The Manipulation of Images, as Personal Data, by Facebook – a Case Study for Ethical Approach

The purpose of this paper was to explore whether the use of images, by the social platform Facebook, presented ethical concerns, and whether a user was sufficiently aware when he consented to the use, of the ways in which his images could be manipulated by the platform. It is a common practice for a person to open a social media account, and to start uploading content, in order to make it available to his family, friends, clients or larger groups. However, it is not obvious, when opening such an account, that these images escape, in a sense, from the hand of the account owner. This article has reviewed the underlying relationship between a user and a platform, by analyzing the Meta (former Facebook) data privacy policy and some additional texts, underwent a step further and looked at the possible use done by the platform, and finally tried to understand how the user was given the information needed to control such use. Although the documents were clear enough for a person skilled in the legal field, the paper discussed the finding of an intent to keep a certain technical vocabulary, thus barring a non-specialized user from the clear understanding of the rights transferred to the platform. Also, there was a non-obvious differentiation of the levels of explanation, when trying to summarize a friendly approach to a new user, while the following real explanation of the rights granted to that user were highly technical. This paper tried to bring, finally, some solutions about the way the users should be informed and brought to a clearer understanding of the use of their personal data, by a social media platform.