Students React to Facebook Data Breach

By Ibtasam ElmalikiCity College student Andy Lopez can hardly contain the rage he feels at Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, following the massive data breach that occurred in March. “He will soon be exposed for the reptile he truly is,” says Lopez, an English major and film minor.“His mask will fall off and the jury will be dismayed when they see his leather skin.”The Facebook scandal has recently come to the surface and made many others nearly as angry. Cambridge Analytica, a UK based political data firm, obtained the data of 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge, a complete invasion of privacy. According to sources, Cambridge Analytica used the information to drum up support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as well as the Brexit agenda in the United Kingdom. In addition, the current Russian investigation has made government officials weary of Facebook. Zuckerberg has shown remorse over the situation and stated it was now Facebook’s top priority to scrutinize political ads and fake news.Though Zuckerberg vows to change, people remain skeptical. Many had little trust in Facebook before the scandal and the breach only reinforced their suspicions.“I don't have Facebook for a number of reasons,” says Tasnia Anwar, a biology major. “The main reason is I don't like the idea of having our private information become public.”Like students her age Anwar feels it is not only unnecessary but also unsafe. “Why is it that information like where we went to school, what year we graduated, who we are in a relationship with need to be part of our profiles,” she says. “There are many social media platforms that don't need all this information, that feels much safer to use.”Despite his great opposition to Zuckerberg, Lopez has no plans to rid of his account. “I’ve been hearing that people are deleting their accounts due to this, but i don’t think I’ll be doing that,” he says. “I don’t use it often enough to have a significant digital footprint.”