Latest Facebook security and user data scandal leads to privacy review
This latest crisis of confidence in Facebook’s ability to protect its users’ data privacy has had considerable side-effects for the embattled social media giant. In addition to a significant drop in the price of its shares and pressure on its CEO Mark Zuckerberg to please explain to governments and politicians about the way Facebook treats its users’ data, it has also had to delay plans to reveal new, much-speculated-about hardware that the company has been developing. And it’s had to take steps to review how it deals with the privacy of its users’ data, including bringing in more restrictive rules around the sort of information that app makers can collect via Facebook’s service.
The Facebook data privacy issue that sparked a crisis
Privacy issues have long been a thorn in the side of the relationship between Facebook and its users. However, following recent reports that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had been able to acquire information about 50 million Facebook users without their permission, the latest transgression has sparked a crisis of confidence and forced a bit of a public reckoning for the social media giant.
Data privacy crisis delays new hardware reveal
Facebook has been working on new consumer home products, including a device that is rumoured to be called “Portal”, which will come with connected speakers and video-chat capabilities – a gadget that could be Facebook’s answer to devices such as Amazon’s “Echo Show” and other newly-announced products using Google Assistant from the likes of Lenovo, Sony and LG. This is all part of Facebook’s plan to become more intimately involved with its users’ everyday social lives.
Facebook was hoping to reveal its new device during an upcoming conference. However, as concerns increase around the latest data privacy crisis and Facebook’s collection and use of personal data, this might not be a good time to ask Facebook users to trust it with even more information by allowing it to place a connected device in their homes. As a result, Facebook will delay the unveiling of its new home products.
Redesigning Facebook’s privacy settings
Furthermore, in response to public outrage over the way it has allowed its users’ private data to be mishandled, Facebook is apparently reviewing the privacy settings on its network. The review is purported to include rolling out a new privacy shortcuts menu that will let people regulate the amount of personal information Facebook keeps on them, enable users to be able to delete things they’ve already shared and allow users to manage the information that Facebook uses to determine what advertising to show them. The review is also said to include a deeper review of the new home products that Facebook was hoping to reveal soon, to ensure that they too make the right trade-offs when it comes to protecting the data privacy of users.
Want to know more about using Facebook for your business?
If you’d like to have an informed discussion about Facebook and how to use it, and other social media platforms, to advance the online profile of your business, then simply get in touch with the team at Net Branding. Our digital marketing specialists will be able to talk you though the options and what’s best for the specific needs of your business.
