The New Age of Privacy within Social Media
There was a time when the largest and most prominent social media companies Facebook and Google could do no wrong. Scores of users signed up daily to post their lives online through these social media giants. The media world had nothing but glowing appreciation for the success of these firms.
However, things have dramatically changed. Recent major scandals among both social media companies has had a dramatic public effect and highlighted unethical business practices. Google has recently shut down their social media network Google Plus due to a data breach and ensuing cover up. A security bug allowed third-party developers to access Google+ user profile data since 2015, until Google discovered and patched it this past March. Nevertheless, Google did not inform it members and 496,951 users’ full names, email addresses, birth dates, gender, profile photos, places lived, occupation and relationship status were exposed. Google says it has no evidence the data was misused by the 438 apps that could have had access.
Facebook has had several privacy scandals the past few years and has been investigated by the United States Congress and their British counterparts. Facebook has had a number of data breaches from the infamous Cambridge Analytica program that scraped 87 million users’ data, to the recent data hack of 50 million accounts. Furthermore, in Britain 81,000 hacked Facebook accounts have been put on sale.
Advertising, Fake News and Fake Followers
Users have long complained about the collection of their personal data and the exploitation of their personal information. What makes matters worse, is that companies like Facebook sell user data for marketing purposes and clutter their networks with ads or surround users with advertisements masquerading as insightful articles.
In addition, news feeds are filled with fake followers and fake news. According to a study done by Stanford University, there were over 30 million fake items shared in the 2016 election campaign.[1] The problem of fake news is extensive, as it can directly influence the masses and motivate certain behavior. Artificial intelligence compounds the problem by directly targeting certain groups of users and playing on their emotions.
Facebook and other social networks have failed to cure the problem. It is hard to distinguish between real users and fake users. For example, Instagram is plagued by fake follower accounts. Despite an Instagram purge, which saw millions of these accounts deleted, the social media site is still riddled with fake profiles that can put your online safety at risk. According to the New York Times, which recently uncovered an industry of fake follower purchasers and companies, these accounts are becoming harder to spot because they “in an attempt to seem legitimate, use personal information from real people without their knowledge.” [2]
These profiles are often filled with photos, often stolen, and fake bios. These advanced accounts make it harder for outside companies, Instagram, and users to spot the fake profiles or bots. The problem is worsened by the fact that many social media users actually seek out the fake followers in an effort to boost their online presence and as a result, the market for them has only grown.
The majority of bots are harmless, but some bots pose dangerous security risks. Bots can be used to attack unsuspecting users. The bad bot may attempt to befriend you, so it can send you private messages with spam or phishing attempts. These bad bots, the ones that want to steal your password or infect you with a virus, account for 28.9 per cent of bots on Instagram, according to data security company Imperva.[3]
As a result, user experience and authentic engagement has suffered greatly. Social analytics firm BuzzSumo, reported that Facebook engagement across 880 million posts from publishers and brands fell 20 percent since January 2017.[4]
Social media sites are not the only platforms that suffer from fake users. Dating sites like Tinder, Match and Bumble experience a high degree of fake user accounts.
Privacy and Ownership of Data
In 2019, we will be introducing the LUX Community as a decentralized social media network built on the Stellar Network to fairly reward its contributors: users, content creators, developers and others. We are introducing the LUX cryptocurrency to encourage social participation among applications and platforms in the LUX Ecosystem. The LUX token’s first large-scale adopter and supporter will be the LUX Social Network that consists of three platforms: social, professional and dating.
The LUX Community seeks to solve the privacy issues that plague current social media platforms. LUX users will have control of three main aspects: privacy, ownership and dissemination. Any data shared on the LUX network will be transparently visible and exclusively controlled by users. No user data will be collected or stored on our servers. Users will be able to choose who to show their content to and be able to set their own restrictions while determining how and where it gets distributed. Our strict privacy tools like private spheres and encrypted, passcode-protected chat help safeguard user communications and data.
[1] http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/fakenews.pdf
[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/instagram-fake-followers-profiles-online-safety-risk-bots-explained-a8358036.html
[3] https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/05/199439/fake-followers-on-instagram-problem-check
[4] https://buzzsumo.com/blog/facebook-engagement-brands-publishers-falls-20-2017/
