Privacy laws falling behind technology

Federal governments have put forth much privacy legislation to protect individuals across Canada. France, England, the United States, and many other European countries also have passed privacy legislation to protect their citizens.
But we now know those efforts have not been totally successful.
No one expected that citizens of those countries would be expected to protect their own privacy in the social media world. It was expected that by controlling who you could “friend” or “unfriend” on Facebook would be enough.
Yet beginning one week ago, we now know that more than 50 million Facebook accounts have been hacked.
We also know that the company Cambridge Analytica was employed to know how voters were thinking during the Brexit vote, the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the elections in France and Germany.
Even the federal Liberal Party here was prepared to spend $100,000 to use that company to mine information from Canadian Facebook users to influence the election.
Cambridge Analytica appears to have been working for foreign organizations wishing to influence western elections.
In the U.S., Sen. Ron Wyden has sent a letter to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg asking whether Facebook was aware of data violations on its platforms and other violations.
The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioners Office is investigating Cambridge Analytica. Investors are feeling uneasy about Facebook’s regulatory liabilities in the face of fake news and Russian propaganda.
A provincial election is coming in Ontario. Newspapers, along with radio and TV stations, are held accountable for the information they produce. Social media, whether Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, do not fall under the same requirements for accuracy and accountability.
I fall under no illusions that our provincial and federal political parties will continue to use social media to send targeted messages to voters to either spread seeds of doubt or fake news about candidates and parties, or to reinforce positive emotions and ideas of parties and candidates.
The parties will know who you are following on Twitter and Facebook and what messages those followers support. They will be able to determine which news feeds you watch and read.
In a secret interview that was recorded, Mark Turnbull, managing director of Cambridge Analytica’s political division, suggests users targeted by the firm wouldn’t know their online experience was being manipulated.
Armed with that information, the parties will be able to control how you will vote for someone or party in the next election.
Misinformation is rife on Facebook. As Charles Spurgeon is quoted: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
No one expected countries or individuals to change the outcome of elections through social media. Legislation throughout western nations has not kept pace with today’s technology. Countries such as China, North Korea, and Russia either control or ban access to social media.
We would not tolerate Canada, the U.S., Britain, France, or Germany place bans on social media or controlling its content.
Instead, we would expect that those countries would investigate and penalize those companies that violate the privacy of users.
It’s been estimated the potential fine for Facebook could run to $2 trillion if the company was found not to have adequately protected its users.