- Joined
- Apr 20, 2018
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- Washington, D.C.
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There is a lot of hoopla whereby some people think software platform firms should be regulated. Most notably of late are firms like Facebook (FB) and Twitter which some members of Congress have proposed, via the Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act (SMPP), to regulate via a veritable grab back of regulations that augur to govern how social media firms operate.
The SMPP proposes to the following:
The proposed measures portend to hasten the end of free -- monetarily and qualitatively -- communication among humanity. Why? Because SMP firms provide their software to users who "pay" for it by sharing information about themselves. SMP firms sell that information to third parties who have their own reasons for wanting to buy it. If users can disable the collection of that information, there's nothing for third parties to buy, which'd mean that the users themselves would have to pay to use the platform software.
I'm one of the people who doesn't care to share my information too much. This site and one other forum are the only places buyers of SMP user data will find any data about me. Even so, there's nothing about me specifically that'd allow them to connect this account to the "real world" me. The point, though, is that I chose not to join FB, Twitter or Instagram because I don't want to give my information.
Has my abjurance of most SMPs diminished the quality of my life? No, not in the least.
The SMPP proposes to the following:
- Require "social media networks" by law to disable consumer data tracking and collection (when so requested by a user)
- Require "social media networks" to provide notice of a data breach within 72 hours;
- Require "social media networks" to delete user data when asked; and to provide copies of what has been collected about them
The proposed measures portend to hasten the end of free -- monetarily and qualitatively -- communication among humanity. Why? Because SMP firms provide their software to users who "pay" for it by sharing information about themselves. SMP firms sell that information to third parties who have their own reasons for wanting to buy it. If users can disable the collection of that information, there's nothing for third parties to buy, which'd mean that the users themselves would have to pay to use the platform software.
I'm one of the people who doesn't care to share my information too much. This site and one other forum are the only places buyers of SMP user data will find any data about me. Even so, there's nothing about me specifically that'd allow them to connect this account to the "real world" me. The point, though, is that I chose not to join FB, Twitter or Instagram because I don't want to give my information.
Has my abjurance of most SMPs diminished the quality of my life? No, not in the least.
- I still call, visit and write to my friends/acquaintances and they do the same. We did that just fine before SMP, and we've not lost our ability to do so.
- There's little to no news I can use that I'm missing, but I'm not savvy on what Kim, Kanye and other celebs are up to.
- Stuff that doesn't make it into mainstream news but that yet interests me is still on the Internet and I consume plenty of it.
- My elected representatives (or their staff) still take my phone calls and they still send me emails to inform me of "what's what."
- I can shop and travel to my heart's content.
- I still hear the scuttlebutt that flows through the various branches of my grapevine.