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We care about Cambridge Analytica because it could have helped to elect Trump. We ignored LocationSmart because even though the company was selling and exposing the real-time GPS coordinates of our phones, it was never clear whether or how this data was misused.
This idea, that privacy issues are abstract concepts for most people until they become security or ideology issues, is important to understanding how Facebook works. massive breach revealed this week.
The engineering of the social network was sloppy, allowing to combine three bugs to steal the access tokens of 50 million people. In search of rapid growth at affordable efficiency, Facebook has failed to protect its users. This evaluation does not neglect that. Facebook has ruined everything.
But despite the risk that these access tokens may allow hackers to take control of the user accounts, act as such and recover their personal information, it is difficult to know how much interest users. This is because for the moment, Facebook and its guard dogs do not know exactly what data was stolen or how it was used wrongly.
The hacking that broke the camel's back?
It could change everything tomorrow. If Facebook discovers that the hacking was committed by a foreign government to interfere with the elections, by criminals to circumvent the checkpoints against identity theft and steal people's bank accounts or social networks,
With a sufficiently scary application for the data, the violation could end with the destruction of the Facebook brand. If users begin to erase their profile data, reduce their browsing flow, and stop sharing it, the offense could have a significant impact on finances and network effects for Facebook. After years of scandals, it could be the hacking that broke the camel's back.
Yet, in the absence of this misuse of pirated data, the violation could fade away for users. Like the tense starts of the founders of Instagram and WhatsApp on Facebook, it may not be the public who is behind the shock.
Piracy could accelerate the regulation of social media. Senator Warner called on Congress to "speed up" after piracy. He had already advocated privacy laws similar to the European GDPR. This includes rules for interoperability and data portability that could facilitate the switchover of social networks. This threat of people migrating to competing applications could force Facebook to better treat the privacy and security of users.
The FTC or the European Union could impose significant fines on Facebook for violation. But as it generates billions of profits per quarter, these costs should be historically massive, which would be a serious penalty for Facebook.
One of the main issues regarding the attack is whether the chips have been used to access other services such as Airbnb or Spotify that rely on Facebook Login. This breach could prevent potential partners from establishing themselves on Facebook's identity platform. But at least you do not have to worry about changing all your passwords. Unlike hacks that steal user names and passwords, the constant danger of Facebook violation is limited. The access tokens have already been invalidated, while reuse of passwords can cause users to be hacked their applications long after the initial breach.
desensitized
If government investigators, journalists or anti-Facebook activists want to make the company pay for its negligence, they will have to connect it to a concrete threat to our lives or what we believe.
For the moment, without a harmful application of the violated data, this scandal could be integrated with the rest of the problems of Facebook. Every week, sometimes several times a week, Facebook is facing a problem of concern. Over time, these factors add up to discourage the use of Facebook and encourage more users to delete it. But without a general social network to which they can easily switch, many users have experienced the difficulties of Facebook in exchange for the connection utility it provides.
As violations become more common, the public may be desensitized. At worst, we could become complacent. Companies should be held accountable for breaches of privacy, even when the damage caused is vague. But between Equifax, Yahoo, and mobile phone companies, we're getting used to letting out a deep sigh with maybe swear words and continuing our lives. Those we will remember will be those where the danger has metastasized the digital world in our offline lives.
[Featured image via Getty]
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