Is the Facebook Fallout the tip of the iceberg?
Even not being a big user of Facebook it is hardly surprising at how a platform that costs hundreds of millions to run a year and charges its users nothing has been stretching the legality of what they have been doing with users data.
The question arises of what next?
The obvious focus of attention has to be on digital assistance. As of January 2018 Google have said they have been selling one Google Home Device per second since 2016 which equates to 7.5 million sold. At the same time we have Amazon Alexis out there doing her thing. For these devices to work they have to always be on and listening waiting for the trigger word but it wouldn’t surprise me if all voice data has been recorded, as effectively it has to be for the server farm algorithms to pick up the trigger word.
So the question is: if Facebook can influence presidential elections with a small amount of data what can be done with a voice data information going on in 20+ million homes around the globe. Having recently been using voice to text for a number of projects at least from my experience the assumptions that the algorithms come up with for me at least will be a controversial French Man with an unhealthy interest in raisins - although I don’t mind a glass of wine occasionally.
I think we are heading to a world where manufactures have to seriously consider
whether to start treating our data as purely ours and their usage of it requirers a financial reward of the data owner. For instance if I buy and Echo Dot or a Google Assistant or even a Smart Tv the product manufacturer assumes the right to consume my personal data, what I watch and what I listen to, then I expect a significant discount on the cost of this device in the first place. Alternatively they need to be open, up front and honest and pay me for the usage of the data and the bandwidth of my network that they are using to broadcast the data.
There also has to be an onus on this entity to keep the data safe encrypted and secure. Something that I am aware of most do not do. I feel huge concern that with hacker or data breach focused on these companies these will make the facebook controversy seem trifle.
