Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal: Online Privacy is a Shared Responsibility
Explanation of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Scandal
The Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Scandal shocked the nation when it erupted in 2018 after whistle-blower Christopher Wylie emerged and shared the truth. The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr and Emma Graham-Harrison explain that “the data analytics firm that worked with Donald Trump’s election team and the winning Brexit campaign harvested millions of Facebook profiles of US voters, in one of the tech giant’s biggest ever data breaches, and used them to build a powerful software program to predict and influence choices at the ballot box,” (Cadwalladr and Graham-Harrison). Shocking, right? So, what actually happened? Read on for my explanation or listen to this podcast (Masters and Symon).
Here’s the scoop: Cambridge Analytica partnered with Facebook to collect data from people through thisisyourdigitallife, a third-party app created by Aleksandr Kogan. The app paid participants in exchange for the results from their personality test. Cambridge Analytica claimed that the data would be for academic use only. However, according to Cadwalladr and Graham-Harrison, “the app also collected the information of the test-takers’ Facebook friends, leading to the accumulation of a data pool tens of millions-strong. Facebook’s ‘platform policy’ allowed only collection of friends’ data to improve user experience in the app and barred it being sold on or used for advertising,” (Cadwalladr and Graham-Harrison). Red flag: Cambridge Analytica disregarded Facebook’s policy.
Then, the firm built psychological profiles that analyzed characteristics and personality traits of those 50 million users to create targeted ads for political campaigns. Here’s a video to explain that (Chang). This helped politicians like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, who relied heavily on targeted advertising, in their campaigns. However, according to Alvin Chang, “there is a decent chance Cambridge Analytica’s work didn’t actually do much to elect Trump; the firm’s reputation in the political consulting community is less than stellar,” (Chang).
TL;DR Cambridge Analytica collected data through a third-party app on Facebook. They gathered data from users and the friends of the users, which ended up being about 50 million people. The company claimed the research was for academic purposes. In reality, the company harvested and sold the data they collected to promote political campaigns for politicians, like Donald Trump, to certain users. This was against Facebook’s policy.
Shared Responsibility for Social Media Users, Social Media Companies, and the Government
So, why does this matter? The scandal makes us question whether or not social media platforms should be responsible for content regulation. In class, our professor supported the view that social media platforms should not be responsible for regulating content.
Our professor said: “Think of a car accident. You don’t blame the road, the platform on which you are driving, and hold it responsible for someone else’s negligence. Unless, of course, the road caused the accident.”
However, I argue that there is shared responsibility leading up to most car accidents. Drivers have to be cautious. Road workers have to repair and maintain the road. Auto insurance companies have to outline policies. So, why can’t we do this for social media? In the scenario, social media users would be the drivers, social media companies would be the road workers, and the government would be the auto insurance company. Everyone has a shared responsibility.
After reading an article by Larry Magid, I arrived at a neutral conclusion. His opinion led me to realize that this issue is a shared responsibility. The answer isn’t black or white. The grey area is what matters here — “the area in between black and white where life happens” in the words of Justin Timberlake (not the most scholarly source, I’ll admit).
Magid stated, “When it comes to privacy and security, I’m reminded of folks who drive to the airport without their seat belt on and then worry about the plane crashing. Planes do crash on very rare occasions but not nearly as often as cars. And when driving, there are things you can do to increase your safety, whereas when flying, there’s not much you can do to protect yourself but we do rely on the airline industry and government regulators to do all they can to protect us. Likewise, when we’re online, there are things we can control and things we can’t,” (Magid).
The Role of Social Media Users: Be Involved
As social media users, we need to be involved. We have to be careful about the information we share and who we share it with. We should create strong passwords for our accounts and WiFi. We must avoid sharing our Social Security Numbers (SSN), Date of Birth (DOB), and other sensitive information. We need to regularly access the privacy settings on our social media accounts. We need take as many precautions as we can to keep our data safe.
The Role of Social Media Companies: Be Transparent
Social media companies need to be more transparent. That way, they can be held accountable and responsible by already having policies and information out in the open. Companies like Facebook and other social media platforms could use opt-out features that let users toggle off privacy settings they are uncomfortable with. However, if they already have this in place, the companies need to send out some sort of explanation on how to use the opt-out features in a clear and concise way that all users can understand. I get that we are giving up some of our privacy to use the platform for free, but it should be within users control.
The Role of the Government: Be Proactive
Finally, the government has guidelines and regulations for everything else. They have regulations for employee and labor protection, the environmental impact of businesses, health and safety, and more. They government even has data security and privacy protection — so why shouldn’t that extend to social media, specifically? Beyond that, the government needs to educate the public about how to keep their information safe and secure.
Have Things Changed Since the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Scandal?
Despite this idea of shared responsibility, things still haven’t changed. We are still in the same boat that we’ve always been sinking in. Julie Carrie Wong explains that Facebook still hasn’t changed since the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Wong states, “That’s because what happened with Cambridge Analytica was not a matter of Facebook’s systems being infiltrated, but of Facebook’s systems working as designed: data was amassed, data was extracted, and data was exploited,” (Wong). Read the full explanation here (Wong).
So, social media companies like Facebook need to take responsibility and keep their promises. The government needs to step in and help regulate this. And us (aka everyone else who uses social media) needs to make sure we do what we can to protect our data in ways we know how to do.
References
Chang, Alvin. “The Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Scandal, Explained with a Simple Diagram.” Vox, Vox, 2 May 2018, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/23/17151916/facebook-cambridge-analytica-trump-diagram.
Graham-Harrison, Emma, and Carole Cadwalladr. “Revealed: 50 Million Facebook Profiles Harvested for Cambridge Analytica in Major Data Breach.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Mar. 2018, www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook- influence-us-election.
Magid, Larry. “Online Privacy and Security Is a Shared Responsibility: Government, Industry and You.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Feb. 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2013/02/12/online-privacy-and-security-is-a- shared-responsibility-government-industry-and-you/#440f18da5320.
Masters, Brooke, and Fiona Symon. “Listen: Who or What Is Cambridge Analytica?” Financial Times, Financial Times, 22 Mar. 2018, www.ft.com/video/517a016d- 642e-4a67–94f5–214dffd96a14.
Nix, Alexander. “Cambridge Analytica — The Power of Big Data and Psychographics.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=134&v=n8Dd5aVXLCc&feature=emb_logo.
Wong, Julia Carrie. “The Cambridge Analytica Scandal Changed the World — but It Didn’t Change Facebook.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Mar. 2019, www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/17/the-cambridge-analytica- scandal-changed-the-world-but-it-didnt-change-facebook.
