The invention of social media and other internet technologies has indeed made our life, easier, fun-filled, and more enjoyable. However, like it is with every man invention in the world, the development has also brought a setback and threat to our collective freedom and existence.
I know you might be wondering what this writer is getting at right now-Facebook is not my bank account. I don’t keep anything there. I only update my status and post pictures of my memory, you may think.
Let me burst the bubbles for you. Facebook and other social media have access to much more information about you that you can ever imagine. Let me put it simple terms for you, Facebook now literally has a database that contains every information about your life; your hobby, educational achievement, jobs, interest and any other things you can think of. What that means is that you are no longer safe, you are being monitored! The moment Facebook allows third-party access to the critical information, you are just at the mercy of the third party. Your opinions and views and right will no longer matter as such data will be used to manipulate you.
If you have been following news media keenly, what I have mentioned above wouldn’t sound foreign to you. Facebook has been infringing your privacy by selling your information to companies and organization. Many insiders in the technological are aware of it, but it only become public knowledge recently after an employee of famous Data company, Cambridge Analytica, Christopher, blew a whistle of how his employer make use of the data they bought from Facebook and help trump won the last election. Similarly, he also confessed that similar deals had happened during the previous EU referendum, which saw the UK existing from the European Union.
Facebook has breached the trust of the public by selling users information to the highest bidder. The implication is very enormous. If the political mercenaries could get access to the data of the users and use it for their selfish interest, then our democratic institution is under a great threat. The wish and will of the people of the people will no longer matter. Any unscrupulous element no matter how incompetent could get access to any political office as long as he can fork out thousand or million dollars to access people’s data. If care is not taken, all the progress that we have made as a nation will be eroded by unprincipled politicians that might have access to power just because they have money to settle Facebook.
So what do you do as a people? Do we sit back and watch Facebook continue to jeopardize our future and that of our unborn child? Posterity will never judge us if we allow this issue to go unpunished and unabated. The revelation made by the Data Analytica staff is likely the only tip of an iceberg of other dubious and shady deals Facebook is making with our data.
The damage Facebook has done to our collective existence by breaching its privacy term is certainly mind-boggling. Many of the world leading inventors and educationist has started a campaign telling people to delete their Facebook. Elon Musk, owner of Tesla Inc, and one of the world most profound innovator has deleted all the Facebook page of his companies.
The delete Facebook campaign might not likely bring the desired result and force Facebook to do the needful as not many people are even aware of the campaign. However, the most effective instrument of bringing people to justice which stand the test of time is through the judicial process. Courts have over the years bring companies that are even mightier than Facebook to justice.