While Facebook might be in deep water since the privacy breach of 87 million users had occurred; a survey, conducted by The Reuters/Ipsos has suggested that users of Facebook are still loyal. Facebook was found guilty of leaking data to a company named Cambridge Analytica (CA) in Q2 2018 and since then apologized for sharing the data.
Amid these data sharing scandals, a recent survey conducted in the US found no change in users’ usage. A quarter of users reduced their usage but the other quarter increased their usage even more. While the other half told that their usage hasn’t changed. About 2,100 American adults were surveyed for this poll and conducted between 26 and 30 April.
Analysts are still a bit skeptical about this poll, as they eager to see Facebook’s sales performance in second quarter. Before the privacy scandal, the sales in Q1 rose by nearly 50%, with profits increasing to $4.9bn from $3bn last year. When the users were questioned about the current privacy settings of Facebook, 74% of them were aware while 78% knew how to change them.
The backstory of Facebook’s data breach
The incident started its roots back in 2014 when a quiz conducted by Facebook allowed users to find their personality type and collected the data of those taking the quiz. This did not stop there, as they also collected the data of the friends of the users taking the quiz.
According to Facebook, about 300,000 people actually installed the app and took the quiz. While the data recorded by this was up to 87 million. These data were then sold to Cambridge Analytica (CA), which tested the psychological profile of the voters in the 2016 election. It was then alleged that CA used this data in advantage to the US election and a possible interference had occurred.
CA denies these allegations and reclaims the trust that no data was used in the interference in the US presidential election. Even though CA denied any wrongdoings and breaking of laws, Facebook admitted privacy breach. They issued an apology to all users, saying that a “breach of trust” was done. The users affected by this breach were notified in their account.
Conclusion
Since the accused data scandal and the privacy controversy, the company which allegedly manipulated the outcomes of US 2016 presidential elections and UK’s Brexit; Cambridge Analytica has announced that it is shutting down this week. Also, it is reported that Facebook is considering an alternative subscription-based model which won’t have any ad tracking system for revenue.