Texts of General Interest (link)
Dr. James Manos (MD)
August 8, 2019
Can social media affect our political preferences?
The Facebook data misuse case
Image (free to use): A researcher wearing the Facebook t-shirt and posing with a ''whitehat'' debit card (May 9, 2014). Source for the image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91269585@N04/13959237010/ Author: vigneshkumar. Uploaded by the user: Premcharan2011. Source: Wikipedia. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Facebook_t-shirt_with_whitehat_debit_card_for_Hackers.jpg
Note: this article is based on the revelations of Deutsche Welle.
Preamble
This article is based on the reports of German investigative journalists of Deutsche Welle (DW). The American journalists seem reluctant to investigate American companies but are keen to search for suspected corruption related to German companies, such as Siemens and VW! So, perhaps the Facebook data misuse case was retaliation from Germany, as DW revealed first! As a blogger, I knew about the Facebook data breach case one week before the media revealed it!
The Facebook data misuse case
An enormous data misuse by Facebook involving millions of users was revealed in March 2018! The number of people affected by this data leak is not yet known. Although the initial estimation of the data breach was reckoned to be 50 million users, eventually, the real number is expected to be more than eighty-seven million users! Responsible for this misuse was Cambridge Analytica (CA), a UK-based political research firm that cooperated with Facebook and belongs to the SCL Group. The way that data were misused was kept a secret. However, some reports mentioned that this involved sensitive personal information, obviously confidential.
According to investigative journalists of Deutsche Welle, in 2014, Facebook gave access to Cambridge Analytica without overseeing the data collection process or knowing how the data would be used. According to Deutsche Welle, the plot involved collecting information from targeted users. Data related to the increased interest of individual users were collected. The collection criteria of these data suggested the users' preference in various issues, including politics! Cambridge Analytica manipulated the data to progress the political agenda of their clients.
Noteworthy, the collected data included even the ''likes'' of the users. Everything together creates the user's individual politico-social profile. This was unrelated to the genuineness of the Facebook profile, as they targeted the user per se. Depending on the users' interests, DW reports alleged they received a targeted news feed! In fact, Facebook's algorithm had the final say in which three hundred items would appear in the news feed. Of course, the users were unaware of this manipulation or guessed that the news was related to cookies! It is alleged that CA manipulated this procedure.
A hypothetical scenario regarding manipulation on social media may involve a guy who owns a social media profile and repeatedly gives many ''likes'' on the news about guns. After collecting this user's data and finding out his preference for firearms, they could send him a news feed or ads referred to Hilary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, during the 2016 US presidential election. They could tell she intended to make stricter gun laws banning civilians from holding guns. Consequently, this information could persuade the user to vote for Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate who openly supported civilians' right to use guns! This would not sound pleasant to the user who likes guns and believes in American citizens' right to bear arms.
Perhaps this may explain Trump's victory over Clinton despite being too close as an overall percentage, even though Trump was elected in areas previously favoring the Democrats! Additionally, he appears to be elected by regions where most of the population is first or second-generation migrants who agreed with his far-right ideas by casting their vote for him! But his victory is related to the US's ''weird'' election system, where they use ''electors'' belonging to the ''electoral college,'' and there are ''key states,'' for the presidential candidate to win. Choosing each state's electors is a two-part process. Firstly, the political parties in each state select candidate electors sometime before the general election. Secondly, on election day, the voters in each state choose their state's Electors by casting their ballots for the president.
The target group of CA is selected according to specific criteria. The target group would involve American voters whose data were collected exclusively for secret vote targeting in the above theoretical example! According to the investigative journalists of Deutsche Welle, the US presidential candidate could revisit key states and affect the turnout! That means the newsfeed would influence their vote in the US presidential election!
On 8 October 2017, the digital media director for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign stated in an interview on CBS News that he could use Facebook advertising to directly target individual voters in swing states. However, Cambridge Analytica has denied violating Facebook's terms, insisting that no data from their contractor was part of the services provided to the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign.
To make matters worse, there was an FBI investigation about Russian meddling in the last presidential elections! But President Trump fired the FBI deputy director, whereas the inquiry is still inconclusive, or perhaps there was a cover-up. In any case, the credibility of the 2016 presidential elections can be questioned!
Facebook was not only accused of the data scandal but also of spreading fake news! Specifically, Facebook's public policy chief, Elliot Schrage, estimated that ten million users in the US would have seen the 3,000 ads that US lawmakers believe played a part in Russia's alleged meddling in the last presidential election! Additionally, a DW journalist revealed data misuse associated with the pro-Brexit (exit of the UK from the European Union) campaign that possibly influenced the referendum's ''yes'' result on 23 June 2016!
To make matters worse, there was an FBI investigation about Russian meddling in the last presidential elections! But President Trump fired the FBI deputy director, whereas the inquiry is still inconclusive, or perhaps there was a cover-up. In any case, the credibility of the 2016 presidential elections can be questioned!
Facebook was not only accused of the data scandal but also of spreading fake news! Specifically, Facebook's public policy chief, Elliot Schrage, estimated that ten million users in the US would have seen the 3,000 ads that US lawmakers believe played a part in Russia's alleged meddling in the last presidential election! Additionally, a DW journalist revealed data misuse associated with the pro-Brexit (exit of the UK from the European Union) campaign that possibly influenced the referendum's ''yes'' result on 23 June 2016!
Surprisingly, although the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, admitted the breach of confidence involving millions of profiles, initially, no sanction was implemented for Facebook, neither in the US nor the EU! He did not mind appearing to the British parliament to explain why the data misuse occurred. But he spoke to the Congress and the European Parliament on 22 May 2018 (also enjoying a trip to Brussels judging from the pics he posted) and ''apologized'' for the data misuse.
Soon after the news of data misuse, Cambridge Analytica declared bankruptcy to avoid legal ramifications! It is still unknown if Facebook administrators and the CEO were aware of this breach of confidence. It is not expected to learn this as there was no investigation from the FBI regarding this issue! After the scandal, Mr. Zuckerberg had no choice but to apologize for the data misuse and to take specific measures after the event to avoid repeating it.
A major step was that the users would delete their history so that sensitive information would not be available to others. Other measures included providing a tool for users to delete third-party apps, further restricting developer access to user data, and banning developers that misused personal data and informed affected users.
A major step was that the users would delete their history so that sensitive information would not be available to others. Other measures included providing a tool for users to delete third-party apps, further restricting developer access to user data, and banning developers that misused personal data and informed affected users.
It is crucial to keep in mind that, according to DW, one year before the revelation of the data breach by Facebook, Germany passed new data protection laws. These laws rendered Facebook's data sale to Cambridge Analytica illegal because users did not have enough information to consent! The German Federal Cartel Office accused Facebook of breaking data protection laws to support an unfair monopoly!
According to DW, at the same time as the data misuse revelation, Facebook was considering cooperating with ten hospitals to develop a research project to share the hospitals' patient data. It would share them to combine user data with exploring algorithms to meet patient needs for advanced treatment! Eventually, this ''project'' did not occur. I strongly disagree with using patients’ data without their consent, as there is strict confidentiality regarding medical files.
Another issue that needs to be mentioned is fake accounts. Many social media profiles are fake, and you can quickly uncover them by downloading their pics and doing a ''reverse image search'' on ''Google Images.'' Interestingly, you will find out that their uploaded photos were downloaded from the web! Rationally, it would not be possible for all profiles to have pictures of handsome men with six-packs and Bimbo-style women, all young.
In real life, we would expect a diversity of appearance and age-related to the general population using social media! Speaking of fake accounts, recently, Facebook uncovered a potentially Russian-backed campaign advertising politically and socially divisive messages. The company identified almost 500 "inauthentic" accounts, while in France, Facebook recently found 30,000 fake news profiles!
After the data breach, I had no option but to leave Facebook, disappointing my cyber friends and followers. Mr. Zuckerberg did not mind answering my questions and comments on his posts, preferring to reply to other users who praised him! Surprisingly, in his posts about data misuse, Mr. Zuckerberg focused on Russian groups and how they manipulated the web instead of apologizing for CA's data misuse. Apparently, Facebook's Zuckerberg's ''mea culpa'' (= an acknowledgment of having done wrong) is insufficient.
Admittedly, the measures he took after the data breach were necessary to prevent it from happening again. Ironically, a study released in 2014 by Princeton University researchers predicted that Facebook would lose over 80 percent of its users by 2017. It did, but in 2018, just after the data misuse revelation! But now, numbers have reversed to the pre-misuse era. People easily forget!
Admittedly, the measures he took after the data breach were necessary to prevent it from happening again. Ironically, a study released in 2014 by Princeton University researchers predicted that Facebook would lose over 80 percent of its users by 2017. It did, but in 2018, just after the data misuse revelation! But now, numbers have reversed to the pre-misuse era. People easily forget!
To control FB, you should delete your account!
According to DW, in Mr. Zuckerberg's opinion, you shouldn't be using Facebook in the first place - and users are partly to blame for data breaches! The article is The one way to control Facebook — delete your account!
Facebook Security Breach by Hackers! (September 2018)
Facebook's $5 billion FTC fine is an embarrassing joke!
That was the title of theverge.com as the fine of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); in fact, a ‘settlement’ was only $5 billion, ''a drop in the ocean'' for this superrich social media company. But, according to businessinsider.com, Facebook's stock jumped despite the record-breaking $5 billion FTC penalty! It should be mentioned that there was not any penalty from international organisms, including the European Union.
Facebook's upcoming Libra Cryptocurrency!
Conclusion
That was the title of theverge.com as the fine of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); in fact, a ‘settlement’ was only $5 billion, ''a drop in the ocean'' for this superrich social media company. But, according to businessinsider.com, Facebook's stock jumped despite the record-breaking $5 billion FTC penalty! It should be mentioned that there was not any penalty from international organisms, including the European Union.
Facebook's upcoming Libra Cryptocurrency!
In 2020, Facebook announced its plans to launch its cryptocurrency, 'Libra.' Cryptocurrency is a digital currency produced by a public network, rather than any government using cryptography to ensure payments are sent and received safely (**). An example is Bitcoin. Facebook with Libra aims to create a global currency everyone can access! That means Facebook intends to manipulate (further) the planet by knowing everyone's personal data and playing a role in the global economy! As these ''currencies'' do not correspond to a specific amount of silver or gold amassed in banks (similar to the US dollar since the 1970s), it is evident that crypto coins are fictitious. In a way, they can be manipulated!
This breach of confidence should not occur from the very first. It was the company's responsibility to prevent it. It is not the first case of mass manipulation and brainwashing by social media. It was alleged that many Western social media and local law teams played a role in the ''spontaneous'' Arab Spring revolts that caused chaos in the Arab nations! In any case, the key to preventing manipulation by social media is to impose specific rules, such as those proposed by the European Union (EU). Rules should be official and not based on the ''community rules,'' or ''self-control,'' or guided by an ''auto-pilot''! These include the EU's ''General Data Protection Regulation ''(GDPR).
Thanks for reading!
Reference (links)
(Retrieved: July 15, 2018):
(Retrieved: July 15, 2018):
* https://www.dw.com/en/facebook-reveals-alleged-russia-funded-political-ad-campaign-in-us/a-40390102
* https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/17/17133284/donald-trump-andrew-mccabe-jeff-sessions-fired-former-fbi-director
(Retrieved: September 29, 2018):
(Retrieved: September 29, 2018):
* https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/technology/facebook-hack-investigation.html
* https://betanews.com/2018/10/13/facebook-hack-user-data/
* https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/facebook-security-breach-details.html
* https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-cyber/hackers-stole-details-of-29-million-users-in-facebook-breach-idUSKCN1MM297
* https://betanews.com/2018/10/13/facebook-hack-user-data/
* https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/facebook-security-breach-details.html
* https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-cyber/hackers-stole-details-of-29-million-users-in-facebook-breach-idUSKCN1MM297
(Retrieved: July 15, 2019):
(Retrieved: August 9, 2019):
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