But Facebook, whose leaders know that the leaked data could lead to identity theft and other cybersecurity schemes, reportedly took the opposite approach. Instead of transparency and efforts to prevent another hack, the company planned to “normalize the fact that this activity happens regularly.”
Of course, Facebook has taken some steps to secure its users’ data, including patching up the source of the 2019 leak that unearthed the data posted online in April. But the company’s desire to convince users that massive data hacks are normal is part of a broader worldview that should concern every consumer tapped into the digital economy.
Furthermore, taking some steps to prevent future hacks does nothing for the consumers who were already victimized and are essentially told that it is time to move on. The 533 million people whose data was compromised deserve a lasting solution that will not just make future hacks less likely but show them precisely what data on them is out there, who has it, and how to cut off access to it. Consumers deserve a plan that will help them reclaim their data.
Who should have access to consumer data?
The hack and Facebook’s response to it reveal assumptions about who should be able to access and benefit from consumer data. In the view of Facebook and other tech giants, your data is theirs — not just to collect and improve their services but to profit from and share with a wide range of advertisers and app developers with or without your knowledge. This assumption about who owns your data and has the right to distribute and monetize it explains why Facebook could consider regular leaks of personal information just another risk of doing business.
But there is nothing inevitable about businesses collecting and storing your data, profiting from it, and sharing it with a laundry list of possibly irresponsible third-party enterprises. And there’s nothing we, consumers in an economy that runs on our data, need to accept about regular mass hacks that compromise our security.
On the contrary, consumers can and should have transparency into when their data is being collected and for what purposes. They should have control over how and whether it is used, shared, and sold. In short, they should have access to their own digital identities, which Facebook and its peers develop, package, and sell to the tune of some $6,000 in annual revenue per consumer.