Breach of Trust or Breach of Data? 迪伦Wittkower Weighs in on Cambridge Analytica
贝琪·纳特著
The New York Times and the Guardian both broke stories in mid-March about the data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica (CA), unleashing a cascade of privacy questions.
迪伦Wittkower, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at bet8体育娱乐入口, 理解这些问题, but he doubts there is any major security risk.
"Identity theft is worth worrying about, but if your data is scraped and mined, that doesn't necessarily expose you to any risk of personally identifiable information falling into the hands of criminals,维特科沃说. "Responsible research will anonymize profiles, which provides an extra (but sometimes flimsy) layer of protection."
CA generated "psychographic profiles" of voters by analyzing data collected from third-party surveys distributed on 脸谱网.Respondents were not aware that the information they shared - including access to their broader circle of virtual friends, whose data was also scraped - would be used by CA.
The Times initially reported that CA improperly acquired information from 50 million 脸谱网 users in efforts to help Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
两周内, the number had grown to nearly 90 million, 马克·扎克伯格, 脸谱网的创始人兼首席执行官, later faced interrogation from members of Congress about why his company hadn't done more to protect them.
Wittkower, however, doesn't see a decrease in 脸谱网 users anytime soon.
"So long as there is no relevant alternative to 脸谱网, we can't expect a mass exodus,"他说. "So long as there is no mass exodus, leaving 脸谱网 will only solve your individual issues, not the more important emergent social/political issues."
解决问题, 他说, ，将需要集体, 协调的政治行动, 不仅仅是个人的选择."
Wittkower said his chief concern isn't that the information was scraped, but how that information was used and the ultimate consequences.
"脸谱网's own data mining and user profile creation, along with the targeted and dark advertising that they offer, is bound to create polarization and undermine the basis of healthy, democratic political deliberation,他说.
