IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2016 - 83
Privacy Policy Changes and User Notification
The last issue is the privacy policy changing once the
user already has an account. Sometimes the user is not
aware of the change since, like Facebook's statement,
the burden could be passed to the user to check for pri-
vacy policy updates [10]. This is an easy way to make
unpopular changes without them being noticed right
away. Google, LinkedIn, and Twitter have a hybrid policy
that states they will notify the user if there are signifi-
cant changes to their privacy policies. However, these
companies are the ones that decide what is significant,
not the user. Any other changes the user must go back
to the privacy page to find [14], [34], [51].
There is also the possibility that a user may be aware
of the changes, but is not in a position where they can
switch services if they do not like the changes. This is
most likely the case with services like Google and Face-
book. In the case of Google, many companies use their
email service. If a user does not like the new privacy
policy, it would be difficult to switch from using Google
when the company they work for still uses it for their
employee service. Facebook is currently the largest
social media site today with no other social networking
site close to the user base that Facebook has. If Face-
book decided to change their policy to something unfa-
vorable to users, there are no viable alternatives.
Companies are aware of this.
When a privacy policy is changed in such a way that it
harms users, there is little chance for users to fight
against the change, especially if they do not know about
it. This is a major problem since at this point any correc-
tion of the mistake is not likely to be because of self-reg-
ulation, but rather the result of a class action lawsuit [8].
Necessity for Change
The troubling aspect of companies collecting a vast
amount of information from users is that two other
groups end up benefiting from their effort. Currently
information is one of the most valued commodities [29].
Consumer information is packaged and sold by data
brokers to companies for any number of reasons (e.g.,
advertising, pre-employment check) which may or may
not violate an individual's privacy depending upon the
method [57]. Data brokers in combination with the vari-
ous web platforms end up making life easier for cyber-
criminals to steal data if it is all in one place. The
potential consequences of a cybercriminal retrieving
information from one of these platforms should not be
taken likely. For many of these web platforms the user
has handed over their name, phone number, email
address, birthdate, and even credit card information.
This is more than enough information for identity theft,
which can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days
to solve, and more than a month to fully recover [12]. In
june 2016
∕
other cases cybercriminals might choose to fully
release the information to the public, which was the
case with the Ashley Madison hack in 2015. Ashley Mad-
ison is a dating site geared towards helping married
individuals to have affairs. This security breach resulted
in over 33 million accounts becoming public knowl-
edge, which led to problems in interpersonal relation-
ships and suicides among some of the users [3].
The second group that benefits the most from the
massive collection of data is law enforcement agencies.
Each one of the web platforms analyzed earlier stated
that they would cooperate with law enforcement when-
ever they had a good faith belief to do so. The amount
of evidence that can be obtained through an individu-
al's online track record is substantial but what is worse
is that the only thing standing between law enforcement
and consumer data is the company that houses it. In
the United States any form of web communication is not
Evidence that can be obtained
through an individual's online track
record is substantial.
considered private according to the law [59]. Online
communication is not considered private because the
information has been viewed by a third party [49], which
in most cases is the website itself. This means the law
does not extend any fourth amendment rights (warrant
requirements for search and seizure) to individuals in
the case of online communication [49]. The amount of
data available from one of these sources is enough to
make even innocent people look guilty when the data is
taken out of context.
User Recommendations
These issue leave users in a bind. While Twitter and
LinkedIn might be optional for consumers, Facebook
and Google are increasingly more difficult to get along
without. If the user does not like the privacy agreement
but is forced to use the platform, then they are left in a
no-win situation. There are a few of unconventional
methods available if a user wants to protect their priva-
cy such as private browsing, "do not track signatures,"
and browsing using Tor. If users decide that they do not
want cookies to be used when they access web plat-
forms, they can choose to block them with their web
browser, but this might cause some web platforms to
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