Facebook's Cambridge Analytica crisis has spread worse than an epidemic. Several users have now become aware of the fact that social media is never free, and that they pay a higher price - their loss of privacy. Social media platforms hook people by providing value to a user by enabling digital connections to the user's social network. More the users in the network, higher the value of the network to each user, or the “network effect”. It is undeniable that people will always be attracted to platforms on the world wide web, because we all want a platform where we can find our circles online.
All hell broke lose on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, following the Analytica crisis. Groups of regulators, politicians, and law enforcement officials from all around the world are keen on more information about the platform's privacy practices. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) confirmed reports that it was investigating how Facebook handles information about its users. Later, Senator Charles E Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee invited Mark Zuckerberg to testify about privacy standards. Also, a group of 37 attorneys general have sent a letter to him asking for details about his site's privacy safeguards.
The FTC said it planned to determine whether the social media giant had violated a consent decree it signed in 2011 to protect users' privacy. It said the decree required Facebook to notify and receive explicit permission from users before sharing their personal information beyond the limits dictated by their privacy settings. Each violation of the agreement, which the agency reached with the platform, carries a penalty of up to $40,000 a day. In a statement, the agency said that it “takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook.”
BJP-Congress war over data scam
The Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Congress of sharing users' data to a Singapore-based firm. The accusation came a day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi referred to a media report in which a French vigilante hacker in a series of tweets alleged that the personal data including email IDs, photos, gender and names of the users of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mobile app, were being sent to a third party domain without their consent. The party had earlier accused the Congress of compromising national security by roping in Cambridge Analytica to run its 2019 election campaign.
BJP's allegations found support when a former employee with Analytica claimed that it worked “extensively” in India and has an office there. Deposing in front of UK lawmakers, Christopher Wylie said the firm equated to a group of modern colonisers that don't care what is legal or what is not unless it gets the job done. He went on to name Congress as one of the parties that possibly worked with Analytica. “I believe there client was Congress, but I know that they have done all kinds of project. I don't remember a national project but I know regionally. India's so big that one state can be as big as Britain. But they do have offices there, they do have staff,” Wylie said.
He confirmed the statements before the digital, culture, media, and sport committee in the House of Commons, while testifying against Cambridge Analytica and its alleged role in propagating a culture of fake news. “India is Facebook's biggest market, it is a country that is rife with political discord and opportunities to destabilise. They worked extensively in India, they have an office,” Wylie said.
How does Facebook's biggest scandal affect its credibility in India?
Following the breakout of the scandal, Indian IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad promptly warned “stringent action” if any attempt was made by them to influence the country's electoral process. He said, “Let me make it very, very clear. We fully support freedom of press, speech, and expression. We fully support free exchange of ideas on social media. But any attempt, covert or overt, by social media, including Facebook, of trying to influence India's electoral process through undesirable means will neither be appreciated nor be tolerated.”
As Facebook now scrambles to spend the next few months trying to convince its users their data is safe, India steps in as a major part of its plans. Facebook's largest market with 250 million monthly active users, India accounts for a whopping 12 per cent of it global base. Also, WhatsApp, India's chat app of choice, has 200 million users, the highest in any market, and Instagram has 53 million. Both the apps are owned by Facebook.
While India is set to add 100 million internet users and 250 million smartphone users by 2020, it also has to deal with those wondering whether they should sign up or continue being on the network. A data consultant from Delhi called Facebook “passive aggressive” about data. “It gives you a host of privacy options, makes you feel you are in control of your wall, but buries an 'unless you don't want to share' option at the bottom.” He added, “If you don't opt out, it assumes you are happy to share. Even if you do, you can never be sure the non-consensual sharing has stopped.”
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London-based Cambridge Analytica is accused of harvesting more than 50 million user profiles on Facebook with the help of academic researcher Aleksandr Kogan, without any consent from users, possibly playing a big role in the 2016 US presidential election that saw the victory of Donald Trump as the US President.
