Privacy in Cyberspace: Thinking Critically

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It is important to note that the Cambridge Analytica (CA) scandal was among the most prominent cases of abuse of data collecting and analyzing power social media companies can have. If Facebook users choose to share information about themselves on the social media platform, it means that they are giving up the right to privacy. The main reason is that privacy in cyberspace is not explicitly protected by the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Loftsgordon, 2021). There is an essential term called ‘the reasonable expectation of privacy.’ It states: “a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy means that someone who unreasonably and seriously compromises another’s interest in keeping her affairs from being known can be held liable for that exposure or intrusion” (Find Law, 2017, para. 1). Whenever a user shares his or her personal information on Facebook by agreeing to terms of use, such an individual can no longer have a reasonable expectation of privacy or making the latter satisfactory is excessively high. In other words, it will require a major scandal similar to CA in order for the data-sharing process to exceed the reasonable expectations of privacy.

Under the current legislative system, preserving the right to privacy while sharing personal information on social media publicly is challenging. The act of sharing renders the reasonable expectation of privacy practically unenforceable unless something takes place at the scale of CA. However, the existing state of affairs does not mean that no changes should be made. Facebook users should have a say in which companies have access to their information. The core justification is that humanity progressed massively from the old legislative frameworks, and social media became a core aspect of most people’s lives. Facebook should be able to collect data and use it for commercial purposes, but it should adhere to the principle that each user’s data is solely owned by the respective person or entity (Tovino, 2020). New reforms and legislation elements need to be introduced to ensure that all users’ right to privacy is protected through ownership of their data. This would imply that Facebook would have to disclose and notify its users about the companies which are buying the data.

CA scandal not only revealed CA’s violations of privacy but additionally Mark Zuckerberg’s incompetence at handling user data protection and security. I would have handled it by immediately admitting the failure to ensure that user data was being used appropriately. I would condemn CA’s use of data for political purposes, and I would face any legal fines and committee verdicts. However, I would promise that such a mistake would not happen in the future by offering a new business model restructuring around the user data ownership concept. It would mean that all user data belong to each individual user, and every person will be informed about where their data is being shared, sold, or utilized for commercial purposes. A group of businesses would be certified to use user data, and their names would be publicly available to all users since transparency is vital for ethical business conduct (Ghillyer, 2021). In addition, there would be businesses that would not have such certification but still would want to use the data. In the latter case, each user would be informed about the possibility of agreeing to provide their data.

I do not think the imposition of fines will force Facebook to modify its operations because the fines are not high enough to justify losing the profitability of the existing business model. Facebook is highly profitable in its current state, and any fine will be simply recorded as operational losses. Thus, it is critical to enforce business models and structural changes accompanied by legislation protecting user data privacy. The arguments in favor of Facebook being regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) involve high fines, consumer deception, and misrepresentation of security (Fair, 2019). In other words, the FTC’s core advantage is that it can impose massive several billion dollar fines. It additionally can protect Facebook users as consumers, who must not be misled, deceived, or presented with false information.

Earning back the trust of Facebook will require systematic changes in the business model and restructuring of the organization. For example, Facebook should become a subscription-based platform, which means it will no longer be a ‘free’ service but more similar to Netflix. However, it will most likely not work as Facebook shareholders and users would want since it will not be profitable enough due to the loss of the user base. Therefore, Facebook should disclose all the major companies buying and using the platform’s data with all the important details. Transparency would be the right step in the direction toward a better brand and company image instead of rebranding or renaming the same company. One of the most critical aspects of data use is revealing the intentions or purposes of user data utilization. All companies using Facebook’s data should make it clear how they use it to avoid any scandals, such as CA.