WHAT ARE APPS DOING WITH YOUR DATA?

摘要

Earlier this month, the New York Times published an opinion piece titled "It's Time To Break Up Facebook.'The title itself is not necessarily provocative - voices have been calling for the disbandment of the social media conglomerate in greater and greater numbers - but the by-line is. The article is authored by Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook. Hughes'claim that Facebook poses a "threat to democracy" is grounded in the social media's access to an incredible amount of raw data. Facebook and its affiliates, Instagram and Whatsapp, aggregate data such as likes and dislikes, engagements, time spent watching a video etc.; and encourage users to share even more personal information; ostensibly to improve their targeted ad services. However, as Hughes points out and the Cambridge Analytica scandal confirmed, such unfettered access to data can lead to more concerning problems than targeted ads that seem to read your mind.