The Facebook Scandal
Table of Contents:
1. What was the Scandal?
2. Why it was a Data Breach
3. The Results
4. What Needs to be Changed
5. Work Citied
What Was the Facebook Scandal
The Facebook Scandal or The Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data breach, shows how
large corporations deal with user data. It proved that data reigns king in our technology filled
world. The breach occurred when Cambridge Analytica, was able to acquire millions of user’s
data for the sole purpose of selling it to political campaigns. Once the data was acquired
“Cambridge received warnings from their lawyers, as they started using European and Canadian
citizens for the campaigns, breaking American election laws.” (Confessore). It didn’t stop there,
as it’s rumored that Cambridge was in talks with the Russians regarding the user data, it’s not
known whether they sold the data or not. Investigations began, as people wanted answers. As
investigations were underway, Donald Trump’s advisor, John Bolton was found with the data
from Cambridge. It’s also stated that an employee at Palantir Technology, was looking for ways
to capture psych profiles of Facebook users. It became painfully obvious that there was meddling
in the 2016 election.
The data didn’t stop at the American election. According to New York Times author
Nicholas Confessore, the “Brexit” campaign also used the data to help change the results in
favor of Britain withdrawing from the European Union. Political campaigns were being
influenced and bribed with user data, and Facebook was the origin of it all.
Why It Was a Breach of Data Privacy
The definition of a data breach is the use of one’s data without authorized permission. In
the Facebook Scandal, it clearly checks off this definition. Giving away user data without the
user’s knowledge to Cambridge, is a clearly a data breach. In this case it isn’t a hacker doing the
breaching, but a corporation. What Facebook and Cambridge Analytics did was a huge violation
through a cybersecurity lens. Breaking the Confidentiality in the CIA triad of Confidentiality,
Integrity, and Availability. There was no effort being made to keep the user data confidential, as
Facebook gave it away to Cambridge Analytics, not taking into consideration the millions that
were affected. Cambridge also didn’t keep the information confidential, as it provided voter
profiles to right-wing politicians and were in talks with Russia. Although Integrity was
technically not broken as the user data wasn’t tampered with beforehand, it was used without
integrity. Using the data to skew election results is morally wrong. Nothing was clearly broken in
terms Availability, but Facebook needs to learn when it should provide that Availability to
outside companies.
The Results
Once it became clear that Facebook willingly gave away millions of user data
Cambridge, it faced immense backlash. Users started deleting their accounts and spreading the
word on the breach. Mark Zuckerberg finally faced the press and Congress, after five days of
sitting in his house. Lawmakers hammered him with questions regarding how much privacy do
users have along with who else had access to user data. Mr. Zuckerberg then pledged that
“Facebook would investigate “all apps that had access to large amounts of information” through
the platform before 2014, audit any app with suspicious activity” (Wong). Although this a step
towards the right direction and Facebook has now implemented stricter regulations. This whole
incident shouldn’t have happened in the first place. If Facebook respected the confidentiality of
user data, then they wouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place. User data is like Jadeite in
our current society, whoever has access to user data has access to a person’s entire digital
footprint. As we push towards a more technologically advanced society, user data becomes
someone’s entire identity.
What Needs to Be Changed
Corporations need to have stricter regulations and shouldn’t be able to freely give away
user data without consent of the user. It needs to be shown front and center that, by agreeing to
using the platform, the company can use the individual’s data. It should not be hidden in a wall
of text, that’s cleverly put in between multiple paragraphs. Like how cookies today are forced to
display a message box, companies need to do the same when it comes to using their platform,
regarding user data. If a company does break these regulations, the punishment needs to be more
severe. A lawsuit of a couple million dollars doesn’t hurt big corporations like Facebook. Those
in charge of the data need to learn the CIA triad, as most corporations today are showing a
complete lack of understanding it. Cybersecurity officials need to focus not only on protecting
the data from hackers but also from corporate greed.
Work Cited
Confessore, N. (2018, April 4). Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: The scandal and the
fallout so far. The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html
Wong, J. C. (2019, March 18). The Cambridge Analytica scandal changed the world – but it
didn't change Facebook. The Guardian. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/17/the-cambridge-analytica-scandalchanged-the-world-but-it-didnt-change-facebook