Tag Archives: facebook

Protecting privacy in the aftermath of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal

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By Steven McGinty

On 4 June, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham told MEPs that she was ‘deeply concerned’ about the misuse of social media users’ data.

She was speaking at the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) inquiry into the use of 87 million Facebook profiles by Cambridge Analytica and its consequences for data protection and the wider democratic process. The whole affair has shone a light on how Facebook collected, shared, and used data to target people with political and commercial advertising. And, in a warning to social media giants, she announced:

“Online platforms can no longer say that they are merely a platform for content; they must take responsibility for the provenance of the information that is provided to users.”

Although this is tough talk from the UK’s guardian of information rights – and many others, including politicians, have used similar language – the initial response from the Information Commissioner was hardly swift.

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) struggled at the first hurdle, failing to secure a search warrant for Cambridge Analytica’s premises. Four days after the Elizabeth Denham announced her intention to raid the premises, she was eventually granted a warrant following a five-hour hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice. This delay – and concerns over the resources available to the ICO – led commentators to question whether the regulator has sufficient powers to tackle tech giants such as Facebook.

Unsurprisingly, it was not long before the Information Commissioner went into “intense discussion” with the government to increase the powers at her disposal. At a conference in London, she explained:

“Of course, we need to respect the rights of companies, but we also need streamlined warrant processes with a lower threshold than we currently have in the law.”

Conservative MP, Damien Collins, Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, expressed similar sentiments, calling for new enforcement powers to be included in the Data Protection Bill via Twitter:

Eventually, after a year of debate, the Data Protection Act 2018 was passed on the 23 May. On the ICO blog, Elizabeth Denham welcomed the new law, highlighting that:

“The legislation requires increased transparency and accountability from organisations, and stronger rules to protect against theft and loss of data with serious sanctions and fines for those that deliberately or negligently misuse data.”

By introducing this Act, the UK Government is attempting to address a number of issues. However, the Information Commissioner, will be particularly pleased that she’s received greater enforcement powers, including creating two new criminal offences: the ‘alteration etc of personal data to prevent disclosure‘ and the ‘re-identification of de-identified personal data’.

GDPR

On 25 May, the long awaited General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force. The Data Protection Act incorporates many of the provisions of GDPR, such as the ability to levy heavy fines on organisations (up to €20,000,000 or 4% of global turnover). The Act also derogates from EU law in areas such as national security and the processing of immigration-related data. The ICO recommend that GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 are read side by side.

However, not everyone is happy with GDPR and the new Data Protection Act. Tomaso Falchetta, head of advocacy and policy at Privacy International, has highlighted that although they welcome the additional powers given to the Information Commissioner, there are concerns over the:

“wide exemptions that undermine the rights of individuals, particularly with a wide exemption for immigration purposes and on the ever-vague and all-encompassing national security grounds”.

In addition, Dominic Hallas, executive director of The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec), has warned that we must avoid a hasty regulatory response to the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. He argues that although it’s tempting to hold social media companies liable for the content of users, there are risks in taking this action:

“Pushing legal responsibility onto firms might look politically appealing, but the law will apply across the board. Facebook and other tech giants have the resources to accept the financial risks of outsized liability – startups don’t. The end result would entrench the positions of those same companies that politicians are aiming for and instead crush competitors with fewer resources.”

Final thoughts

The Facebook-Cambridge Analytical scandal has brought privacy to the forefront of the public’s attention. And although the social media platform has experienced minor declining user engagement and the withdrawal of high profile individuals (such as inventor Elon Musk), its global presence and the convenience it offers to users suggests it’s going to be around for some time to come.

Therefore, the ICO and other regulators must work with politicians, tech companies, and citizens to have an honest debate on the limits of privacy in a world of social media. The GDPR and the Data Protection Act provide a good start in laying down the ground rules. However, in the ever-changing world of technology, it will be important that this discussion continues to find solutions to future challenges. Only then will we avoid walking into another global privacy scandal.

The Knowledge Exchange provides information services to local authorities, public agencies, research consultancies and commercial organisations across the UK. Follow us on Twitter to see what developments in policy and practice are interesting our research team. 

If you found this article interesting, you may also like to read our other digital articles.

Denmark’s digital ambassador: should the UK be following suit?

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By Steven McGinty

On 26 January, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that they would be appointing the world’s first ‘digital ambassador’ to act as the nation’s representative to major technology companies, such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.

At a conference on the future of the Foreign Service, the Foreign Minister, Anders Samuelsen, explained that:

“Denmark must be at the forefront of technological development. Technological advances are making such a great impact on our society that it has become a matter of foreign policy. I have therefore decided to announce the appointment of a digitisation ambassador.”

In a follow up interview with Danish newspaper Politken, Mr Samuelsen expressed his belief that multinational technology giants “affect Denmark just as much as entire countries”. He highlighted the examples of Apple and Google whose market values are so large that if they were countries they would only narrowly miss out from inclusion in the G20 – the global forum for cooperation between the world’s 20 major economies.

As a result of this economic strength, together with tech firms’ impact on the everyday lives of citizens, Mr Samuelsen argues that the technology sector should be treated as a form of ‘new nation’, which Denmark must develop closer relationships with.

Cooperation between nation states and the technology sector

Technology companies are becoming involved in activities that were once reserved for nation states. For example, Mr Samuelsen’s Liberal party accepts donations in Bitcoin – an online currency which challenges the state’s role as the only issuer of legal tender. And Microsoft have signed a partnership agreement with the French Ministry of Education to provide teacher training, in order to prepare teachers for running special coding classes.

The technology industry argues that it is better placed than national governments to provide effective digital services, at cheaper prices. In terms of national security, computer engineering expert and academic, Jean-Gabriel Ganascia, argues that this is probably the case. Mr Ganascia highlights that Google and Facebook have vast image databases that enable them to use facial recognition software far better than any national security service. Therefore, countries have started working with technology companies on a variety of crime and public safety issues.

Citizens are also spending greater amounts of time on social media platforms. In an interview with The Washington Post, Mr Samuelsen stated that more than half of the world’s data has been created in the past two years (much of this from major platforms such as Facebook). This trend has implications for the privacy of citizens and the spreading of false information, a phenomena that has been labelled ‘fake news’. These issues are fundamentally important for citizens and nation states, and are likely to increase cooperation between countries and the technology sector.

Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs

Although Denmark will be the first country to introduce a digital ambassador, another government has made a similar appointment. In January, Dr Tobias Feakin was appointment as Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs. His role focuses on cyber-security, but also includes issues such as censorship and promoting internet access. At this stage, it’s unclear whether Dr Feakin will have direct contact with technology companies and whether this relationship will involve discussions over economic issues such as taxation.

Is a digital ambassador necessary?

Not everyone, however, is buying into the appointment of a government representative focused solely on digital issues. Technology journalist, Emma Woollacott, believes that it’s a ‘terrible idea’.

According to Ms Woollacott, Denmark already has a good relationship with technology companies, highlighting that Facebook has recently announced plans to build a new data centre in Odense, creating 150 new permanent jobs. These views may have some merit, as Mr Samuelsen has confirmed that the deal between the Foreign Ministry and Facebook was the result of three years of behind-the-scenes work.

Ms Woollacott also argues that Denmark is setting a worrying precedent by equating a private company to a nation state.  In her view, the importance of the technology sector could have been acknowledged through hiring knowledge staff, rather than granting it a ‘unique political status’.

However, Professor Jan Stentoft, who researches the insourcing of technological production to Denmark, believes creating the ambassadorial post is a good idea. He explains:

“We have much to offer these companies, but Denmark is a small country, and we obviously need to make ourselves noticed if we are to attract them to the country.”

Marianne Dahl Steensen, CEO of Microsoft Denmark, also welcomed the creation of a digital ambassador position, but did acknowledge that the company ‘can hardly be equated with a nation’.

Should the UK introduce a digital ambassador?

By introducing a digital ambassador, Mr Samuelsen is taking a pragmatic approach to ensure Denmark is a key player in the international digital economy, as well as attempting to manage the impacts of an increasingly digital society.

Although appointing an ambassador for the technology sector poses philosophical and ethical questions, the UK should closely monitor how this new role develops and the potential benefits (and challenges) it brings for Denmark. In particular, if the new role is able to improve dialogue between technology companies and the security services on matters such as privacy, or help address the sector’s need for digitally skilled workers, then maybe introducing a digital ambassador is something worth exploring.

Follow us on Twitter to see what developments in public and social policy are interesting our research team. If you found this article interesting, you may also like to read our other digital articles. 

Digital technology in social work practice

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Using social media in social work practice was the topic of conversation at a recent conference, held at the University of Stirling. With a delegate list including academics, researchers, practitioners and representatives from the public and private sectors the conversation topics were broad and wide ranging from how to use social media, what to avoid doing and how to integrate digital technologies and systems into everyday practice for social workers.

social media infographic photoPartnerships to deliver digital solutions

In March last year we told you about the partnership between a local authority and Idox who teamed up to deliver a digital case management tool to support the council social workers in their day to day practice. The ideas that were promoted during the conference not only emphasises the innovative nature of that partnership when it was developed, but also the continuing possibilities to pursue innovative digital solutions within local government to allow Idox to continue deliver efficient and positive outcomes for service users.

Avoiding social media pitfalls

Aside from poor infrastructure, like a lack of wifi, and seemingly impenetrable work computer firewalls, both of which came up regularly in discussions, one of the main reasons social workers did not use social media was fear, uncertainty and worry of the repercussions should something be posted or liked which was deemed inappropriate.

Rachel Wardell, the director of Services at Warwickshire council gave a talk on utilising Twitter in an appropriate way and outlined the “7 stages of Twitter” for new and advanced users. She suggested that Twitter was actually a great way for social workers, teams and managers to make connections and share best practice across the profession. She discussed how links initially forged on twitter by a follow or the sharing of an article developed into partnerships and trips to visit areas of best practice to observe and learn from fellow professionals.picjumbo.com_HNCK1814

However for many social workers, and their management teams, social media use can still be problematic, with the BBC reporting earlier in the year that there had been a rise in the number of council workers being punished for misconduct relating to social media. For social work teams the pressures and implications are even more significant. In discussion with Birmingham University’s Dr Tarsem Singh Cooner some of the delegates highlighted examples of colleagues who had been accused of bringing the profession into disrepute and some extreme instances where they had been removed from cases at the request of service users who had seen a post on their social media account which was not secured with privacy settings.

While most were keen to stress that these were individual mistakes and misjudgements there was still anxiety about the increasingly blurred boundaries between public and private, the importance of relationship building and personal experience for social workers interacting with service users, but the necessity to remain professional. The phrase ‘social workers are human too’ was used regularly by those advocating the use of social media and that councils should use a level of common sense and discretion when dealing with incidents involving staff and social media. However, the general consensus appeared to be that social media should be treated with caution:

  • use a separate work and personal account
  • use an alias
  • employ maximum privacy settings
  • don’t post anything that could potentially bring the profession or your conduct into disrepute
An example (from my own Twitter) of how Twitter can be used to document conferences and interact with professionals

An example (from my own Twitter) of how Twitter can be used to document conferences and interact with professionals

Making social work ‘appier

One of the big developments which has become increasingly popular as a tool to engage social work in digital technology is the creation of apps. Many of the conference discussions were on the benefits of using an app, how they can be utilised fully in their roles as training tools and information providers or how they can be used to encourage participation and communication in aspects such as feedback.

Anne Campbell from Queens University Belfast discussed the development of a series of information-based apps which focused on child development. Another app covered the knowledge of social workers and social care teams of drug and alcohol in substance misuse cases, including symptoms, street names for abused substances and the studies which use examples of substance misuse in social work and adult and child protection cases. She discussed the importance of using practitioners and service users to develop the app, to ensure it was fit for purpose and easy to use. She also highlighted the potential for her apps, which currently operate in a Northern Irish context, to be developed and diversified to account for differences in policy in Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and England and Wales.

Screenshot images of the apps

Screenshot images of the apps

There is a potential for software development in the future which would see more secure data files more easily accessible via personalised secure apps and document drop apps, which could be shared across a number of sectors, including health, social care and education. Delivering the digital infrastructure platforms to develop and successfully run integrated systems and sharing platforms such as these would require huge investment from local authorities, and would potentially provide the opportunity to work in conjunction with specialists, such as Idox, to develop software which is supportive, flexible and fit for purpose.

Apps

Iphone apps. Image by Daniel Go via Creative Commons

Using social media to create connections

The final part of the afternoon was characterised by case study style discussions, where speakers presented their own experiences, both positive and negative of using social media and stressed the importance of social media as a way to create connections. The connections spoken about included connections between practitioners, to create a more extensive community of best practice within the social work profession, connections between service users and social workers, many of whom feel more comfortable communicating via social media, and finally creating connections between service users to help them provide support to each other. This was something specifically highlighted by the team from Lothian Villas in East Lothian.

Lothian Villas have been using a closed, invite only Facebook group as a forum to interact with young people staying with them during a period in residential care. Members can post on the page, while others respond giving advice and reminiscing, much like a traditional family would do. That, according to Ewan McKay, is vital for allowing children who have come from care to build and maintain relationships and have happy memories of their childhood which can go on to shape how they behave as adults in the future. They can also then pass their memories and advice onto the children who are coming through the system after them.

Other groups spoke about the use of document sharing sites, digital presentation sites and networking sites like LinkedIn to create and document continuing professional development (CPD), a core part of social workers’ continuing improvement and the maintenance of standards.

 

The conference highlighted the massive steps forward which have been taken and the desire for drive and innovation in digital infrastructure to take public services, and their delivery onto digital platforms. This would allow for greater connectivity between professions such as social work and other service providers in health and education resulting in more efficient services, producing better outcomes for service users. Using digital platforms well, including apps, sharing websites and personal social networking sites such as Twitter will allow practitioners and local authorities to ‘join up’ services to promote more holistic, person-centred care at a local level while allowing professionals to build a network of best practice and document their own CPD. Digital media in social work practice could potentially be a key enabler in improving practice and generating positive outcomes for service users.

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