Uproars over user data privacy

This blogpost was meant as a commentary on what has transpired lately between tech giants Facebook and Google, but in light of recent events, has been somewhat expanded.

If you haven't heard about the latest spat between Apple and Facebook by now, you're probably living under a rock somewhere, or this stuff just doesn't interest you very much. Honestly, I wouldn't blame you either. These two have a love-hate relationship that goes way back when.

The most recent one started when Apple announced Privacy Policy changes with their new operating system, iOS 14. This would compel developers who wish to make iOS apps, to inform the app's users as to how their data is being tracked, and seek these users' explicit permission to do so. A year before that, Apple's CEO Tim Cook appeared to take a shot at Facebook in this column.

Consumers shouldn't have to tolerate another year of companies irresponsibly amassing huge user profiles, data breaches that seem out of control and the vanishing ability to control our own digital lives.

Shots fired.

Facebook responded by putting up full-page ads criticizing Apple's latest initiative, and claiming that those changes would hurt small businesses.

And then it was on.

The back-and-forth has only grown over the course of the past week, though from personal observation, public opinion seems decidedly tilted in Apple's favor. Still, the two sides of the argument are not without their respective merits and I beg your indulgence as I examine them here.

Apple's side

Apple's stated position is fairly straightforward, as it were - users should be informed as to how they are being tracked, and they should have a choice.

The slightly less straightforward part is that currently, users that are being tracked are invariably using some free service somewhere, and this is bad for Apple's subscription-based business model. So does this mean that Apple aren't genuinely concerned abut user privacy? I think a more useful question here would be - do users actually stand to gain if Apple gets their way?

Facebook's side

Facebook argues that being able to track user data, and thus, provide targeted ads, is a great source of revenue and helps keeps services and content free. Granted, giving users a choice invariably means that many of them aren't going to make choices that would please Facebook.

They are also arguing that small businesses (many of which apparently also depend on Facebook) would suffer if users were able to disallow tracking, though I really don't know anybody who actually buys that Facebook is really that concerned about small businesses. Even some of their own employees think that this is corporate bullshit.

My side

What do I think about all this? For starters, regardless of Apple's true intentions, I see no harm (to users anyway) in giving users a choice. Knowledge is power, after all. Apple isn't disallowing tracking on iOS - but ensuring that users know about it and can choose whether or not to let it happen. That's all right in my book.

On the other hand, I don't actually have a problem with allowing the likes of Facebook and Google to track me... and if I do have a problem, I can always choose not to use their services. Say what you like about Google and Facebook, but their services, even the free ones, are quality. They provide me many conveniences in life such as email, maps, site analytics and Social Media. But nothing in life is actually free, and certainly nothing stays free forever. I accept that if I want to continue using their products without paying a cent for them, I am going to have to give something back. And in this case, it means my data - browsing history, geographical locations, online purchases, and so on. Do I like it? No, I certainly don't. But I can live with that tradeoff.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has this motto: Move fast and break things. Well, it looks like Zuckerberg is going to have to do some of that fast-moving if Apple gets its way. Or perhaps the problem is precisely that Facebook moved too fast in capitalizing on targeted data as a main source of revenue, and now it's too late to course-correct. After all, it's been years and certain things are entrenched.

How much do you value your privacy, then? I'm sure plenty of people would choose not to be tracked, and that's fair. Would they be open to having to actually pay for the services they use? Because we can't have it both ways. We've all had it good up to now, but change is inevitable.

In other news...

Yesterday, Singapore had her own little furore when it was revealed during a Parliamentary Session that the TraceTogether tokens that I wrote about last June, could indeed be used to trace people. Apparently, the Criminal Procedure Code gives the Singapore Police Force blanket permission to do so. This was at odds with the statement Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan had made back then, that the data from TraceTogether would only be "purely for contact tracing. Period.".

Amid the cries of righteous fury from the unwashed masses, I'm willing to give Balakrishnan the benefit of the doubt when he says that he forgot about that provision. The man's a doctor by trade, not a lawyer. And there were more pressing concerns at the time... such as a global pandemic. Cynically, he could have, of course, decided to omit that little detail deliberately. And knowing what drama queens some of my fellow Singaporeans are, I find it hard to blame him.

But blame him, I shall.

Man, did it ever occur to him that this would come back to bite him in the ass later? No one of reasonably sound mind is arguing that terrorists and criminals should be exempt from having the data in their TraceTogether tokens tracked (though, if you are, feel free to take the next shuttle to Mars - I don't think you and I belong on the same planet), and yes, it's common sense that the police should have the power to use every means available to them to track down criminal activity. But why, in that case, make such an easily disprovable statement at all? So silly.

This can be used to track you.

However, my position regarding this apparent breach of data privacy remains similar to my stance towards Facebook and Google tracking my data; mainly, I don't give a shit. Sure, I value my privacy. I just happen to value my civic duty a little more.

And to all those lovely folks raising a ruckus over this, here's some food for thought.

Just because the police can use that data against you, it doesn't follow that they will. What possible reason would they have to do so? Your phones are connected to the internet. You probably drive a car that has a GPS installed. There's CCTV all over the island. And you're worried about this token? Are you for real?

This would be like if I had a loaded gun in one hand, and a Swiss Army knife in the other, both of which could be used to kill you... and you obsessed over that stupid knife.

Get a grip, children!

Not-so-privately,
T___T