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How much do you really know about what information/data in your personal life is being shared by third parties around the world from your computer or more importantly, your mobile device? With your own permission. When you click on the Terms of Service agreement, you might be giving away a little bit more than you think... you are giving permission for the app to track not only you, but your friends as well.
Post GDPR, many social media platforms will ask end users to consent to some form of tracking as a condition of using the service. It’s easy to make assumptions as to what that means, especially when the actual terms of service or data policy for the service in question is tough to find, full of legal jargon, or just long and boring. Part of the shock of Facebook stories was in discovering just how expansive their consent to tracking really was. Let’s take a look at what can happen after you hit OK on a new site’s Terms of Service.
Despite the fact that Facebook- as well as many other social media platforms- tell you you can control who sees your data, this is not necessarily so.
What we think they’re doing
Most commonly, users think that social media sites limit their tracking to actual interactions with the site while logged in. This includes likes, follows, favorites, and general use of the site as intended. Those interactions are then analyzed to determine a user’s rough interests, and serve them corresponding ads.
We asked some non-technical Malwarebytes staffers what they thought popular companies collected on them and got the following responses:
“Hmm I would assume just my name, birthday, trends in the hashtags I use, and locations I’m at. Nothing else.”
“As far as IG goes, I’m guessing they collect data on the hashtags I follow and what I look at because all the ads are home improvement ads.”
While these are common use cases for tracking, innovations in user surveillance have allowed companies to take much more invasive actions.
One thing that many users overlook is that these apps, as well as most of Silicon Valley itself, had their startups funded by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). In fact DARPA and Facebook were launched on the very same day... what a coincidence! The truth of the matter is that these tech giants could accomplish what the government couldn't- massive surveillance on a global scale... all done voluntarily with the user's permission. In 2002 Columnist William Safire wrote:
"You Are a Suspect,” was published in the Times in 2002—two years before Facebook was created. And Safire isn’t talking about social networks or digital advertising—he’s discussing Total Information Awareness, a US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) program that proposed mining vast amounts of Americans’ data to identify potential national security threats. The virtual grand database was to belong to the Department of Defense, which would use it to identify behavior patterns that would help to predict emerging terrorist threats.
Wired Magazine continues:
Today, we’re voluntarily participating in the dystopian scenario Safire envisioned 16 years ago, with each bit of data handed to companies like Facebook and Google. But in this system, private companies are our information repositories—leaving us to reckon with the consequences of a world that endows corporations with the kind of data once deemed too outrageous for the government.
What the government was unable to do, the private sector was (with a little start-up capital from Uncle Sam). One of the CIA's new cutouts, in fact, is In-Q-Tel a funding mechanism for cutting edge technologies.
In the private sector, startups and large companies alike began to tout how well they could gather, store, and mine data; it was a popular business model. The fact that it was happening was hardly a secret—personalized ads within Gmail, universal logins, and retargeted ads following us from site-to-site were readily apparent to even minimally savvy users. The biggest tech companies in the world succeeded because they built products users loved—their users voluntarily opted in to giving up their information and behavioral data. Widespread tracking and data aggregation became the norm, as universal logins, tracking pixels, forays into linked products (Gmail, for example), and acquisitions of startups enabled the tech platforms to build comprehensive profiles of users with ease.
We loved their products and the ease with which we could use them that we willingly participated in the surveillance state that monitors our every keystroke. This shows what they're actually doing...
What they’re actually doing
The Cambridge Analytica reports were quite shocking, but in theory their data practices were actually a violation of the agreement they had with Facebook. Somewhat more concerning are actions that Facebook and other social media companies take overtly with third parties, or as part of their explicit terms of service.
In June 2018, a New York Times report revealed partnerships between Facebook and mobile device manufacturers allowed data collection on your Facebook friends, irrespective of whether those friends had allowed data sharing with third parties. This data collection varied by device manufacturer, and most were relatively benign. Blackberry, however, seemed to go beyond what most of us expect to be collected when we log in: (You might remember Cambridge Analytica from their involvement in the 2016 election)
Welcome to 1984 on steroids! Many people are already aware of Facebook's practices, but what about other social media platforms... Instagram's TOS contains this:
And Pinterest...
What you can do about it
If any of the above examples make you uncomfortable, check out how to secure some common social media platforms using internal settings. If you want to implement additional technical solutions, browser extensions like Ghostery and the EFF’s Privacy Badger can prevent trackers from sucking up data you would prefer not to hand over.
Messenger services are a bit harder to transition away from, but not impossible. Signal is a well-regarded messenger app with end-to-end encryption, and a history of respecting user privacy. Alternatively, Wire can provide a more business-oriented alternative, with screen sharing, file sharing, and access role management.
Most important is to stay suspicious when accessing a new platform. No one can mishandle data that you never agree to hand over to begin with. Stay vigilant, stay safe, and enjoy your social media platforms knowing exactly how your data is being used.
Personally, I don't use Facebook, however, from what I understand they collect data from non-users as well. Facebook kicked me off so I'm sure they're still monitoring me... I'm a troublemaker! My Twitter account mostly contains fictitious "facts." I've never signed up for Instagram so... Anyway, I hope this has been useful- stay safe!
https://www.wired.com/story/darpa-total-informatio-awareness/