Well, it looks like Facebook is at it again.
Now, Facebook wants your bank information!
Are we to believe that Facebook is sufficiently capable of protecting its users’ private data that we should be willing to entrust our financial information to the social media behemoth?
I hardly think so.
We’re all familiar with Facebook’s numerous data breaches over the years.
Think you’re taking a harmless quiz about what food matches your personality? Think again.
This quiz and others like it are used for data mining purposes and may result in hackers using this information to break into your social media accounts and gain personal information on your friends and family.
The proliferation of these quizzes has resulted in the Better Business Bureau making a formal statement to remind consumers that what we share online can be used for illegal or unethical reasons.
Your personal information is big business and Facebook knows it.
Less than six months ago, Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, was forced to testify before Congress regarding the Cambridge Analytica fiasco, in which he admitted that private information for 87 million Facebook users was obtained improperly by the political consulting firm.
This scandal confirmed what many suspected, that Facebook gathers an obscene amount of personal data from its users and this data winds up in the hands of some questionable players.
And now it wants our financial and banking data?
If this concept does not scare you, it should.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook has asked large U.S. banks to share “detailed financial information” about their customers, including credit card transactions and checking account balance information.
And guess what? In exchange for your private, financial information, Facebook is offering the banks more of your personal information!
Facebook claims this new tactic is part of its effort to “offer new services to its customers” by encouraging its users to utilize its Messenger app to conduct its online banking inquiries.
Facebook claims it does not want specific data related to financial transactions, but rather wants general financial information that it can use to enhance its Messenger app so that a customer can message his or her bank instead of calling about a customer service issue.
But if we have learned anything from Facebook’s handling of its users’ data, it cannot be trusted.
Facebook’s reputation and privacy woes have taken a toll on its stock price. The stock experienced its worst one-day loss in Wall Street history earlier this month, resulting in a loss of $100 billion in a single day of trading.
However, markets reacted positively to the Wall Street Journal report of Facebook partnering with major U.S. banks, as the stock saw a 3 percent pop on this news.
Luckily for consumers, many large banks have been hesitant to share this personal financial information with Facebook, due to data privacy concerns.
But the mere fact that Facebook has actually asked large U.S. banks for this private financial information is yet another serious blow for consumers.
Considering its poor track record with safeguarding its users’ data, and its appalling user consent process, Facebook and Zuckerberg are the last people on earth any of us should trust our personal financial data with.
Thomas Lavelle
Manhasset
