Let’s face it: Facebook has never been much of an altruistic company. Although it may seem like just a free service to connect with friends and family, despite the company’s denial, Facebook has clearly been bent on harvesting, using, and selling personal data of its users and nonusers alike from the get-go. But recently, the scandalous leak of the information of over 50 million Facebook users to Cambridge Analytica—a political consulting firm cofounded by former Trump campaign Chief Executive and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon—has resulted in massive public outcry.
Facebook’s privacy policy admits to collecting information on its users and using it to select targeted advertisements and send “marketing communications.” Among the kinds of data collected from its users are “the location of a photo,” “information about payments,” “device information . . . including specific geographic locations, such as through GPS, Bluetooth, or WiFi signals,” and “information from websites and apps that use our Services.” Even if Facebook were a reliable and scrupulous company, a data breach could result in immense amounts of personal information being leaked. Database cracks, exploits, and intrusions are posing a larger threat than ever to our privacy, with cases of identity theft following a database breach certainly being a possibility. The Equifax cybersecurity incident should serve as a portent and warning—although your information might seem safe, all it takes is a vulnerability for it to all be leaked.
Despite the claims of Facebook concerning the most recent case of data abuse which involved private information of almost a hundred million people, this was not a chance incident or a slip-up on Facebook’s part. The problem is not a hidden weakness in the system; it is the system itself. Facebook, from the start, was designed to harvest data and exploit that data for a profit. Along the way, it became a giant advertising company, using private information to enhance sales targeting.The business model of Facebook has been focused on this very matter from the beginning. Whether it ends up in the hands of political consulting firms or typical companies, make no mistake: Facebook is collecting your information. Every message you send to your friends and every family picture you post there technically belongs to Facebook, and by signing the terms of service, you have given Facebook the right to use it as they wish.
Since the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, many users have decided to delete their accounts. While it is true that deleting your account may reduce the amount of future information Facebook can extract from you, whether your account has been deleted or not, Facebook’s file of your personal information still exists. Facebook not only follows your travels on the internet after you log off, but they even keep files of people who never once logged on!
But it’s not only posted content that Facebook uses to generate income. The Belgium Privacy Commission sued Facebook over the tracking (through the usage of web cookies) of non-members who visited the Facebook site. The struggle between the Belgian Privacy Agency and Facebook regarding cookies had been ongoing since 2015. In response, a Facebook spokesperson said that the tracking helps “enable hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow their businesses and reach customers across the EU.”
The EU’s fight against Facebook is one worth watching, as it will determine how far the company is allowed to go. With over 1 billion active users, Facebook is able to leverage massive amounts of data and help their business partners gain access to a huge pool of statistics and digital material. By using the information of its users for targeted advertisements, Facebook was able to generate an astonishing $40.6 billion in revenue in the 2017 fiscal year.
Facebook might seem free and fun on the outside, but it costs you your privacy, and that’s no joking matter.