[UPDATE: This originally posted on March 21 2018. As of today (April 10) Zuckerberg is due to testify at a Congressional hearing. Expect the usual evasions.]
Oh, poor Facebook
The typical reader of this blog probably expected this time would come, but just in case there’s any doubt, the raid on tens of millions of Facebook users’ data by an unscrupulous political propaganda operation (Cambridge Analytica [C.A.]) is merely a sign of the inevitable.
C. Analaytica’s hack used an “it’s only research” loophole to access a huge trove of personal data completely unsuspected by its targets.
Facebook’s official response to date (March 21, 5:22 pm EDT) has been they are “working around the clock to get all the facts and take appropriate action. . . . The entire company is outraged we were deceived.” See FB responds to #deletefacebook
It is so Zuckerbergian to respond to a giant abuse of his customers with no apology – yet anyway – but rather indignantly to declare their outrage at what was done to them. Not acknowledging their role as enablers . Kind of reminds me of how Donald Trump feels misused whenever something goes wrong that is largely his fault.
At least I expect that Zuckerberg et al, unlike Trump, will get around to apologizing, but it has not been their initial reaction.
It had to happen. Facebook is such a gigantic bucket filled to the brim with personal information that it was only a matter of time before hackers found ways to poke holes in it. FB may close the it’s only research hole, but more holes will be drilled by organizations such as Fancy Bears (another FB! is that a coincidence?). As long as the information is there, as long as it is valuable to someone, it will be mined by those clever enough and motivated enough. Now that C. Analytica has demonstrated what it can do with these resources, buyers with special agendas will be lining up outside the hackers’ (virtual) doors.
Caveat emptor
Facebook offers a lot of free stuff. That’s nice. But it’s a business, and there’s always a cost for “free.”
As one with a minimal presence, just a handful of “friends,” and about zero interaction with Facebook, I’m not particularly affected by FB data breaches. But if I had loaded a lot of me into Facebook, I would be “outraged” too, maybe enough to scream. But, I belong to a generation that has done without Facebook for decades. One might argue that I don’t know what I’m missing (although much of what I’m missing appears to be a lot of clutter). I know there are younger generations (most generations are younger than I!) who are so wedded to Facebook as a way to connect, that they are willing to exchange their privacy for that connection, and some of them may be saying “so what?” to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Privacy, in their minds, is greatly overrated.
I think I get that. But I hope these folks are looking around and re-evaluating just how much of themselves they want to expose to propagandists, liars, and confidence men.
Just saying.
[addendum on 3/22: Zuckerberg “apology” on CNN
To keep record straight in light of CNN interview last night, Zuckerberg did hurriedly say he was sorry to his users. He also admitted to Facebook having made a “mistake” with Cambridge Analytica. He did not address the larger problem of a business model depending on Facebook’s own exploitation of personal data to profile and manipulate them, as well as the vulnerability of users’ data to hacks from outside.
He also failed to explain why Facebook didn’t inform users of the implications of the “research” loophole once they knew about it two years ago.
Here’s the crux of the problem: now that Cambridge Analytica has demonstrated the power of that data not only to sell stuff but also to sow mistrust and confusion and deliver political messages, the number of malicious groups trying to sneak into the database will multiply. We can expect there to be an intensified “arms race,” in which Facebook software engineers try to keep one step ahead of the hackers. I doubt they will be able to keep ahead of all of them.]
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