ECO 202 Social Media Privacy issues:
Numerous social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, have
access to a staggering quantity of user data. These websites keep records of users' names,
genders, birthdays, relationship status, relationship status information, societal beliefs about
politics or religion, education, employment, and much more. This calls into serious doubt the
organizations in charge of protecting user privacy and preventing data misuse. The legal
implications of obtaining people's information through these websites are a hot topic in today's
society. Arguments in support of these websites claim that since users voluntarily provide their
personal information, there is no privacy issue. Nevertheless, according to study by Jones and
Soltren published in 2005 under the title "Facebook: Threats to Privacy," individuals volunteer
too much personal information on these sites without realizing that third parties are actively
looking for user information. There are various situations in which social media might really
work against the user. When it comes to their employment, employees should be aware that their
supervisor may have easy access to their social media postings, which might cause issues.
Facebook utilizes software that can identify people in photos submitted using face recognition;
because of this, they are not only aware of your friends but also of where you live or were lately.
This raises privacy issues.
A significant protection issue arose when a British advertising business claimed to have access to
the largest database in the world that contained information on people's entire internet usage and
claimed to have obtained this information from websites like Facebook. This raises severe
concerns since it means that anybody may access user personal information from social media
platforms and utilize it for their own gain (Qi, Man, 2011). Governments may utilize their power
to compel the disclosure of personal information to these websites, thus violating the freedom of
association. These websites have exposed problems that have impacted people, such as
spamming, hacking, and fraud. Social networking platforms are being used by employers and
law enforcement to find out information about potential employees. Your employer will be
informed if you lie to your boss in this way. And if authorities have access to a criminal's
information, it might be compromised. Even if this is a successful method of finding criminals,
privacy issues still exist. If you unintentionally or even willfully become a criminal's buddy, you
will be included in the investigation without your consent and will be held accountable. Social
media poses serious privacy concerns in this approach.
Account hacking and impersonation: As technology becomes more sophisticated, spammers and
hackers are increasingly targeting social networks. Nowadays, social networking platforms are
used to distribute viruses, malware, and frauds. What's worse is when online crooks register
credit card accounts in your name using your personal details.
Nowadays, the majority of social media platforms are accessed via mobile devices, which
enables the sites to extract users' whereabouts. The default option on most smartphones allows
sites to gather information about your location, which may be problematic. Location could
appear like a seemingly unimportant piece of information, but it can be used to reconstruct your
daily pattern, allowing criminals to carry out their scheme. What more should a thief know about
you, for instance, if he is aware that you are away on vacation and no one is home?
The easiest method to eliminate privacy problems is to deactivate social networking site
applications, which is difficult for many people to do. because social media platforms allow you
to communicate with your friends and family. A person who is not using Facebook or Instagram
will be the least informed about what is happening in the world, which is already a major
disadvantage. However, technical solutions might be found to privacy problems. Avoid clicking
on odd links like "check with whom you look like" or "like or share and experience the magic" if
you want to avoid clicking on clickbait. The connections serve as a trap for unsuspecting
consumers, and websites like Facebook disclaim liability for third-party applications. Moving
forward, you should manually set your cell phone's location whenever it is required and you
shouldn't give social networking sites access to your regular location. Avoid phony news as well;
these days, links have eye-catching titles added to them to pique people's interest. However,
these links are all spam and negatively affect users' behavior.
