With all of the content and services from social networking given, security concerns arise when access within social networking sites is given to users upon agreeing to terms and conditions. Oftentime, the terms are not simple and overly complicated for most users. Upon agreement, social networking sites sell personal data to large advertisers and developers. In reality, very few users read their sophisticated terms of agreement, but they agree anyways. Users consent to allowing these sites to access their services, content, and platforms to communicate, share information, and/or promote business. Thus these sites have convinced users to give up ownership of their own personal data. Consenting blindly to these binding agreements online is a problem. When users are not educated or informed on how personal information is collected or processed, there are more opportunities for other parties to misuse their data. One challenge to security concerns is the misuse of data by large technology companies. The internet's business model depends on people sharing their personal data in exchange for access to content, services, and social media platforms. Therefore, Facebook makes money from you by selling your personal information to advertisers. Misuse of information stems from both actions taken by third parties who purchase personal data and the absence of being informed on privacy and data protection. Privacy concerns should be clearly detailed and readily addressed by companies when access is given to individual users. Privacy agreements outlines conditions that allow users both identity and autonomy that are within the scope of appropriate usage and behavior. Data protection is more specific term that underlies laws, policies and regulations of how data is handled. The laws and regulations referenced are concerned with the ways third parties interact with the information that they hold about us; how data is
Misuse of information can take on many different manifestations. In 2016 Facebook was involved in an election scandal, “Facebook has been roundly criticized for being slow to acknowledge a vast disinformation campaign run by Russian operatives on its platform” (Issac and Frenkel, 2018). It was stunning to much of the online community of users and the media that data stored by multibillion dollar corporations was not secured. Americans had been appalled with the misuse of data for the purpose of driving “fake news” into population with the underlying motive of directing outcomes in political elections. The result of these accidents negatively affect companies like Facebook; they lose public trust, online users, company growth, and they ultimately are not able to operate their once-thriving businesses. This is not the first time a cyberattack has breached a company holding a sizable user basis, “The Facebook bug is reminiscent of a much larger attack on Yahoo in which attackers compromised 3 billion accounts - enough for half of the world's entire population.” (Pioneer, 2018). Companies of this scale should aim to build trust. Many of their online users are actively involved in various online services, and these users should trust the safety of their data when using platforms like Facebook to bring more business to themselves as well as Facebook, by self promotion and advertisement.
Across industries like banking and healthcare, core services will soon be digitized. One enormous example would be online banking, “Many financial institutions have implemented, are in the process of implementing, or are planning to implement some form of Internet presence by providing services online” (Saleh, 2003). However, even with all of these capabilities, security concerns about confidential information and data arise when any form of personal information is put onto the Internet. Many of these services will require agreement of online policies as well as terms and conditions for access. These industries resemble social networking sites that provide content and services too. Many of the businesses within those industries would be advantageous to take on broad views of responsibility in addition to stronger privacy settings and robust security practices before any online misuses or breaches of data arise.