I love languages so I was very excited when I learned about a great new app that allows me to practice my Spanish and French on the go. As usual, when I went to download the app, I was asked to give the developer access to an inordinate amount of personal information on my phone. Now is the moment of truth…will I give in to big data or forego the enjoyment of this app just so that I can retain a small amount of any privacy I have left? Unfortunately, after seeing that it had over 10 million downloads and an almost perfect 5 star rating, the temptation was simply too strong! I had to have that app!! So, with eyes wide open, I knowingly handed over my private information to big data on a silver platter.
This is the process many of us go through when we sign up to use social media. We want to get access to the product they are offering so we couldn't care less about the provisions they have in their Terms and Agreements. Now I know many of you are upset about Facebook’s psychological experiment “to learn about the way positive and negative effect travels through social networks”. However, as Gene Marks points out, their actions were completely legal… Facebook “can pretty much use your information however they'd like, even [to] conduct scientific studies with it.” We give them this right whenever we hastily click “I agree” at the bottom of their Terms and Agreements (without ever sparing a glance for the provision(s) about privacy).
But we don’t just give this right to Facebook, Google+, Instagram, etc., we also give it to every developer of the apps we download on our tablet and/or smartphone. Now Mr. Marks think this is a good thing because the “more companies know about [you], the better and more tailored services they can deliver to [you].” He just has a problem with companies like Facebook crossing the line by changing, “the way their service was provided to a random group of their customers for the purposes of a scientific experiment.”
I personally disagree with Mr. Marks. If Facebook contractually owns our data, then it is their right to do whatever the heck they want to do with it. It's up to them to decide if the actions they undertake are worth possible public relations backlash. Also, Facebook claimed they conducted the experiment because they “were concerned that exposure to friends' negativity might lead people to avoid visiting” the social media site. So, it seems the company was trying to enhance the user’s experience - isn't this exactly what Mr. Marks desires?
Like Mr. Marks and me, I’m quite sure you also have very strong views regarding this matter. However, what are the lessons we can learn from this going forward?
1. The social media providers are like dictators; they can do whatever they want without any legal recourse because their Terms and Agreements are laughingly one-sided – of course in their favor.
2. Social media providers also own all the data we choose to put on their site so be very careful about what you choose to share.
3. Now, I’m not going to tell you to spend your time reading the Terms and Agreement contract for every social media site on the internet, but at you should at least review the disclosures they provide before you download an app.
- Unlike the contracts, they are extremely simple to read and you can easily get an understanding of what you are being asked to give up in order to get access to the app.
- Always ask yourself if the app you are seeking to download is really worth the amount of rights you're being asked to give up. In the language software above the answer was a clear “yes!” However, if you take a look at the scant number of apps on my phone, you’d realize that more often than not I chose the opposite response.
4. While these companies legally are legally immune in their social media fiefdoms, they are always wary of a public relations backlash… especially one that goes viral. So be vigilant! Take part in any user based PR campaign against any ethically questionable use of our data by these companies. This is the only effective tool we have to protect ourselves.
