How does Facebook’s privacy management of users’ personal information affect the behavior of Facebook patrons?

How does Facebook’s privacy management of users’ personal information affect the behavior of Facebook patrons?

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December 20, 2020
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Facebook, the social network founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, has experienced phenomenal growth and has enjoyed an explosion of opportunities but not without encountering some thorny problems. In February 2011, Facebook had more than 600 million users, was valued at $50 billion, and was in the midst of taking substantial online advertising away from competitors.1 However, issues regarding the privacy of users’ personal data loomed like ugly storm clouds.
 
A report issued by eMarketer estimates that marketers will spend $4.05 billion globally on Facebook advertising in 2011, with $2.19 billion of that total being in the United States. According to Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer’s principal analyst, “2010 was the year that Facebook firmly established itself as a major force not only in social network advertising but all of online advertising. . . . In 2011, its global presence is something
multinational advertisers can’t ignore.”2
 
The explosive growth in ad revenue, however, is intertwined with growing concerns about how Facebook deals with the privacy of users’ information. Facebook “has a powerful incentive to push people into revealing more information. Facebook generates most of its revenue from targeted advertisements based on users’ demography and interests, so the more data users share publicly the more money it can mint from ads.”3 However, the data collection practices of Facebook and other social networking sites “have provoked calls for tougher action by regulators and governments to prevent web firms from abusing the mountains of personal data they now hold. Danah Boyd, a social networking expert, has even argued that Facebook, with its hordes of members around the world, is now so embedded in people’s lives that it should be regulated as a utility.”4
 
Some privacy critics suggest that Facebook’s privacy policy is little more than a sham, something designed to obscure the social networking site’s real motivation regarding the protection of users’ personal data. As written in the well-respected publication The Economist, “[t]he
worst thing is Facebook’s underlying prejudice against privacy. Sign up and it assumes you want to share as much data as possible; if not, you have to change the settings, which can be a fiddly business. The presumption should be exactly the opposite: the default should be tight privacy controls, which users may then loosen if they choose. If Facebook fails to simplify and improve its privacy policy, it will justly risk the wrath of regulators—and many more Facebook suicides.”5
 
Facebook has acknowledged the problems with its privacy policy. On a blog post, Facebook admitted that its “privacy policy has been criticized as being ‘5830 words of legalese’ and ‘longer than the U.S. constitution—without the amendments’. . . [and] that privacy policies can and should be more easily understood.”6 As a partial response to the privacy criticism, in early October 2010, Facebook unveiled a feature called Groups through which “users and their friends can place each other in a myriad of social circles, and choose which bits of information to share with whom.”7 Some
privacy critics commended Facebook for developing and implementing the Groups feature because it gives users more control over their personal data; but it has not met as warm a reception from privacy critics who do not like how friends have the ability to add users to groups on their behalf. 8 Likewise, Facebook’s Places feature, which was launched in August 2010, has been criticized because it gives online friends the ability to check someone into a place without that person’s permission.9
 
Sunil Gupta, a Harvard Business School professor, says privacy could be the Achilles’ heel for Facebook.10 Although privacy is an ongoing thorny issue for Facebook, the company is nonetheless forging ahead with other opportunities. Facebook is seeking to become a dominant and pervasive presence on the Internet. The company’s ambitions are evident in many ways. “The social network is a potential rival in electronic payments
to eBay Inc.’s PayPal, while partnerships Facebook is cementing with smartphone makers set the stage for competition with Apple Inc. and Google in mobile services.”11 Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, asserts that “every industry is going to be rebuilt around social engagement . . . [n]ews, health, finance, shopping and commerce . . . will be rebuilt by companies that work with us to put social at the core.”12 Clearly, the opportunities upon which Facebook is capitalizing have important implications for existing and potential competitors in a wide range of businesses. “[M]any Silicon Valley companies increasingly have to decide whether to treat Facebook like a friend whose reach and user data can help propel their own growth or a foe that can become a destructive force.”13
 
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ultimate goal is “to turn Facebook into the planet’s standardized communication (and marketing) platform, as ubiquitous and intuitive as the telephone but far more interactive, multidimensional, and indispensable. Your Facebook ID quite simply will be your gateway to the digital world, Zuckerberg predicts.”14 “Zuckerberg makes it clear . . . that he’s still intensely focused on connecting the entire world on Facebook—only now his vision goes well beyond the site as a digital phone book. It becomes the equivalent of the phone itself: It is the main tool people use to communicate for work and pleasure. It also becomes the central place where members organize parties, store pictures, find jobs, watch videos, and play games. Eventually, they’ll use their Facebook ID as an online passkey to gain access to websites and online forums that require personal identification. In other words, Facebook will be where people live their digital lives without the creepy avatars.”15
 
Should people be elated or distressed about Facebook’s desire to permeate human existence in light of what can happen regarding the privacy of personal data?
 
How does Facebook’s privacy management of users’ personal information affect the behavior of Facebook patrons?

Answer and ExplanationSolution by a verified expert

Explanation
a.) Should people be elated or distressed about Facebook's desire to permeate human existence in light of what can happen regarding the privacy of personal data?
Honestly, this is excruciating to know that the digital world we live in may be the main reason for our self-destruction. Privacy issue is a big thing, but not many people know it. A media platform knowing too much about an individual could be an advantage to a cyberhacker or cybercriminal, and use it against him/her. Identity theft, data breach, and phishing are just some of the cybercrime acts that could be done when an individual's privacy data is leaked.
b.) Being a college student you are likely a Facebook user. What is your opinion regarding how Facebook deals with privacy issues? What have you done (or decided not to do) with regard to protecting your privacy on Facebook (or other social networking sites)?
We live in a digital world where we are supposed to be aware that nothing you post or share in Facebook is a secret. Even one's identity that is shared with Facebook is at risk of being publicly known. This is scary but it's true. However, as one of the common Facebook users I know we can still do something about our own data. We can still dictate the digital network what and what not to know--with the touch of our own fingertips and on how we think before we click. For even with just a click on a post, a click on a video, even a click on a Marketplace and non-Facebook item for sale, our data is being given to Facebook (and other digital platform) for free. Aside from regularly changing one's Facebook password, we should also always read on the 'terms and conditions' when allowing an application to access data. This way we know what kind of information we are giving to them.
Answer
a.) Should people be elated or distressed about Facebook's desire to permeate human existence in light of what can happen regarding the privacy of personal data?
Honestly, this is excruciating to know that the digital world we live in may be the main reason for our self-destruction. Privacy issue is a big thing, but not many people know it. A media platform knowing too much about an individual could be an advantage to a cyberhacker, and use it against him/her. Identity theft, data breach, and phishing are just some of the cybercrime acts that could be done when an individual's privacy data is leaked.
b.) Being a college student you are likely a Facebook user. What is your opinion regarding how Facebook deals with privacy issues? What have you done (or decided not to do) with regard to protecting your privacy on Facebook (or other social networking sites)?
As a Facebook user for years now, I have done a lot of contacts and transactions with my Facebook account. I know I am not alone when I say: "We may have even allowed other software applications to access our public data whenever we sign in using our Facebook ID." However, as one of the common Facebook users I know we can still do something about our privacy data. We can still dictate the digital network what and what not to know--with the touch of our own fingertips and on how we think before we click. For even with just a click on a post, a click on a video, even a click on a Marketplace and non-Facebook item for sale, our data is being given to Facebook (and other digital platform) for free. Aside from regularly changing one's Facebook password, we should also always read on the 'terms and conditions' when allowing an application to access data. This way we know what kind of information we are giving to them.

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