Data protection has been in the news a lot lately from Facebook selling its users’ data to Cambridge Analytica to the upcoming European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law. Data protection is getting complicated.
What, if anything, will happen to Facebook is unclear as of press time. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, apologized on CNN on March 22, 2018 for the company’s actions but Facebook faces international investigation, and, in the most brutal cut of all, Facebook shares fell $60 billion in the aftermath with Zuckerberg himself losing $10 billion in wealth. Short of deleting third-party apps that mine their data such as those quizzes that will tell you what ’80s movie you are, Facebook users need to tread lightly and realize the platform really isn’t free, present company included.