The recent controversy regarding
published reports that data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica tried to
influence how Americans voted in recent US Presidential Elections in which Mr.
Donald Trump won, using information gathered from millions of Facebook profiles
has very severe and long lasting impact on Cyberspace and life of netizens.
Those who are not aware
about what all this hue and cry is all about, let me explain in simple words.
Facebook gave permission
(obviously with some monitory considerations) to University of Cambridge
psychology professor Aleksandr Kogan to collect information from its users who
downloaded his app — "thisisyourdigitallife." The app offered a
personality test. But Facebook users who downloaded the app also gave the
professor permission to collect data about their location, their friends and
content they had "liked." It is alleged that Kogan provided that data
— which included information from over 50 million profiles — to Cambridge
Analytica, a firm which was working to develop techniques that could be used to
influence voters and thereby assisting Mr. Donald Trump to run its Social media
campaign in US presidential election similar to one Mr. Narendra Modi used in
Indian Parliamentary elections in 2014.
Now real questions are
1) Whether Facebook is transparent enough with users about how their
information would be used? 2) Should it have done more to keep tabs on how
third parties were using data? 3) Could such business model, which is based on
selling user data to app developers and advertisers be termed as ethical and
allowed to be used? 4) Should governments across the world partner with
Facebook or such companies in its various social media initiatives?
It is open secret that personal data of the Users is
extracted from the social media platforms and various apps and used for a
purpose to which they did not consent for or even doesn’t suspect about such
intentions of these platforms. In my view it is not fault of the million of the
users but it’s our collective failure who failed to warn them about what could
happen through excessive use of these platforms.
The blame is on us who failed to read the eminent which
was written on the wall.
Facebook or for that matter any social media platform or
app have a dubious track record on privacy. Their business model is built only
on gathering data like your real name, who your friends are, your likes and
interests, where you have been, what websites you have visited, what you look
like and how you speak. They commercially exploit all this data to make it
super easy for their customers – advertisers – to target you and thereby
minting money themselves. And we are very fond of so called Free Humanitarian
services rendered by these platforms for betterment of mankind and welfare of
entire human race.
So the lessons we need to learn from this incident in my
view are as follows.
1) We
should immediately stop people from compelling to use social media platforms
like Facebook, Twitter or Google for any government related activities.
2) Government
should stop use of Social Media Platforms for promoting their welfare as well
as other initiatives wherein registration of users is must on those platforms.
3) Government
should call back all the sensitive personal data these social Medias have
extracted during their involvement in various government’s initiative.
4) Government
should proactively initiate a Cyber Awareness Campaign informing and educating
people about inbuilt traps in such Digital platforms and how to protect their
privacy and personal information.
5) Government
has the right opportunity to create Indigenous social media platform wherein
citizen can be assured of no foul play would happen with their data.
6) Government
should migrate more on Print Media rather than on social media releases for any
important event or announcement.
7) There
has to be very strict Data Privacy Laws with penal provisions for Data
breaches.
Adv.
Mahendra Limaye
Cyber
Legal Consultant
09422109619
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