When was the last time you clicked “Yes, I accept these terms and conditions” without so much as opening the box to read the description? Each and every time you accept that box, you are authorizing someone, somewhere access to a lot more than you realize. Your privacy and data has been bought sold and traded for free apps, .50 coupons at the store, drawings for a gift card at a basketball game, free tickets to the comedy club and more.
Over the last week you’ve probably heard or seen some of the whole dialogue about how Facebook failed to protect the privacy of their users resulting in a for profit data company, Cambridge Analytica, using that data to impact/influence the U.S. Election.
When Facebook first invited businesses to develop apps on their platform, they were allowed two kinds of functionality, Authentication or Authorization. Authentication allowed you to login, using facebook alone. Authorization allowed you (and the app) to interact with your connections.
Most apps chose the authorization route as it ultimately allowed them to add features like inviting friends to play [cough cough farmville, mafiawars, etc]. With that feature, they had a deep dive look into your user behavior, your contacts, your logins, etc.
Most app builders weren’t using all that data, but it was there and if they really wanted to, it could be exported. Once Facebook realized how much power they’d put in the hands of the app builders, they turned that feature off. Unfortunately Cambridge Analytica DID export the data and intended to use it even after they ‘promised’ they wouldn’t. Thats the readers digest description of what happened and the full details are on CNN if you want to better understand the entire situation.
Ultimately as this news has continued to trickle out, Facebook stock prices have plummeted and thousands of users are threatening to #DeleteFacebook. So far, Facebook says they haven’t really seen any actual change is user behavior so I’m gonna go ahead and call the bluff and say that at the end of the day, no ones actually going to quit Facebook for good after all is said and done. Before we all light up our pitchforks and head over to Menlo Park in anger, everyone needs to take a collective step back and look around at all the places you’ve already released the exact same data that Facebook & Cambridge Analytica are blamed with exploiting.
If there was ever a price tag on your privacy, you gave it up a long time ago.
If you want to be concerned about how someone is using your data, take a look at Google. Google tracks your location, reads your emails, recognizes the sound of your voice, and knows every search you’ve ever conducted. What exactly is Google doing with all that information? Selling it. They are selling it to their advertisers and using it to data mine everything that can be found out about you to better serve you products and tools you might consider buying.
Using a credit card allows the credit card company to know everywhere you’ve been, every item you’ve purchased and every meal you’ve eaten. What are the credit card companies doing with that information? SELLING IT.
What about loyalty cards at grocery stores? You scan every single item you purchase, demonstrating how frequent you buy certain things, what price points you are willing to pay, and how loyal you are to specific brands. What are the grocery stores doing with that information? SELLING IT.
You see a pattern here?
Your privacy has been for sale for the last 20 years, being upset now that you’ve used a free service long enough that they can tell everything about you, from the way you vote to the type of milk you buy at the store, is a waste of time.
There is no getting back the information we’ve already put out there and there is so much out there already that privacy is irrelevant. If you want true privacy, toss your phone, use only cash, and go live in a remote corner of the world.
I’d love to say that there’s some kind of resolution or a way to be better about maintain our collective privacy, but there isn’t. This discussion is 20 years too late.
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