Facebook’s data-related problems are not a new case. Over time, the platform has been in the news for several times. Every time data mining or the issue of trading, the user data remains constant.
To give you an idea, Facebook has 3.05 billion monthly active users. Along with that, more than 5 billion messages are sent or posted through Facebook within a month. With such a large scale of user engagement, it is like tons of silos filled with user data.
Leveraging this huge audience, the makers have regularly been alleged to be in use for data mining and other unethical practices. Was that a one-time thing, or if not, where does it end? Let’s discuss.
Facebook is alleged in various numerous cases and lawsuits. The primary concerns among Facebook lawsuit are unethical practices and data-related vulnerabilities. Other issues like cyber threats and weak guidelines against cyber-bullying have also been raised.
In 2022, the FB paid $90 million to settle the lawsuit over user tracking. Here’s the headline.
Considering their situation as a wake-up call, the social media or digital platforms need to know that user data is something that need not be compromised at any cost. Not only the user data, but any unethical policy must be avoided.
Recently, this year, the US Senate summoned CEOs of which included Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, X, TikTok, Discord, etc. The subject was child exploitation, where various social media CEOs were questioned for their lousy policies.
Apart from having one of the most advanced algorithms in the competition, Facebook also has a great infrastructure for data collection. It uses the following methods to collect the same:
These are the major data collection methods that the platform uses. Diving deeper, you can find various terminologies and fascinating features like pixel tags that just blow your mind.
Almost every media platform follows the principle of personalization and content delivery. But nobody does it better than Facebook. The engineers at Meta understand the importance of evolving with time, hence, they keep on integrating or making innovations in their algorithm.
Their algorithm is a master at understanding human behaviors. Here is how it works:
Machine learning works on collecting the information of the user. It consists of the type of content users interact with, their friends, family, groups, etc. Considering the evolving topics that are trending, its predictive analytic tools take care of refreshing the content at regular intervals to find out if you like it or not.
Further, ML also keeps working on training itself to polish its operations. With time, it keeps track of your behavior and preferences, and displays media accordingly.
The graph theory of social graph helps Facebook figure out what people are close to you or what people are not so close. Graph theory consists of “nodes” and “edges”, through which it figures out the stuff you might like because your friends also like it.
For instance, if your friends are collaborating or integrating more with cooking videos, they might pop up in your feed too. You can think of Facebook as a party host who makes a guess on what would you prefer, based on the people you are hanging out with.
The following is a visual representation of what graph theory looks like:
Using online platforms is like giving them a treasure map of your personal life. These platforms keep on tracking each and every activity of you. These actions include your likes-dislikes, your locations, your browsing history, things you share, and many more.
And since Facebook has such a huge user base, it leverages its user database by commercialization. As mentioned previously, FB has already been alleged with numerous unethical practices like data mining. However, it is worth considering that FB is not the only evil here. Almost every social media platform has access to your massive data collection.
It’s just a matter of ethics whether the brands prioritize your privacy or not.
Imagine someone stalking you throughout the day and night, listening to your calls, following you, inspecting your friends and family. Sounds scary right? Well, this is exactly what social media platforms do to you. With all the permission to calls, texts, locations, contacts, etc. you give to them, they can anytime access this information.
And in worst cases, they can be leaked, or traded with advertising companies in exchange for some funds.
Internet Writer
Subscribe to our newsletter and get top Tech, Gaming & Streaming latest news, updates and amazing offers delivered directly in your inbox.
