Facebook’s Data Breach Calls for Increased Control and Security for The User
In case you haven’t heard, last Friday Facebook announced the suspension of its political data analytics company Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge Analytica violated the Terms of Service by sharing personal information collected on up to 50 Million Facebook-users, without their consent. How did they get their hands on all of this data? A psychology professor at the University of Cambridge created an app called “thisisyourdigitallife”, which lawfully gathered data from all of its users as well as information on their friends. It took a turn to the illegal side of things when this information was then shared with Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook looks the other way
According to The Verge, the data collected on the over 50 million users is said to have been used in the 2016 presidential election. Besides such use of our data being a huge violation of the Terms of Service that we expect Facebook to implement, it should be shocking to the individual users that according to The Observer (confirmed by a Facebook statement), the company already knew that this was happening towards the end of 2015. However, they didn’t take the necessary steps to secure the private information of their users.
The users are the key to change
While you may not have been personally affected by this data breach, this recent occurrence shows that anyone can easily be a target. Hence, as much as angry politicians can attempt to make changes, Facebook relies on its users to survive. If enough of us actively and openly express our concern, perhaps Facebook will be moved to change. In saying that, the topic of user data, and its use, is ambivalent. The only way to avoid our data being used, is by avoiding the internet completely.
Therefore, a solution needs to be found, one where users have more control over their information and can benefit themselves, rather than simply benefiting companies and corporations.
You can get cash(back) for your data
In comparison to companies like Facebook who do not only benefit from user data, but also lose control of what external developers do with it, repay.me remunerates its users for their information. repay.me offers a marketplace with up to 100% cashback, which is paid to the users from advertising revenues. Hence, the user essentially gets paid for sharing their personal data. The more active a user is within the repay.me community, the more cashback they receive. This allows for more control over what information is shared, how much is shared and most importantly remunerates the user for their data, rather than letting companies and corporations benefit financially. repay.me will soon introduce its own token called REME-Coin which will make the whole cashback process easy and safe. You can benefit from your own data — just by paying online or offline with REME-Coins.
If you want to take the steps to check on which apps have your personal information, check out Mashable’s step-by-step guide to checking and adjusting the app settings within your Facebook account.
