► The weekly debate of CraxMe Forum... The topic of this week: "facebook, the scandal that has shaken the foundations of social networks."

Pedro_P

Hi everyone

Today we want to raise a topic that has been very hot during the last few days, it is about facebook and the sale of data to the company Cambridge Analytica, to study the information of facebook users in the USA and influence politically about the users so that they change and incline their vote for a certain political party.

Certainly we know that companies  such as facebook, twitter, Whatsapp, instagram and similar, use and capitalize the information of their users, that is, generate their profits using the information of users as raw material to offer advertising. Facebook has gone one step further, by selling the data of users to third parties for political purposes... This unfortunate situation raises a number of questions such as: How beneficial or harmful are social networks when you serve purposes that go beyond the mere communication and interrelation of users?, Is it right or wrong that companies that capitalize user data do not warn users that their information is sold to third parties for purposes other than those of the social network itself?, social networks like facebook, have reached a breaking point in which they need more control or regulation of their activities?

As you can see, it is a very complicated issue that involves many factors and interests, and unfortunately the interests of users do not seem to be the priority for companies that benefit economically from the information that users provide. What is your opinion on this subject?
What reflection can we make about this situation?
Please, participate and comment, share your thoughts, ideas and opinions about this issue here.

PK47

Well facebook has lost the trust of many users. The collected information can be really dangerous cause i think i ones heard that you can tell information of a user based on pattern of his likes and This is not just likes we are taking about we are talking about storing all actions done by users. Facebook probably knows more about users than the users themselves. You can literally manipulate users with such information in to doing and believing whatever you want. All these with accusations of fake news, one can wonder if this was all part of a plan.

Pedro_P

PK47 6-4-2018 08:20 AM
Well facebook has lost the trust of many users. The collected information can be really dangerous ca ...

We live in the information society, where information is a capitalizable good as any currency or raw material can be, that is, it is possible to generate profits with the information, information is power, and more power has, those that concentrate the information.
Peter Drucker in his book «The knowledge Society», warned about the power of information, how its organized and systematic recollection could give organizations power to generate greater productivity along with the accumulation of knowledge... Facebook is the clearest example of the power that organizations accumulate with the information, in this case, of the users, and that in turn, allows that company to capitalize, generate economic benefits at the expense of user information.
The questions are: do users have enough information about how their data is used by Facebook and other social networks? Did the companies that were in the field of social networks can assure users that these data will not be marketed or filtered to third parties?
And most importantly, Do users really care how their data is used?

PK47

Pedro_P 6-4-2018 07:22 PM
We live in the information society, where information is a capitalizable good as any currency or r ...

Not just facebook even google. Google literally stores all searches you made while being logged in to your account. Google literally is capable of storing much more variety of information than facebook. Many users who know it's implications really care about how their data is used which is why there is so much of outrage. But many users don't know how their data is used or would even be suprised if i said their data is stored. In my friend circles it seems that i am the only one who knows about facebook data breach even if i tell them they don't really know about its implications. Most of them would browse only social-media, Youtube etc. Which is a big problem. If they don't explore how are they going to know and understand these things? Majority of people are just interested in social media, youtube, etc. When we come to companies it depends on their core beliefs and if they want to make more money no one can stop another data breach.

Dev

I think social networks have big impact on users. Who uses social network and I think most of the people use social networks for various types of interest. But the main purpose of social networks are to build a communication network among relatives and equal interested users. Yes they are doing business. But most of users doesn't know the ways it uses user's informations to do business. As now we can understand what they can do with users personal informations. But still who cares. Yes few users care and they will leave or at least try to leave. But most of the users don't care much and also they have to visit everyday. Without social network nothing is there. So they will ignore it and stay.
There should be more protest. There must be strict security. I think there should be a clean privacy policy which should have strict verification system.

rahuldev

It's filled with fake ids.

somi

Consumers have long wondered just what Google and Facebook know about them, and who else can access their personal data. But internet giants have little incentive to give straight answers — even to simple questions like, “Why am I being shown this ad?” On May 25, however, the power balance will shift towards consumers, thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, a European privacy law that restricts how personal data is collected and handled. GDPR focuses on ensuring that users know, understand, and consent to the data collected about them.

PK47

Dev 6-4-2018 09:43 PM
I think social networks have big impact on users. Who uses social network and I think most of the pe ...

It would be even worse if facebook is used to spy on users .

rahuldev 6-4-2018 09:59 PM
It's filled with fake ids.

Yes they are. Even terrorist organisations used facebook to recruit members and send messages to the world. This rises question. Is facebook became a place of propaganda?

somi 6-4-2018 11:01 PM
Consumers have long wondered just what Google and Facebook know about them, and who else can access ...

Yes, it might happen but right now just facebook is caught and google might be observing it from far to see the outcome. it might already be taking measures for this kind of senario in future and it all depends on government. If government itself is corrupt then no one can do anything.

Uzzwal

As far as I can see, it shouldn't much be a matter of concern as long as they use it for political purpose. Let politicians knw the opinion of ppl and fix the agenda,after all that's wht general ppl want; they want to be heard.In every elections only politicians win ppl always lose be it ruling or opposition.
From business point of view also it should be taken positively, they would knw wht ppl are interested to buy rather than wht thy want to sell.
And lastly I might sound like a zombie but frankly thts wht fbuk is full of. . .

mereeja

Even if the privacy policy are made very strict...

how many read the USER AGREEMENT .. before clicking the I AGREE...

they can always add some clause in the small prints so that they will be legally on the right side.

similar to Caveat Emptor - LET THE USER BE AWARE -  :-)