Stuff

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    What's Hot

    Volkswagen launching its Taigo SUV at a free event in Joburg next weekend

    May 27, 2022
    Robot cells

    Scientists have grown cells on a robot skeleton and we’re pretty sure we know where this is going

    May 27, 2022
    Sony

    Sony expects a 275% increase in its PC games sales over the next year

    May 27, 2022
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud
    Trending
    • Volkswagen launching its Taigo SUV at a free event in Joburg next weekend
    • Scientists have grown cells on a robot skeleton and we’re pretty sure we know where this is going
    • Sony expects a 275% increase in its PC games sales over the next year
    • Twitter pays R2.35 billion fine for selling user data to advertisers
    • You want this Realme GT Neo 3 Naruto Edition, but you can’t have it
    • How digital technology can help keep cities green and pleasant
    • SA’s Home Affairs to launch self service kiosks for Smart IDs, passports, and other documents
    • This year’s UEFA Champions League final will be broadcast on Showmax Pro
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Stuff Stuff
    • News
      • App News
      • Business News
      • Camera News
      • Gaming News
      • Headphone News
      • Industry News
      • Internet News
      • Laptops News
      • Motoring News
      • Other Tech News
      • Phone News
      • Tablet News
      • Technology News
      • TV News
      • Wearables News
    • Reviews
      • Camera Reviews
      • Featured Reviews
      • Game Reviews
      • Headphone Reviews
      • Laptop Reviews
      • Other Tech Reviews
      • Phone Reviews
      • Tablet Reviews
      • Wearables Reviews
    • Columns
    • Stuff Guides
    • Podcasts & Videos
      • Videos
      • Stuffed
      • Stuffing Around
      • Tech Byte
      • T2S2
    • Win
    • Subscribe
      • Print
      • Digital
        • Google Play
        • iTunes
        • Download
        • Zinio
    • Stuff Shop
      • Shop Now
      • My Account
      • Downloads
    • Contact Us
      • Get In Touch
      • Advertise
    0 Shopping Cart
    Stuff
    Home » News » Internet News » As the Cambridge Analytica scandal erupts, Facebook has been hit by string of new data controversies
    Columns

    As the Cambridge Analytica scandal erupts, Facebook has been hit by string of new data controversies

    Toby ShapshakBy Toby ShapshakApril 2, 2018Updated:October 1, 2021No Comments4 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    How safe is Facebook? More specifically, how safe is your data on Facebook? Last week the latest privacy scandal struck the world’s largest social media network when it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, the shadowy conservative data analytics company credited with winning votes for Bexit and Donald Trump, got its hands on 50-million American Facebook users’ data.

    The social media giant’s was quick to point out it wasn’t a “violation” of its policies because the data was legitimately provided to psychologist Aleksandr Kogan who then sold it to Cambridge Analytica. It’s kind of like saying that gun used in a homicide was legitimately bought at a store before it was stolen, isn’t it?

    Facebook’s value plummeted $37bn last Monday after news broke about this, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth was shaved by $5bn. Within two days it had dropped over $50bn. Zuckerberg apologised five days after The Observer investigation broke, calling it a “breach of trust”. But it is so much more.

    In the last year Facebook has fallen inestimably in the public eye for its many, many infractions. From the virulent spread of fake news, which was then revealed to have been orchestrated by Russian internet trolls, and seen by an estimated 126m people, to this data breach. Facebook’s responses have been as catastrophic, as its shown an inability to get a grip on this misuse of its platforms, the ham-fisted reaction to cutting all news (which affected real news organisations adversely) and then there are the reports that it fuelled hate speech and violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, about which the UN said “Facebook has now turned into a beast”.

    Elon Musk, Pretoria’s most successful son, is one of the many high-profile people in the #DeleteFacebook movement by deleting pages for Tesla and SpaceX. It started with WhatsApp cofounder Brian Action’s tweet “It is time. #deletefacebook” – to which Musk replied “What’s Facebook?”

    The extent of the data Facebook has gathered about its users is frankly terrifying. Last week numerous people who downloaded their data after deleting their accounts have discovered Facebook kept logs (called metadata) of all their phone calls and text messages when using Android phones.

    Facebook says its mission is “connecting people” and “building a global community” but let’s not forget its ultimately about running a business, a business based on exploiting its own users data to sell them advertising. This is all deeply worrying.

    Cambridge Analytica’s offence has been to use Facebook user data to manipulate people according to their intimate likes and dislikes, interests and passions and other personal interests to make a political decision. We usually call that propaganda.

    Facebook is quick to point out this was “platform abuse” but this is what Facebook itself has been mining about its users for years to sell us advertising. The more they know about us, the more targeted the advertising can be. Kogan was only able to exploit the privacy settings of some 300,000 people who agreed to his personality test – and ended up with data about millions – because Facebook itself had such privacy options.

    Worse still, Facebook knew about this data breach in 2015 and didn’t tell anyone. That alone is negligence that it is likely to be punished for by US legislators.

    We live in a surveillance economy – where our online lives are being exploited by big social media firms to sell us advertising. We are under constant observation, not by the evil Big Brother of George Orwell’s 1984 by the self-serving, commercially focussed online firms. Like the infamous novel, the worst is still to come.

    This column first appeared in Financial Mail

    Cambridge Analytica Column Facebook Financial Mail social media Toby Shapshak
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    Toby Shapshak

      Toby Shapshak is editor-in-chief and publisher of Stuff, a Forbes contributor and a Financial Mail columnist. He has been writing about technology and the internet for 20 years and his TED Global talk on innovation in Africa has over 1,5-million views.He has written about Africa's tech and start-up ecosystem for Forbes, CNN and The Guardian in London. He was named in GQ's top 30 men in media and the Mail & Guardian newspaper's influential young South Africans. He has been featured in the New York Times. GQ said he "has become the most high-profile technology journalist in the country" while the M&G wrote: "Toby Shapshak is all things tech... he reigns supreme as the major talking head for everything and anything tech."

      Related Posts

      Volkswagen launching its Taigo SUV at a free event in Joburg next weekend

      May 27, 2022
      Robot cells

      Scientists have grown cells on a robot skeleton and we’re pretty sure we know where this is going

      May 27, 2022
      Sony

      Sony expects a 275% increase in its PC games sales over the next year

      May 27, 2022

      Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

      In The Mag
      Stuff April-May 2022 Latest Issue

      In This Issue – The Smart Home (April-May 2022) Issue

      By Brett VenterApril 4, 20220

      It’s time for a brand-new issue of your favourite tech publication. The April-May- 2022 edition…

      2021 Wish List
      wish list Stuff Wish List 2021

      Stuff Wish List: for the tech impaired

      By Duncan PikeDecember 22, 20210

      Are you from the time before being glued to a smartphone was considered normal? Here’s…

      Wishlist DIY Stuff tech

      Stuff Wish List: for the DIY Diehard

      December 21, 2021
      Wish List Gearhead

      Stuff Wish List: For the petrol-soaked gearhead

      December 20, 2021
      outsiders

      Stuff Wish List: for the Outsiders

      December 17, 2021

      Latest Video

      Sonos

      SONOS Roam SL unboxing by Toby Shapshak

      March 30, 2022
      Mini Cooper

      The Mini Cooper SE Electric with Toby Shapshak

      March 18, 2022
      MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

      MSI Crosshair 15 Rainbox Six Extraction Edition unboxing

      March 16, 2022
      Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Unboxing

      Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra unboxing with Toby Shapshak

      March 16, 2022
      Contact

      South Africa's Consumer Tech News Hub

      General: [email protected]
      Subscriptions: [email protected] or 087 353 1291
      Editorial: 072 735 2614
      Sales: 083 375 2418

      Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube SoundCloud

      Subscribe to Updates

      • Terms and Conditions
      • Privacy & POPI
      • My account
      © 2022 Stuff Group. Designed by Chronon.

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.