Tracing my digital footprint

For Christmas last year, I was gifted one of those plastic sliding webcam covers. “I know you’re really into cybersecurity and stuff,” said a family friend, grinning as they handed me the package. “When I saw this, I just knew I had to get it for you. I figured you could finally take that ridiculous piece of tape off of your webcam.”

This piece of tape that they were referring to had been on my laptop ever since Mark Zuckerberg uploaded a photo of himself to Facebook in June of 2016—wherein a piece of tape can be seen covering the webcam and microphone of his MacBook.

The photo instantly went viral, prompting think pieces and online posts about why every social media user should be following in his footsteps. And Zuckerberg wasn’t even the first to do so—both former FBI Director James Comey and computer analyst whistleblower Edward Snowden had also already spoken out about the tape covering their webcams.

Sure enough, this sparked an online frenzy. My social media newsfeeds exploded with memes about “The FBI Agent Currently Watching Me Through My Webcam” and “My Smartphone Is Listening and Targeting Me With Ads.” Although a lack of privacy while engaging with social media had become ubiquitous in the average millennial conversation, those of us who actually heeded the cybersecurity warnings were called out for our “paranoid” antics.

If you use Facebook, you should definitely be worried about data privacy.

Especially since last spring, when the Cambridge Analytica data scandal compromised the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook profiles. The London-based political firm had been hired by Trump’s 2016 electoral campaign as a tactic to profile the American electoral body in order to influence voter behaviour. User data had been harvested through a personality test app called “thisisyourdigitallife.”

Only a few months later, this wide-scale hack has been, for the most part, forgotten. It was recently reported that Facebook would only face a 500,000 pound fine for the scandal, which is marginal, considering the 5.1 billion dollars in net income they made last quarter.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal is only one of Facebook’s most recent privacy scares. In September of this year, for example, a different security breach “allowed hackers to control the accounts of up to 50 million users,” reported CNBC.

“Our investigation is still in its early stages. But it’s clear that attackers exploited a vulnerability in Facebook’s code that impacted ‘View As’ a feature that lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else,” Guy Rosen, Facebook’s VP of Product Management, wrote in a newsroom blog post. “This allowed them to steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people’s accounts.”

“We face constant attacks from people who want to take over accounts or steal information around the world,” wrote Zuckerberg in a Facebook post. “While I’m glad we found this, fixed the vulnerability, and secured the accounts that may be at risk, the reality is we need to continue developing new tools to prevent this from happening in the first place.”

How much does Facebook really know about you, anyway?

I came across a video called “How to find out what Facebook knows about you,” featuring CNBC Technology Product Editor Todd Haselton. In this video, Haselton walks users through Facebook’s settings to show you what the social media platform knows about your interests based on your interaction with ads on the site. The results on my account ranged from somewhat true to disturbingly accurate. For example: horoscopes, newspapers, chihuahuas, and emergency rooms (not too sure about that last one, but I’m thinking it’s probably because I’ve been watching a lot of Grey’s Anatomy lately).

I sometimes wonder how, knowing all of the risks associated with social media use, I still find myself logging online for hours every day. There is certainly a type of cognitive dissonance between my knowledge of cybersecurity and my daily use of apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Realistically, I know that covering my webcam with tape, using anti-tracking web extensions like Privacy Badger, and making my social media accounts private doesn’t do much more than lull me into a false sense of online security. There have been times where I’ve sworn off social media completely, only to come crawling back out of necessity, or, in some cases, boredom.

Is there really a way to use Facebook safely?

For fear of sounding trite—or perhaps just like my mother—I won’t comment on the harsh psychological effects of excessive social media usage, or of the 24-hour news cycle. What I will say, however, is that I’ll continue to reconsider the ways I engage with social media, and I’ll definitely still think twice before clicking “accept cookies” in order to gain access to a website.

“Facebook’s entire existence is predicated on tracking and collecting information about you,” wrote Motherboard journalist Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai in their e-guide to using Facebook safely. “If that concept makes you feel creeped out, then [sic] perhaps you should quit it.

“But we also understand…that many people want or have to stay on Facebook to do their job or stay in touch with their family,” Franceschi-Bicchierai added. “And, after all, quitting Facebook is the ultimate first world privilege. For millions of people around the world, Facebook is the internet.”

Are you concerned about protecting your personal information on Facebook? Check out some of resources below for tips on how to use the social media site as safely as possible.