Today we’re talking all about one of the hot button issues of 2018, which is data privacy.
And especially the topic surrounding the Facebook privacy problem.
So, it’s no surprise that Facebook has come under a lot of heat in the last few months, specifically in regards to data privacy…
As well as how much they’ve got access to and what they’re doing to keep that information secure.
Specifically in regards to data privacy, how much they’ve got access to, and what they’re doing to keep that information secure.
One of the biggest complaints when it comes to data privacy is a feeling of helplessness that people get.
Many feel that they’re kinda forced to use these platforms and put all their information on them…
Then, the company does nothing to protect it, to keep it safe, and to keep it out of the hands of spammers or scammers or unethical organizations that’ll use it against them.
So, on this point I’ve got a couple things:
First of all, no one’s forcing you to use Facebook or to use Google.
However, I understand they’ve got kind of a monopoly on this whole online thing.
So, if you choose to participate in this world, well, you’re almost gonna have to use those organizations and those software pieces.
With all that said, the argument to not have to use Facebook or Google, that’s kind of a moot point.
You basically have to use Facebook and Google…
Especially if you’re involved in online business.
Okay, so now that we’ve got that covered, next; do they have an obligation to keep your data safe?
Pretty sure we’re all gonna be in agreement here that yes, they do have an obligation to try and keep your data safe.
Now let’s say that someone that’s unethical, or a spammer or a scammer gets a hold of your data.
Well, whose fault is this?
Is it Facebook’s, is it Google’s?
And how much data do they really need to have?
In regards to protecting the data, yeah, that absolutely is gonna fall under Facebook or under Google to keep your information safe and secure on their platform.
Granted, there are limits to how much data you may want to or may have to upload to the program, including credit card numbers, or date of birth, relationship status…
Or really anything to do with your socio-economic background, or anything like that.
So yes, you can be cautious, but here’s the reality:
Yes, Facebook and Google and other platforms like that have a lot of your uploaded information (most of which has been uploaded voluntarily).
And sometimes they go and scrape it, or they get it from other sources.
But that’s kinda the point that I wanna make.
The way that Facebook gets most of their data is from other sources.
You see, any time that we create a Facebook ad or do targeting based on, let’s say income, well,
Facebook is getting this income data from your credit card and from your bank.
This means if you don’t want Facebook to have the information about your credit card or about your bank, you really gotta go talk to your bank.
In fact, for most of the targeting options available and all the data that Facebook has stored, well, they’re collecting this from all sorts of different places…
Including where you buy insurance or if you have a mortgage or where you do your shopping, both online and offline.
All this data is aggregated and then sold to Facebook.
Now, of course Facebook has come under heavy fire because they’ve got such a massive impact and a massive role to play in the world we now live.
But the reality is: unless you’re willing to live completely off the grid, you’ve got some data in there.
And businesses are going to be using it.
So, at this point, you really have two choices:
One is you can really dive in and understand the laws and the protection around your data and around what it’s being used for.
Then you can take the necessary and any precautionary steps to make sure that you’re covered and make sure your data is safe.
(After all, identify fraud is no joke.)
But once that you’ve accepted that this level of openness and transparency and level of access to data isn’t going away (and in fact, may be getting worse)…
Well, the next thing you have to decide is are you willing to play along or are you going to take extreme actions and go completely off the grid?
Which would also mean getting rid of any property… getting rid of any credit cards… stopping all your spending and limiting it to just cash… and essentially swearing off the system in whole.
Yeah, it might work for a select few, but if you’ve got a business to run, that’s a fast way to tank your sales.
A safer and less extreme option is simply to take some time and go through the Facebook privacy settings.
Take a look at what data’s being shared and with who.
You might wanna turn off who can see your birthday, for example, or, if you’ve got any preferences of pages you like or anything like that.
And maybe just limit the access that other people have.
But once that’s done, you have to understand that you are playing in their world.
It’s scary, I know, but it’s the world we now live in.
So, does Facebook have a privacy problem?
Yeah, probably.
Is it going away any time soon?
Not likely.
And, do they get most of their data from other sources anyway?
Yes, definitely.
It’s just that Facebook is an easy scapegoat.
After all, they’ve kinda brought to the forefront this whole data privacy issue.
So we need someone to blame, and they are at fault for letting a lot of data leak when they really shouldn’t have.
And not that it excuses it, but so have others many times before, and it’s probably gonna happen again.
So, with all that said, keep your data as safe as you possibly can…
But also understand that there are inherent risks involved with playing in the world that we now live in.
