Privacy
Recently,
there is a crackdown on regulating technology companies. All big technology
companies have had some form of scandal that was released to the public. The
one that struck the most controversy is the Cambridge Analytica Sandal where
Facebook was behind it. To keep it high level, Cambridge Analytica was gaining
private information on 50 million plus users on Facebook without their consent.
Simultaneously, Cambridge Analytica was hired by Donald Trump for his
presidential campaign in 2016. The data that Cambridge gathered was to gag the
personalities of American votes and try to influence their behavior. This
scandal was not considered a data breach since when signing up for an account, users
were consenting to having their data used for academic purposes in the fine
print. This scandal highlights how privacy and confidentiality is an issue that
is related to new media. There are around 190 million users in the United
States, meaning that if Facebook’s firewalls are not operating effectively, hackers
and other companies can easily access confidential data and use it for
malicious reasons.
Another way
that privacy is an issue related to new media is job recruiting. A lot of the
times, when employers do background checks, they would check your social media
platforms. They don’t want to onboard a candidate that doesn’t embody their
mission statement. At the same time, it is understandable since employees are
the face of the company, doesn’t matter if you’re in an entry level position or
senior management. However, on the other side, there’s controversy revolving
around that. Some believe that your personal life shouldn’t play a factor in
the hiring process if you have the skills and experiences that make you a fit
for the position.
I also have seen job recruiting being a big factor when it comes to privacy issues. I've seen many people even change there handles and usernames on facebook and instagram in the hopes that employers won't be able to find them. Although I do agree that social media shouldn't weigh too heavily on this, it also helps the company know whether your a fit for there business culture as well as seeing other factors that companies may like.
ReplyDeleteHi Ava,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing up the job recruiting process and how that could be severely impacted by data privacy. So many times we hear about things in the news where employees are fired from their jobs because of comments they have made on Facebook or Twitter. I think people need to understand that the lines between their personal lives and professional lives are becoming blurred when your thoughts are so easily made public.
While it may seem unfair, you are absolutely correct when you talk about candidates reflecting their employers and how its a legitimate thing to manage.