favorite information easily. As for the concern that these targeted ads or contents may be used to influence users’ political preference or the decision of election, I believe that the final decision of vote or other issue is under our own control. No one can force you to accept the ideas from those contents. The social media platform may understand your psychological preference and try to convince your opinion of specific issues using their database. However, we cannot ignore the benefits of regulating other personal profile on social media only because of those potential concerns.