Facebook: A FRIENDBOOK or a THREATBOOK?

Could anyone imagine that innocent looking website of Facebook, which was made to share photos and connect with our long lost friends would become a company that we fear today and have trust issues?

Honestly, I did not.

I guess no one did in this world. We all innocently just like this baby in the picture shared everything with this friendly site FACEBOOK. And today we are looking for ways to turn all our decisions, which we made in our lives to share EVERYTHING with our innocent, beloved, friendly looking network.

After certain scandals of our decade like the one of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, opened our eyes that how powerful we have made these networks like Facebook and Google, as I also mentioned it in my previous article “A Mysterious Web of Privacy.

Due to this, many regulations have started coming up. The first step taken by Europe by bringing G.D.P.R. to regulate the information that is being used by these giants and other advertising and e-commerce companies to target us. This said that we need to do something about this.

Something needs to be done

Last year, Americans also started to think in the right direction by Introducing the Internet Bill of Rights. The tech industry has long operated nearly unfettered, aided by laws that have given its major companies broad immunity and an open plain on which to operate. The goal was to encourage innovation. And like the pioneers who once set out for California to make their fortune, tech companies have thrived in that regulation-free landscape.

But not anymore, California also came up with a digital privacy law granting consumers more control over and insight into the spread of their personal information online, creating one of the most significant regulations overseeing the data-collection practices of technology companies in the United States.

The new law grants consumers the right to tell companies to delete their information as well as to not sell or share their data. Businesses must still give consumers who opt out the same quality of service.

But is this it? Or something more should be done?

Let’s see.

Is this enough?

The basic regulation to have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of personal data by companies, should have been come in effect in early 2000’s. This would have saved us a lot of trouble in today’s world.

Other regulations like giving permission to customers to “opt in” for anything rather than to “opt out” fulfills the purpose by making it consumer friendly because after getting in a trap it gets tricky to come out of it, which is a smart thing to do.

But my question again, is this enough?

My question was answered by a democrat Ms Pelosi, rightly said in an article, “It is not a question of being antagonistic, but being ready to find a better way for the future,” she said, noting how quickly change has come via tech. “Think backward a dozen years and look forward a decade. Like they say, you haven’t seen nothing yet.”

Definitely there will be more rules and regulations in future, we all make mistakes. But we need to correct our course as soon as possible to safeguard our future.

Internet was made to do good in the world, as a new innovation. We have achieved humongous things through internet. But when it comes to our safety we fell short. This is not just one company’s mistake, whether it’s Facebook or Google. This is something where we all are equally responsible.

Rightly said by the inventor of World Wide Web Mr. Berner’s Lee, “If the internet is to live up to its potential as a force for good in the world, we need safeguards that ensure fairness, openness and human dignity,” and he added “This Bill of Rights provides a set of principles that are about giving users more control of their online lives while creating a healthier internet economy.”

So let’s all take small steps towards change, and let’s all be aware of all the rights that we have, so we can make this a better world.

Please share your views on what you think about it.

Thanks!

HM