The Extinction of Privacy in the Era of Social Media - Essay Example

Extinction of Privacy - Facebook Introduction It would not be wrong to consider computer as the mostlife-changing invention of the modern era. It has revolutionized the mode of operations in all fields of life. Further, the emergence of the World Wide Web has shrunk the whole world onto a single platform and has transformed the world into a global village. Internet has made communication more fast-paced and reliable whereas it has disseminated an ocean of information among its users. Just when the world thought that communication had been made as effective and efficient as possible with the emergence of email and chatting services, a new concept was invented in the world of computing- social networking sites. Social networking sites provided a newer platform to communicate with peers and share information with the masses. The appeal of this concept has been so great that its usage is no less than addiction. There exist numerous names in the category of social networking sites that have made people addicted to extensive degrees, such as Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn etc. McDowell and Morda stated that the most commonly used social networking site is Facebook since it has over 500 million users around the world, whereas My Space has 100 million users. It can be seen from the above figures that Facebook leads the race with a significant margin and can be considered as the most preferred social networking site in the world. However, the widespread integration and appeal of Facebook seems absurd since it completely sabotages the privacy of the user and threatens his security to a extensive level. There are multiple modes through which the privacy of the user is extinguished and information is revealed to such individuals who might exploit the acquisition of that information. 2. Extinction of Privacy through Facebook There once existed times when individuals used to think twice before posting their images and videos on the internet since it seemed like intrusion of their privacy, however the advent and common usage of Facebook has initiated a trend of frequent posting of pictures, videos and personal information. Users are overwhelmed with the current trend without realizing that their privacy is being compromised at multiple levels, sometimes even without their knowledge. Mostly people like to keep their personal lives separate from their professional lives, i.e. do not maintain very close relations with their colleagues as they do with their friends. It might be argued that co-workers are also friends since small talks and gatherings (around the water coolers or parties) may initiate conversations that might promote the revelation of information. However, there usually lie certain limits within which information is shared and not revealed to co-workers or employers. York stated that the advent of Facebook has eradicated such boundaries and may cause revelation of unwanted information to co-workers that might prove to threaten their position in a company. For instance, a female employee might try to hide her pregnancy from her employers for some reason but any conversation with her friend (related to her condition) might reveal her news to all of her contacts on Facebook thereby causing undesired course of action from her employers. York stated that the wall that once existed between these two environments (professional and personal) is being demolished. Like any other organization, Facebook has policies and terms for its usage. The users that sign up at the respective platform rarely read the terms and conditions since the contents are very long. The users are under the impression that the content and images that are posted on the platform are under their control, however, it is clearly stated in their terms that they have the right to disseminate that information at any source that they want. The following is an extract from their website under the section of ‘Terms’: “…you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License)” (“Statement of Rights and Responsibilities”). This clause clearly works towards extinguishing the privacy of the Facebook user since the content might be revealed for any purpose thereby jeopardizing the privacy of the user to any alarming level. It is due to the long nature of the document that users often ignore such alarming details related to the rights over the content being posted on Facebook. Applications are a major part of Facebook since it facilitates the execution of many exciting functions on the respective platform, such as playing games, reading newspapers, watching videos etc. Applications need to be installed on one’s computer in order to utilize the functions. Upon installation of the applications, the user is notified that his posted content and personal information may be used for any required purpose and informed that they can post any content from the user’s side at any online source. A layman never understands the implications of such permissions since they are not aware of the technological viewpoints of such permissions therefore agree to all clauses and install applications. The article “5 Hidden Dangers of Facebook” quoted the clause that had been extracted from Facebook policy in 2010, “When you connect with an application or website it will have access to General Information about you”. This article further explained the term ‘general information’ and stated that it includes personal information, friends, profile pictures, IDs etc. Jones and Soltren conducted a survey with Facebook users in 2009 and concluded that almost half of the Facebook users could not believe that their information was being shared with other companies. The following image is an example of the disclaimer message that is displayed on the screen upon the installation of an application; this short message does not signify the places where the information of the user may be used by the concerned authority and seeks to take permission for a very broad criteria which proves to be unclear for the common users. Figure 1: Image of an application seeking permission to access the information of the user before the installation of the application (Dinerman) There exists another trend in the modern times that also violates the rights of privacy of the users of social networking sites, like Facebook. Kennedy and Macko stated that companies look up the profiles of the candidates during their recruitment processes to seek more information about them. Kennedy and Macko also stated some figures related to a survey that took place in 2006; the results revealed that almost 27% of the companies seek information on social networking sites to find personal information and details that might not be revealed by the candidate himself. This action is a severe act of intrusion of privacy which is facilitated by Facebook to an extensive level since it has the largest set of users. Some may argue that the users post information with full consent and knowledge and should refrain from such actions if they do not want their details to be revealed to the public. These researchers may be ignoring the fact that at some instances the information may be posted by the contacts of the user, rather than the user himself thereby giving least control to the user. The inclusion of investigation of the candidate on Facebook can reveal private matters to the employer, for example, the inclination of the individual towards religion or a political party that might not be compatible with the views of the employer etc. Such knowledge may cause the employer to become biased and change his decision of hiring the individual. A similar incident took place in 2009 when a school teacher was forced to resign due to inappropriate content on her Facebook profile. Spinelli explained that Ashley Payne was a school teacher at Barrow County School in the US. She returned from Europe and posted her vacation pictures on her profile. The pictures (that had the teacher holding beer and wine) were shared among her friends in her Facebook profile but soon they spread around the whole platform like fire. The parents put pressure on the management of the school to fire the concerned teacher since she was setting a bad example for her students. Ashley Payne was forced to resign from the school, however, in retaliation; she sued the school for damages since she clearly declared that she was not Facebook friends with any of the school students or their parents. In the instance of not being friends with any of the school students, it was surprising to find the widespread of the pictures on Facebook. This incident supports the statement that the concept of privacy has withered away from Facebook. Spam emails prevail around the whole internet, even on Facebook in the form of advertisements, emails etc. Facebook has given the malicious intent users another platform to make their evil intentions successful and more widespread. Spam emails are sent across the whole social networking platform in the form of advertisements, links and messages that aim to attain the login credentials, personal information, banking information of the user. The formulation of the message is such that it makes the user believe that the message has been sent from an authentic source, such as the bank of the user or online shopping organization. The Facebook users often get fooled by the fake messages and end up clicking on the links. Upon clicking, automation installation of malware takes place thus revealing all the secret and sensitive information of the Facebook user. Some may argue that the concept of spreading malware has been witnessed for several years and have always aimed to cause harm to the internet users. However, Baltazar, Costoya, and Flores raised an interesting fact that the emergence of Facebook has made the privacy intrusion attacks even more frequent and widespread due to the frequent usage of the respective platform around the world. An incident in the recent past proves to highlight the increasing concern over the privacy issues associated with Facebook. Neal reported that 10 privacy groups contacted the chairman of Federal Trade Commission to take needful action and carry out investigation regarding the prevailing security and privacy measures being taken by Facebook. Federal Trade Commission is an independent organization of the federal government in USA that ensures the existence of effective measures of protection and privacy and educates the public regarding the relevance of preservation of one’s identity. The complaint also stated that Facebook was seeking vague permissions from its users and manipulating those permissions to provide data to third parties. Alongside the manipulation of the permissions, Facebook was also accused of using secret identifier cookies that are programmed to track the internet activity of the Facebook user even when they have logged off from the social networking site. The compliant letter also included, “Options for users to preserve the privacy standards they have established have become confusing, impractical, and unfair”. The letter was signed by important organizations, such as Electronic Privacy Information Center, American Civil Liberties Union and many others. Spinelli stated that there exist minimal security measures on Facebook to keep the data and profile of the users secure from hackers and intruders. Spinelli also highlighted the instance when some MIT students were able to develop a Facebook application that was capable of downloading 70,000 profiles without having many obstacles in the process. An even more alarming fact other than the easiness of the acquisition of such an extravagant data is that merely students were able to attain the information. This factor raises the possibility that IT professionals with real experience might be able to cause greater damage on the respective social networking platform. Spinelli also discussed the fact that Facebook employees are known to take advantage of their power of possessing access to the profiles of the millions of users and their activities on the internet. 3. Conclusion The largest social networking site in the world, Facebook, has changed the modes of communication and sharing of information for ages to come. For attaining the benefits of fast paced and reliable communication, the internet users have paid a high cost of sacrificing their privacy at an incremental level. Facebook has started a trend of posting excessive personal photos and information that proves to jeopardize the privacy of the users. Mostly, people prefer to keep boundaries between their personal and professional lives; it is due to Facebook that individuals acquire sensitive information regarding their colleagues which may prove to effect the position of the employees in an organization. The wall between personal and professional lives is disappearing with the passage of time. The terms and conditions of the usage of Facebook are very extensive and not easily comprehendible by the general public. It is due to this reason that Facebook users do not generally know that their data and personal information may even be shared with third parties. Applications tend to facilitate this sharing even more since they display an unclear disclaimer message at the installation of the application; the message seeks permission for a broad perspective that never makes a layman realize the real implications of his consent to install the application. The users unconsciously install the application and remain unaware of the probable extinction of their privacy through Facebook. Employers tend to stalk the employees and snoop in their personal details to attain information that might not be acquired in a formal interview; this is an act of severe intrusion of privacy. Spam messages and links also prove to attempt to infect the system with Trojans horses and viruses so that the account information and data can be attained and can cause harm to the individual by using his sensitive information. Federal Trade Commission should devise effective plans to ensure that Facebook provides effective privacy and security measures to its users. References Baltazar, Jonell. Costoya, Joey. Flores, Ryan. “The Real Face of KOOBFACE: The Largest Web 2.0 Botnet Explained”, Trend Micro- White paper, 2009. Dinerman, Brad., “Social networking and security risks”, GFI Software, 2011. “5 Hidden Dangers of Facebook”, Times of India, 18 October 2010. Jones, Harvey., Soltren, Jose., “Facebook: Threats to Privacy”, 2005. Kennedy, Nicole., and Macko, Matt. “Social Networking Privacy and Its Effects on Employment Opportunities”, 2007. McDowell, Mindi. Morda, Damon. “Socializing Securely: Using Social Networking Services”, US Cert - Carnellie Mellon University, 2011. Neal, Dave. “Privacy groups take Facebook complaints to FTC”, The Inquirer, 30 September 2011. Spinelli, Christopher., “Social Media: No Friend of Personal Privacy”, The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2010. “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities”, Facebook, April 26, 2011, Web. Apr 14, 2012. York, D. “The blurring of our lives: Does learning info about co-workers via Facebook improve connections? Or feel creepy?” Disruptive Conversations, 28 January, 2009. Read More