https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html
This wasn’t a Facebook data breach – they handed it over for “educational purposes”.
We knew it was happening – at some level we knew – and here it is in daylight for all to see. It’s horrific that anybody would even attempt to manipulate people at this level, but the success of the programme is even that much worse. People aren’t being persuaded to vote a certain way – in the face of this they’re a helpless doll, and if they think they’re immune they’re an ignorant doll.
It’s rapidly becoming untenable to not use Facebook, LinkedIn or similar sites – privacy used to be simply not using those sites, but when the number one way to hire people is LinkedIn and those potential employers are wary of people who don’t have Facebook profiles (and some even want your password before you’re hired!), everyone has to sacrifice privacy at some level.
Law is hollow to those who choose to break it (be they a gunman or a senator) but in the absence of their moral compass it’s all we have. The death of ‘Net Neutrality is another chisel out of the gravestone, we’re lucky this came out at all. Who you vote for matters.
“Unethical people will always do bad things when we make it easy for them and there are few — if any — lasting repercussions” – Jonathan Albright, research director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University
There are some ways to avoid being profiled by people who hire companies like Cambridge Analytica (but there are always drawbacks):
- Avoid using social sites.
- If you choose to use Facebook, Twitter, etc, know that the more people you friend, groups you join and words you use to describe your point of view isn’t just being read but cataloged and cross referenced.
- Avoid using Facebook or Google for your login – try to stick with just a username and password.
- If you choose to use social media, take the time to go through all their options (and there are many) and enable as many privacy settings as you can.
- Recognize that any time you read your data may be made available to a third party and they don’t say who, that means the US government, law enforcement and political analysts.