By Will Goodbody
Science & Technology Correspondent
It is a complex, multi-faceted, layered, tangled web of a story.
But if the revelations of recent days about Facebook, Cambridge Analytica
and its connections to the Trump 2016 campaign tell us anything, it is this:
it is well past time that we reassessed our relationships with social media.
There are multiple shocking aspects to the story, as laid out by the
Guardian, The New York Times and Channel 4 News in recent days.
First, there was the placement in 2014 of the seemingly innocuous "this is
your digital life" app on Facebook by Cambridge University professor Dr
Aleksandr Kogan, which purported to be a "personality test" for a research
project, but was actually being used to harvest huge amounts of data about
users.
There's the fact that not only was that app capable of probing the lives of
the 270,000 people who signed into it, but it was also able to reach deeper
and scrape information about their friends too, something that astonishingly
was considered okay by Facebook at the time.
Then there was the apparent passing of the data relating to that collective
50 million people to Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy in London,
in clear violation of Facebook's terms and conditions.
And there's the allegation, denied by Cambridge Analytica, that it used that
treasure trove to understand individual US voters preferences better, so
that they could then be micro-targeted with very specific hard-hitting ads
and messages that favoured Donald Trump.
In essence, the claim is that Facebook users' data was used against them to
influence and manipulate their voting behaviour, in what if proven to be
effective would amount to an extraordinary undermining of the democratic
process.
There's also the shocking reality that none of this was stopped by the
authorities or by Facebook.
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) here, which is
responsible for regulating Facebook's international headquarters in Dublin,
learnt from Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems in 2011 about the
loophole that allowed Facebook users' friends' data to be harvested by
developers.
But despite the ODPC recommending it be closed in 2011 and 2012, Facebook
sat on its hands until 2014, closing the loophole just after Dr Kogan had
extracted the data he needed for his "research" that same year.
Why though did the ODPC not do more to ensure it be dealt with sooner? And
where was the UK's Information Commissioner during all this?
Facebook discovered that the data had been transferred to Cambridge
Analytica in 2015.
But while it did seek and received written undertakings that it be
destroyed, it didn't tell regulators and it didn't tell the users.
That's because Facebook claims that although its users had been misled by Dr
Kogan, there hadn't been a data breach in the traditional sense, as there
had been no unauthorised access, nor had passwords or other sensitive
information been compromised.
Many experts though would beg to differ on that interpretation, which is now
being probed by the UK's Information Commissioner and the Federal Trade
Commission in the US.
Finally, there's the shocking revelations unearthed by the excellent
undercover reporting by Channel 4 News, about the wider alleged practices of
Cambridge Analytica.
Secret filming recorded senior executives, including now suspended CEO
Alexander Nix, talking about how they could entrap politicians in
compromising situations to discredit them, how they ran parts of Donald
Trump's campaign and discussing coordination between that campaign and
outside groups - an activity that is potentially illegal.
Cambridge Analytica's board says Mr Nix's comments do not reflect the values
or the operations of the firm.
In the wake of the avalanche of disturbing claims, there has been the usual
predictable wave of shock and anger from public representatives, regulators
and tech companies.
Facebook says it is outraged. Politicians from Dublin to London to Brussels
to Washington are calling for accountability and launching inquiries.
Annoyed social media users have threatened to delete their accounts.
What, if anything, will actually happen is unclear.
But what is quite clear is this. Internet and social media firms have been
let away with light-touch or in some cases no regulation for far too long.
The tech industry is driven by many of the brightest minds on the planet and
moves at lightning speed.
It has been, therefore, next to impossible for ill-equipped regulators and
public representatives, who in most cases haven't the first idea of what is
involved, to keep up and to come up with the legislation, policy and
enforcement tools to keep check.
There's also the added problem, particularly in this country, that so much
of our economy is grounded in digital services.
That has given tech companies significant clout when it comes to formulation
of policy that may damage their operations.
It's time, therefore, for the political and regulatory establishment to get
tough.
Where regulations are deficient, like for example around the area of
micro-targeting of political ads, legislators here need to plug the gaps.
The beefing up of resources at the Office of the Data Protection
Commissioner needs to continue and that body needs to flex its muscles
around the countless large and influential tech firms here to show them who
is boss.
And finally, we need to play our part.
Long gone are the days when "I didn't know" or "I didn't understand" are
legitimate excuses when it comes to data protection.
We may not have the time or the knowledge to understand the reams of terms
and conditions we must agree to when we sign up to use internet services.
But often common sense is a far more potent tool than being able to
interpret jargon and legalese.
Don't share, don't like, don't download, don't post unless you understand
and are prepared to live with the consequences of your actions.
Inform yourself about privacy settings and if you dislike the options or the
results, then simply stop using an app, or better still, delete it.
The old hackneyed phrase, if you are not paying for an internet product,
then you are the product, has a strong element of truth to it.
As a result, if you want to help influence behaviour in the internet
industry the only effective way you can do so is by withdrawing your trust
and your data, which are the lifeblood of the tech industry.
And whatever happens, don't take it for granted that tech companies,
regulators or politicians have your back.
Because if the last few days have proven anything, it is that they clearly
don't.
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