Source: Wix | Unsplash
Everyone must have had their own experiences in applying for jobs. So do I. I've had a fair share of applying through various platforms, such as Seek, Indeed, and LinkedIn. Few days after applying, I received a call from an unknown number. I answered the call, hoping that it was a recruiter and it was...
Telemarketer.
Instead of receiving calls from recruiter, I received more calls from telemarketers. But that's a story for another time. What I want to tell you in here is that I never shared my number to anyone other than my family and friends. So, where did those telemarketers get my number? I realised that they might have gotten my number through information I put on job seeker sites.
Unfortunately, I can't actually prove where those telemarketers sourced my phone number. I do think similar cases like this have often occurred in our lives, and the reason why this happened is the potential misuse of big data.
Big data has proven to solve many problems for us marketers, such as setting the basis of micro-segmentation or finding unusual associations. However, it is a powerful tool. The users have to critically evaluate their use of such a powerful tool by asking themselves: is it the right thing to do, morally, ethically, and legally?
If Something Is Free, You Are The Product
Source: Wix | Unsplash
I think it has become the common knowledge that many social media apps sell your data to advertising companies. It's legal, though; remember the terms and conditions that nobody ever bothers to read through? So, I went through Facebook's T&Cs and this is what they say about our data:
Source: Facebook Terms & Conditions
Unfortunately, by agreeing to use Facebook's products according to its terms and conditions, we ended up becoming their products for their advertisers. Such an irony, isn't it? One may argue that this is the consumer's fault for not reading the T&Cs thoroughly, but honestly, nobody got the time to read lengthy pages of T&Cs, let alone for multiple social media platforms.
If we do even bother to read those T&Cs, do we actually have the time? Apparently, a study shows that it takes an average person 244 hours/year to read online privacy policies; even skimming the policies takes 154 hours/year, which not a lot of people would have the time for. This is one of the reasons why a staggering number of Australians (94%) don't read T&Cs; it's lengthy, and often times difficult to understand. Consumers are then left with no choice; 73% of Australians accepted T&Cs because it's the only way they can access the service. For some consumers, they may be able to just opt-out, but for others, their jobs may be dependent on the usage of those platforms.
Considering that social media platforms make their money through advertising, I believe this business model will still be here in the long run. The question is, through this business model, Facebook, as an example, gained average revenue per user of $8.52, so why don't they just direct it to the actual user through subscription model instead? The answer would be due to the exposure of risk it might have, such as consumers opting out of their service that will delimit their growth.
With this business model staying throughout, it is important for social media platforms to ensure that they have laid out a clear T&Cs for their consumers, especially in guarding consumers' privacy. Understanding the types of data consumers are objecting to share, or reworking the way T&Cs are presented so that it becomes easier to read and understand, are several strategies social media platforms can implement in making social media experience better for everyone.
Source: CPRR
Questions to ponder
What do you think of social media platform's effort in ensuring privacy to their users? Is it enough to guard consumer's privacy? What do you think they could have done better?