Privacy: The Real Issue

Talking to a friend today, they had no idea their personal information is constantly being exposed. As a privacy advocate, I need to educate more.

I’m alarmed and terrified at the data collected by the social media giants under the guise of providing you with “more relevant ads”. People need to know this. People need to care. If you haven’t been following it, Facebook and Apple are at odds over Apple’s decision to increase user privacy. In 2020, Apple introduced “privacy labels” in their app store that are similar to nutrition labels on food. The privacy labels are to explain what data is being accessed and why. For example, if you use Facebook Messenger, please look at what the privacy label says is accessed on your phone in this article: https://9to5mac.com/…/app-privacy-labels-messaging-apps/. Also, check the image below.

Let me highlight what Messenger accesses:
Purchase History
Other Financial Info
Precise Location
Physical Address
Email Address
Name
Phone Number
Other User Contact Info
Contacts
Photos or Videos
Browsing History
Search History
User ID
Device ID
Health Information
Etc.

Let me ask you this, why does a messaging platform need access to your address? Your purchase history? Your location? Your health info? If I want to send a message to my beautiful bride, how does my purchase history play any part of that?

Please read this Forbes article, aptly titled, “Yes, You Should Stop Using Facebook Apps On Your iPhone”, (https://www.forbes.com/…/why-you-should-stop-using…/). This applies to Android devices as well, but you’re against double odds there as Google is also collecting the same information and possibly more. The Forbes article addresses that with, “Google is much more silent on Apple’s changes—it sits both sides of the fence, after all.” Google makes the Android operating system AND is raking in huge amounts of personal data that it sells. If Google tightens the privacy in the Android operating system, it reduces the amount of data available to sell.

My biggest concern is what is being done with this data that is collected, and who polices it. Sure your ads may be more relevant, but does it matter to you? The Forbes article writes, “On every level, however it’s judged, Facebook collects and processes too much of our data. There is no balance, there are no checks or balances, its business model is so entrenched that it can’t seem to rethink the basics despite the constant backlash.” Does Facebook have a handle on the data they collect? Look up the Cambridge Analytica scandal as just one example. Something else that people don’t realize is that your data is also being sold.

What is the value in selling your data? When you download a free app on your phone, why is it free? Do you believe that a team of programmers spent a year or more developing an app to simply give it away? Those teams are paid by revenue generated by advertisers who purchase your data that is collected via data brokering services. Your personal information is the end product.

Some insight in to my next rant? If you have your location services enabled, the data brokers can tell where you live and where you work. They know where you shop. SkyHook (https://www.skyhook.com/) should scare you. Do you have the Weather Network on your phone? Does it conveniently tell you the weather wherever you are? It’s selling your data. https://www.cbc.ca/…/weather-network-addictive-mobility…. And that article is from 2017.

Folks, watch what you put on your phones. Delete your unused apps. Tighten your privacy settings. Watch those privacy labels. And share this info.

Do I wear a tinfoil hat? No. Am I worried about our loss of privacy? Yes. And yes, I see the irony in this being posted on Facebook. But it was done from a sand-boxed browser on my work machine, not from my phone.