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First published and updated 07/2018
The following article represents my personal view which I have held for many years, as a result of researching privacy and big data held by companies such as Facebook, Google, etc.
If you are reading this, you probably have a Facebook account. My other assumption is you have heard about Cambridge Analytica in the mainstream media news.
I have been meaning to write this article for the website for a number of months and even years. However, now it feels like a good time for this debate. Whenever I have had conversations in the past about Facebook and privacy implications, the main response has always been, “it doesn’t matter to me as I have nothing to hide”. This is clearly true but as you can see from the Cambridge analytica scandal, this is not the only aspect of your data that you need to consider.
I will link a number of videos for you to look at if you are so inclined which will give you greater insight into this issue. I will also include some alternative suggestions on how you may wish to manage your data in future.
First and foremost, let’s make one thing quite clear; putting any kind of information on to the Internet is like putting your personal information on to somebody else’s computer.
In some cases such as Facebook and other social media sites this data then does not belong to you.
The second consideration is that your data has an intrinsic value attached to it. This value is directly linked to the ability to target you with adverts. These adverts enable companies to offer services to you at no cost.
Think about it: companies hold petabytes of data and data storage is not free. The company will not only have to buy servers but also buildings to house them and electricity to run them. In addition these machines will have to be maintained and the sites they run require continual development and improvement by engineers. All of these factors are a cost to the company and not free to them. Therefore adverts are used to pay their bills.
Now you might say, why should we be so concerned regarding this? We get a free service and the company gets to stream adverts to me.
The problem lies with the nature of big data. Algorithms pull on multiple strands of information about you. This will include your browsing habits, your likes, dislikes, shopping habits, political affiliations, location at all times, the amount of time spent at said locations, etc. All this will form a picture to the algorithm of what you may like or not. Bear in mind this is not only done once for you, this is done thousands and thousands of times for users of, for example, Facebook. The algorithms will extrapolate what is believed you wish to see, thus creating a bubble of information around you. As can be seen from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, this information was then used to micro-target Facebook users and influence them to vote in a particular fashion during the recent presidential elections.
So what does this all mean for me?
There is no one simple answer to this. The reality is you have to choose and weigh up the pros and cons. There are many open source alternatives to Facebook and Google which you may wish to consider and start using. You will however have to convince your friends and family to come with you on this new journey.
Regardless of this, there are quick simple fixes to start to control some of the data about you.
Use open source browsers such as Brave, Firefox, Waterfox, etc. Install simple privacy add-ons to stop Facebook etc. following you around the web.
Switch your search engine away from Google to alternatives such as duck duck go (https://duckduckgo.com), start page (https://www.startpage.com), https://www.searx.me, etc. It is simple to set these sites as your default search engine within any browser.
Limit your traffic on your mobile devices. For example switch off your location if you don’t need it. Take time to check permissions you are giving apps on your phone and smart devices. Many times you will find apps do not need half of the permissions they request, such as access to your phone, contact list, location etc. Switch them off. If the phone needs them for whatever reason it will then prompt you to switch them on again. In other words you are not going to break anything.
Do the same for Windows 10 in settings and check your privacy settings. You can safely switch most of them off. The same principle applies as above:,turn it off and see how the operating system responds.
Opt out of personalised ads wherever you can. Companies rely on this to tie together data from different strands to give a full picture of you. Bear in mind that Facebook will track all your Internet use if you have a Facebook session open in one of your browsers tabs. Even if you have not logged into Facebook an advertising ID will be linked to your IP address in an attempt to track you. Simple plug-ins for your browser can prevent this.
In conclusion:
Always remember that anything you upload to the internet is someone else’s computer system which could be anywhere in the world giving you limited or more likely no control over this.
Following a few simple steps will give you some control back over your online data. Consider if what you are trying to achieve might be done in a different way? Consider who might have access to your data, posts, information … does this information need to be on the Internet in the first place or can I manage it locally?
I hope you have found some of my thoughts interesting or even thought-provoking. Next time I see you, I will be wearing my tinfoil hat, and maybe we can have a conversation about what you have done to manage some of your online data.
Firefox Install add-ons: https everywhere, uBlock origin, ghostly, privacy badger
Brave Everything already included
(You need to know a little with Palemoon and Seamonkey, there are based on the old Netscape code so not all add-one will work, but are very good browsers with nice email integration)
Want to keep using your provider, think about using PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption
Find smaller independent ISP’s
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