Deleting Facebook won't solve all our privacy problems
If the Cambridge Analytica mess has convinced you it's time to finally kick Facebook out of your life for good, you're not alone.
Anti-Facebook sentiment is at an all-time high. The #deletefacebook hashtag has been trending on and off for days (it was even endorsed by the Facebook-made billionaire founder of WhatsApp), and Google searches for "delete Facebook" are at a five-year high.
And deservedly so. While it will be weeks or even months before the many investigations into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica conclude, it's more clear than ever the company doesn't deserve our trust.
SEE ALSO:The conversation will be weaponized: Why Facebook, Slack and Cambridge Analytica are the futureFor years, Facebook encouraged a platform that allowed third parties to freely scrape as much personal data as they could get their hands on. Worse still, it turned a blind eye to those who abused the few rules they did have.
But while it may make you feel better (and make you a better IRL friend), deleting Facebook won't fix the data privacy nightmare we're only just waking up to.
For years, developers routinely gathered incredible amounts of personal information just by getting us to log into a quiz app or farm game.
Cambridge Analytica is getting the bulk of our attention for the moment, but it's far from the only company to profit from our information (even if it is the sleaziest). For years, developers routinely gathered incredible amounts of personal information just by getting us to log into a quiz app or farm game -- it was just how the platform was designed. Or, to use Silicon Valley parlance, it was a feature, not a bug.
We're now getting a sense of just how much we pay for all those times we eagerly smashed that "login with Facebook" button.
Mark Zuckerberg has promised the company will investigate every app that misused its platform and that Facebook will let people know if their personal data was impacted. But there is no way to undo the damage that's been done. Scores of developers could still be hoarding our old Facebook data and there's nothing we can do about it.
Moreover, it's not just Facebook you should be worried about.
Almost everything you touch in your digital life is tracking you in more ways than you know. Search engines, advertisers, e-commerce platforms, and even your wireless carrier and internet service provider (ISP) have an uncomfortable amount of information about who you are, where you go, and what you like.
They may not be turning around and selling that data to political operatives, but they are engaging in their own kind of profiling.
"Any of the common big platforms that we use on an everyday basis is collecting various kinds of data about us that is being used to develop personalized profiles about us," says Luke Stark, a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College and privacy researcher.
For too long, we've been more than willing to hand over this kind of access in exchange for being able to use whatever service is being offered. And there are very few structural protections in place.
We can't undo the damage of the past, but our best hope for the future is not to stop using these services, but shift our expectations entirely. We, as digital citizens, need to take more responsibility for our data and who we let have it.
And companies (likely with the help of some good, old-fashioned government regulation) need to fundamentally change as well.
It's the only way our privacy nightmare ends.
Featured Video For You
Facebook is using facial recognition — here's how to turn it off
(责任编辑:关于我们)
- Ford can make your Mustang Mach
- 市公安局交警支队:开展专项整治行动 确保市民出行安全
- Xiaomi Mi 11 has a Snapdragon 888 chip, 108
- 从光脚到四轮,这里的脱贫致富提档加速
- Ford can make your Mustang Mach
- “精致小春姐”顾春芳:华丽白西装、镶钻水晶拖鞋,带来新兴凉果No.1
- 7 trends that shaped TikTok in 2020
- How Brett Kavanaugh’s anger got a lifelong Republican to campaign for a Democrat.
- 文明祭祀不带火种进林区
- 17 Places That Harness the Power of the Sun
- Tennessee Senate: Marsha Blackburn defeats Phil Bredesen.
- 21 iPhone shortcuts that'll make your life easier (or more fun)
- 7 trends that shaped TikTok in 2020
-
New image shows the North Star is changing. And it has spots.
Some 430 light-years from Earth lies our stalwart cosmic beacon, the North Star.Except this star is ...[详细] -
The polar vortex has been disrupted. What does that bode?
The stratosphere is a powerful place. Perhaps the most influential guitar ever devised is even named ...[详细] -
The deep sea discoveries of 2020 are stunning
This spring, over 2,000 feet down in the Indian Ocean, a robot exploring a canyon happened upon a fa ...[详细] -
No reason to strip Maguire of captaincy, says Rangnick
LONDON:Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick said he does not intend to strip defender Har ...[详细] -
“笋货”上市采购旺!清远西牛麻竹笋迎秋季尝鲜热_南方+_南方plus西牛麻竹笋,尝鲜正当时!进入八月以来,清远英德的西牛麻竹笋加工企业正加足马力迎接上市旺季。素有“蔬中第一珍”之誉的西牛麻竹笋正次第拔 ...[详细]
-
Joe Biden calls Zuckerberg 'a real problem' and wants to revoke Section 230
Joe Biden is angry at Facebook — and wants to fundamentally change the internet because of it. ...[详细] -
Ministry reviewing local association's N. Korean visit bid over separated families
Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson of South Korea's unification ministry, speaks at a regular press briefi ...[详细] -
...[详细]
-
24 Museums Dedicated to Black History
TheNational Museum of African American History and Culture opened in Washington, D.C., in 2016. It q ...[详细] -
Russia hails decision in favour of Valieva
BEIJING:Russia on Monday welcomed the announcement that its figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cl ...[详细]