Bing! You look down at your phone and see a Facebook alert. Facebook has violated your privacy so many times you swipe to clear it. Out of sight out of mind right? Violations and intrusions of privacy via Facebook has been a problem for the millions of people using the app. Features like Beacon have upset many people because Facebook used user information without consent.

Privacy Violations

For starters, Facebook has had too many privacy violations of its many users. Through Beacon for example, companies working with Facebook could track items bought through them from Facebook users and then send a notification to their Facebook friends automatically of what had been purchased, according to the author Alyssa Newcombs article, “A Timeline of Facebook's Privacy Issues - and Its Responses.” NBCNews. However, some people felt that some information does not need to be shared if not requested. It could be private or unnecessary to share.  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg argues differently though, “...a lot of information people want to share isn’t on Facebook… Beacon would give people an easy and controlled way to share more of that information with their friends.”  Both being valid points, Facebook continued to intrude on its users through advertising.

Advertising

Another incident of user violation was when Facebook allowed third party apps to gather user information to target them with specific advertisements. Although this doesn't sound like that big of a deal, “Facebook (was) under heavy scrutiny over its use of user data, especially after evidence of Russian interference through advertising during the 2016 U.S. presidential election was discovered,” stated by an article by Michelle Castillo, “Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: 'I'm Responsible for What Happened'.” CNBC. The data gathered from Facebook users was from an app that could search out possible Donald Trump Voters. People were worried that the information being collected on them would be used illegally. To alter the votes or worse be sold to other people. However, Facebook has repeatedly said that they would never sell user data.  Zuckerberg said that when third party apps collect data to target ads it’s so that Facebook can be a free service to everyone. Although a point from senator John Thune brings a different perspective. Pulled from the Transcript of Mark Zuckerberg’s Senate hearing, “You've (Zuckerberg) promised that when Facebook discovers other apps that had access to large amounts of user data, you will ban them and tell those affected. And that's appropriate, but it's unlikely to be enough for the 2 billion Facebook users.” Thune is saying that some of his promises might have good intentions but they might not be able to be fulfilled. Whether, this is good or bad every action comes with consequences. Facebook has experienced this first hand.

Consequences

The upsets with Facebook have gone too far in some people opinions. Maybe they pushed it too far in November of 2011. The Federal Trade Commission stepped in with “...charges that (Facebook) didn't keep its privacy promise to users by allowing private information to be made public without warning,” according to NBC News. Facebook's privacy promise was not kept according to multiple claims causing the Federal Trade Commision step in and force Facebook to undergo privacy evaluations every two years. This affected Facebook reputation and trust from its users. Zuckerberg later admitted that he did not do enough to protect the users and will be conducting a three-year push to further the safety of Facebook. Of course, some people are still tentative but the hopes are that Facebook can pull it together and continue to make Facebook a family friendly environment.

Ultimately, Facebook has made many mistakes. Most regarding violating and intruding actions towards its users. Although, the only way to grow is through making mistakes the next time someone affected by these errors sees a Facebook alert they might not be so forgiving.

Works Cited

Castillo, Michelle. “Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: 'I'm Responsible for What Happened'.” CNBC, CNBC, 4 Apr. 2018.

Newcomb, Alyssa. “A Timeline of Facebook's Privacy Issues - and Its Responses.” NBCNews, NBCUniversal News Group, 24 Mar. 2018, 5:02 am MDT

Government, Transcript courtesy of Bloomberg. “Transcript of Mark Zuckerberg's Senate Hearing.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 10 Apr. 2018.