Attention Social Media Companies, We Demand More Transparency!

And an accessible hub for privacy information

Social media has been both a gift and a curse in the face of COVID-19. While quarantining from home, users have been able to stay connected to their loved ones. Businesses have innovated new ways to reach their customers through social media marketing. And unique online platforms, like Clubhouse, sprung forth to support freelancers and creatives. But every reward comes with some form of risk. We risk the safety of our personal information as we use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Privacy violations and data leaks abound in the digital realm.

Late last year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Twitter’s gross mishandling of its users’ contact information. Some might argue that total privacy on the internet is pure fantasy. The digital world’s tracking of every “post,” “comment,” and “like” is inevitable. So, what should new and existing users do about this inescapable curse? The obvious answer is to educate ourselves on how these platforms approach privacy. However, the onus is also on these companies to provide more transparency. That was the case built by one Politico: The Agenda article published two years ago. Essentially, social media companies must give their users palatable resources to understand privacy.

…reading about Twitter’s misuse of our contact information is unsettling.

For me, the issue of internet privacy is of the utmost importance. I use social media to stay in contact with my family in Nigeria and Haiti. I also use these services for my professional writing endeavors. I’m well aware of how these companies track my digital footprint. However, reading about Twitter’s misuse of our contact information is unsettling. In her Wall Street Journal report, Kimberly Chin outlines a lawsuit with several implications. In July 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sued Twitter for up to “$150 million” (Chin 1). What was the reason for this lawsuit? According to Chin, Twitter “used phone numbers and email addresses [meant] for safety and security purposes for targeted advertising” (1). The sale of our contact information was a violation of an FTC agreement Twitter signed in 2011. Chin explains that the platform agreed to not “mislead consumers about how it ‘protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information’” (1).

Unfortunately, the issue is still left unresolved. From Chin’s report, it seems as though Twitter has agreed to pay the fine. But there’s no indication that the company will do more to rectify the situation. To be blunt, Twitter failed to remain transparent and protect our data. Phone numbers and emails are essential pieces to the social media puzzle. Signing up and logging in to our accounts require us to give these platforms those details. However, Twitter didn’t notify its users that advertisers bought this information. That is the curse, the risk we take when using social media. Yet, if a company agrees to one thing and does another, we shouldn’t normalize this kind of deception. We should demand more from the platforms that we frequent.

Reestablishing trust between consumers and companies is vital. Users need to know that social media companies hold information safety as a top priority.

So, what tangible solution should we consumers demand from social media platforms? For starters, we could require these companies to provide a more accessible privacy policy. Legal jargon permeates the “terms of service” we encounter at the initial sign-up stage. These documents do well to protect the company should it ever find itself in a privacy lawsuit. But it fails to explain these policies in layman’s terms. The average user seldom sifts through multiple pages of hard-to-read privacy text. Instead, we find ourselves vexed trying to figure out how platforms use our data. Hence, the infamous “scroll down, click ‘Agree,’ and move on” approach to reading every privacy policy.

However, a Privacy Label, a term coined by writer Bart Lazar, would shift the tides. In his Politico: The Agenda piece, Lazar asserts that “a ‘privacy label’ offers a middle ground” (2) between jargon and understandable language. It would resemble the food labels we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. In other words, it would explain the inner workings of the privacy policy in a much simpler style. Thus, every consumer would be able to “make an informed choice about how websites use their personal information” (Lazar 4). Lazar explains that this isn’t a “perfect solution” (3), but it does improve our current landscape.

Companies like Twitter and Facebook can add any new policy changes to these labels. That would foster a much more transparent digital atmosphere. Therefore, also bridging the trust gap between consumers and companies. Reestablishing trust between consumers and companies is vital. Users need to know that social media companies hold information safety as a top priority. Otherwise, there’s no incentive to stay on these platforms.

Users need to know that platforms like Twitter are tightening up their security.

Twitter broke that trust when it decided to sell its users’ information. According to Chin, this wasn’t the first incident that broke the 2011 FTC agreement. In 2015, there was a data breach that affected “over 130 Twitter accounts” (Chin 1). Chin explains that it “marked [Twitter’s] third major security issue” (1) since the signing. Granted, a Privacy Label won’t do much to stop any future security breaches. Lazar acknowledges this reality when he says, “hackers…will still find ways to infiltrate systems” (2). Although, such labels that include information about previous breaches could help.

Being made privy to this information would help account holders understand the risks. Again, the goal is to provide a palatable resource to consumers. Privacy Labels that inform users about data breaches also foster more transparency. Yet, it’s important to note that transparency alone doesn’t build trust. Users need to know that platforms like Twitter are tightening up their security. Social media sites should give clear examples of how they plan to keep our data safe. Privacy Labels could be the hub for that knowledge.

The end goal is for users to make conscious decisions about social media and their privacy. We should celebrate the positive aspects of increased social media use. But we should also keep its risks in view. Holding the two in a delicate balance is part of engaging with the digital community. Gone are the days where we skim through privacy policy as if it’s unimportant. And gone are the days where we don’t hold our platforms accountable for their deception. Whether it comes from a Privacy Label or not, we demand more transparency from the services that harbor our sensitive data.

Works Cited

Chin, Kimberly. “Twitter Could Pay FTC Fine Over Alleged Privacy Violations.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 4 Aug. 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-could-pay-ftc-fine-over-alleged-privacy-violations-11596501001

Lazar, Bart. “Why We Need a ‘Privacy Label’ on the Internet.” The Agenda, Politico, 25 Apr. 2018, www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/04/25/internet-privacy-label-000656/.