Facebook's share price has fallen nearly 7 percent on the news of its user data being co-opted by Cambridge Analytica to influence elections. There are problems at multiple levels, and the question is whether any of it is illegal. Facebook has been careless by letting an app gain access not only to user data but also data on their 'friends' on the social network. Cambridge Analytica appears an immoral (but not illegal) business that influences elections. Facebook has questioned only the illegal retention of the data. The lesson is two-fold: don't forget Facebook exists in order to monetise personal data, and users need to assess better themselves whether the privacy question is satisfied by having 'nothing to hide'.
In 2015, Aleksandr Kogan launched the app 'thisisyourdigitallife' on Facebook in order to analyse personal data. This resulted in data on some 50 million Facebook users, whose information was passed on to Cambridge Analytica. The latter used the data to help target voters on Facebook ahead the US presidential election in 2016. Facebook has opened up on the matter after the media unearthed the details of the case, thanks in part to a whistleblower who helped develop the data-mining tools. The response from Facebook investors shows that monetising personal data may become a problem due to access controls, privacy regulation and eventually concerned consumers.
The problem exists on at least three levels:
- First, the user. Facebook users appear to be letting go of their personal data all too easily.
- Second, Facebook. The platform gives apps permission for wide-scale collection of user data. Facebook itself can't really be blamed, as it exists to monetise personal data. The storage and sale of the data can be subject to contractual limits, but the question is how to enforce these limits. Facebook can rely on legislation, so Cambridge Analytica is not only violating a contract but also the law. However, in this case Facebook has been careless: the app in question collected data on around 270,000 Facebook users but also had access to the 'friends' of these users. That resulted in it ultimately harvesting data on some 50 million profiles. Facebook has since tightened its rules on third-party apps to avoid this loophole.
- Third, Cambridge Analytica. The company makes no secret of the fact that it actively uses personal data in order to influence political campaigns. Reporting by the British press has made this clear, even if Cambridge Analytica denies the claims.
Facebook has started an investigation into Aleksandr Kogan and Cambridge Analytica, focusing on whether the data collected on Facebook users still exists. If so, Facebook said this would constitute a "grave violation" of its policies and "an unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments these groups made". Notably, the question for Facebook is whether the data was taken and kept inappropriately, not how it was used.
It will be up to lawmakers and regulators to decide whether this type of use of personal data should be subject to limits. In the end though, the responsibility lies with consumers to protect their own data. They need to be made to understand that privacy concerns can't be dismissed just by saying 'I have nothing to hide'.
