Did you#DeleteFacebook in 2018?
Dont believe that this is more of a trend than a turning point?
Just look atthe difference between hype and action.
Sadly, the answer looks bleak.
Many of us have been handing over our personal data for years without paying much attention.
Our Facebook accounts are just one scene in story the of our online privacy nightmare.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
But Facebooks not in a unique situation.
Okay, so perhaps no other social media networks are as closely associated withelection tampering.
And only a few other tech companies werecalled before Congressthis year.
But thats not because theyre the only companies with risky data and security practices.
Theyre simply a few of the largest, and therefore great candidates to make examples out of.
Are there even viable alternatives for those services, which are owned and operated by Zuck and co?
Theres a simple fact that we often overlook when talking about Facebook data scandals.
We hand that data over willingly.
Cambridge Analytica and other evil actors were hardly stealing users info covertly.
The bad behavior started after they obtained it.
This has given companies like Cambridge Analytica access to whatever they needed.
We invited our friends to play games for more virtual coins without considering everything we were inviting them into.
And we posted about our plans, feelings and experiences.
Our own willful ignorance extends well beyond Facebook, and multiple companies are taking advantage of to this day.
In ways that mean were all probably still at risk regardless of whether you deleted Facebook.
But this concept is hardly specific to Facebook or even social media.
Itsactually an iterationof concepts explored in a 1973 art film calledTelevision Delivers Peopleabout the dangers of broadcast media.
Think youre exempt because youre a cord cutter and you pay your way with a Netflix subscription?
Nope youre still a pair ofeyeballs that can be monetized.
And unfortunately, we cant trust those third parties as quickly as most shoppers do.
But Amazon itselfdoesnt seem interestedin doing anything about it.
And unearned trust is what many of these examples to come down to.
Its time to start.
Weve reached a point where the evidence of misconduct is all around us.
Its too prevalent to pretend to ignore.
As an industry, we need to deal with the bad actors.
The trust we once had can probably never be re-established.
Its not enough to address individual exploiters as they pop up, as its happening too frequently.
Well never be able to chase wrongdoers down faster than new ones will arrive.
We need to address the systems allowing them to exploit us, our customers, and our data.
Story byBen Jacobson
Ben Jacobson is a marketing strategy consultant based in Israel.
His specialties include social media and branded content for the B2B sector.
Ben can be reached via Twitter@osbennn.
