From California Magazine
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Facebook?
By Glen Martin
We may never know the true number of Facebook users who suffered data breaches as a result of Cambridge Analytica’s antics, or what it all means in terms of personal security. And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg certainly didn’t provide a great deal of insight when he testified before Congress today....
“A lot of people may want to delete, but they can’t afford to,” says Daniel Griffin, a Ph.D. student at Cal’s School of Information and the co-director of the university’s Center for Technology, Society & Policy. “For some, it’s the basic means for connecting to the internet. Or they may need it to run their business, or it’s the main way they stay in touch with family members. You go to the webpage for the Federal Trade Commission [the federal agency that regulates social media companies, including Facebook], and it has a ‘follow us on Facebook’ link. That kind of says it all.”...
And the coin of the realm, says Berkeley Law [and School of Information] adjunct professor and Center for Technology, Society & Policy faculty director Chris Hoofnagle, is data. In a recent blog on l’affaire Facebook, Hoofnagle laid out his thesis point in the headline: “Facebook and Google Sell Your Data.”...
But the main issue, says Jennifer King, a Ph.D. student at the School of Information specializing in privacy in online social networks, isn’t that Facebook’s technology is hampered by bugs and unintended consequences. Rather, the problem is the inverse: the platform is functioning precisely as designed. To a very real degree, says King, Facebook’s business plan is predicated on third party developers having free and easy access to heaps of user data.
“I was concerned about something liked this [the Cambridge Analytica scandal] happening as far back as 2010, and I wasn’t alone,” says King. “But I always figured the information would be used [for advertising or marketing], not weaponized for political manipulation. My stomach hit the floor when I first started reading stories about Cambridge Analytica.”
And it’s not just Facebook, says King. It’s the whole API-centric network....