Newswise — David Muir, an assistant professor of marketing, can comment on the recent Facebook leak in which the company allowed Cambridge Analytica to access consumers’ personal data.
Muir says the leak happened because of Facebook’s lack of oversight into the goings-on of Cambridge Analytica – clearly, Facebook did not monitor or follow up with Cambridge on a regular basis in that regard. This was Facebook’s Achilles heel in this case, he says.
“Privacy has always been a concern with data analytics and digital marketing, and this incident suggests companies who collect large swathes of data on consumers need to be even more careful with whom they do business and with whom they share this information,” Muir says.
Muir, who focuses on sophisticated marketing and pricing strategies of firms and their impact on consumer search, says he has not seen or heard evidence of a massive exodus of consumers from Facebook and does not expect it. News reports spoke of a small percentage of people deactivating their accounts, but most people are staying put because Facebook is so entrenched in their lives, he says.
“If anything, good will come out of this because social platforms will take privacy even more seriously than they claim to have been doing for years,” Muir says.
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