Facebook now controls our lives: the social network has so much of our private and personal data that when we really start to reflect on this topic we can not help but be frightened. A few days ago we heard about Cambridge Analytica, a company founded in 2013 by an American billionaire entrepreneur with very conservative ideas.
Cambridge Analytica specializes in collecting a huge amount of data on users directly from social networks: how many I like to put and on which posts, where they leave the largest number of comments, the places from which they share content and so on. This information, together with the apps used through social logins and all the data that can be read from them, are then processed creating a real psychological profile of each of us.
The approach is that of psychometry, the field of psychology that deals with measuring skills, behaviors and more generally the characteristics of the personality of individuals. In 2014, Aleksandr Kogan created an application called “Thisisyourdigitallife” (This is your digital life), an app that promised to produce psychological profiles and behavior prediction based on the activities performed online. 270,000 people were enrolled in the application via Facebook login, giving consent to use a series of personal information. Moreover, in 2014, Facebook not only disclosed personal data but also allowed the app to read the list of friends, without them knowing it, so the network of links grew exponentially.
The problems arose when Kogan shared all this information with Cambridge Analytica, violating Facebook terms of use. In fact, the social network prohibits app owners from sharing data with third-party companies. The penalty is the suspension of the account but in the case of Cambridge Analytica, it arrived very late. According to insiders, Facebook was aware of this improper practice for 2 years but only intervened on March 16 this year with the suspension of the account.
Facebook then tried to cover up everything, putting enormous pressure on Guardian journalists to not publish this news and not define the problem that allowed Kogan and Cambridge Analytica to collect data as a flaw in the system.
Before going further, let’s recap what has been said so far:
- There is a company that collects personal data to create users’ psychological profiles for use in super-targeted marketing campaigns
- The company is suspended by Facebook on charges of having obtained and used data on the social network but did not belong to it
- The Guardian and the New York Times want to shed light on the story, accusing Facebook of making it possible to collect data, even if not actively, and then to have underestimated and tried to hide the thing
All of this becomes more serious when on March 16th, prosecutor Robert Mueller has begun to investigate the alleged interference of Russia in the US elections and the possible involvement of Trump. Indeed, in the summer of 2016 Trump’s committee entrusted the management of data collection for the electoral campaign to Cambridge Analytica. Were used a large number of fake accounts automatically managed by bots to spread fake posts and news against Hillary Clinton, which were shown in a targeted way to the most influential people or at least those who would have to change their mind about the vote. Thanks to all this, the fortunes of the elections have been recalibrated to extend more towards Trump.
In short, all this to explain the reason why on Twitter we talk about nothing else than #DeleteFacebook, the hashtag that invites all users to permanently unsubscribe from the social network.
As noted by The Verge, after spending $ 16 billion on the acquisition of Whatsapp, even one of the two co-founders of the messaging application yesterday joined the cause, going against Facebook in an essential and disarming tweet: ” It’s time. #DeleteFacebook ”
Brian Acton is now taking an interest in Signal, the truly private messaging app that keeps users’ data safe. As for Facebook, it will be examined by the Federal Trade Commission regarding the use of personal data.
Delete and forget. It’s time to care about privacy.
We at Signal are holding Awareness-rising event. Promotion of Ethereum as a currency of choice.
For details, visit:https://t.co/1vAL1hcvPk
— Brian Acton (@brianlacton) March 21, 2018
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