'Happy Family' Stickers On Cars To FOMO Desire On Instagram Add Yours: Relearning Personal Data Protection

JAKARTA - A Twitter user reported a case of fraud amid the widespread use of the Add Yours feature on Instagram. So it is important to re-examine how careful we are with the protection of our personal data. We know the passion for FOMO exists in many people. But at least, in this matter, don't let us spit out our own personal data into the public sphere.

It is not known for certain the direct relationship between fraud and exposure to our personal data via Add Yours. What is clear, there is indeed a vulnerability to misuse of our personal data through that feature. We understand the FOMO (fear of missing out) desire in many people. The use of personal data is almost impossible to avoid. However, there are limits that we need to be aware of.

IYKRA Senior Data Engineer Rahul Muliana explained this as a dilemma. In the digital age, sharing aspects of personal life has become a lifestyle. These habits are formed as our habits. And our full participation makes it easier for technology companies to take advantage of our personal data.

"The dilemma, after all, is actually between us because we are late in adapting to technology. So often when there is something new, we always don't see what the future impact will be. I say it's a dilemma because it has become a lifestyle, for us to always show it off to the virtual world. We didn't know there was a long-term goal on the data side."

"That's what we don't think about, what is the impact when we take selfies, when we use filters. Even though we can see it, it's roughly the same as training artificial intelligence. Now, people are not aware of these things," said Rahul, contacted by VOI, Tuesday, November 23.

Rahul invites us to understand the point of view of technology companies in cases like this. What Instagram does through the Add Yours feature, according to Rahul, is in the context of data mining or data mining.

The Add Yours feature not only lures users to provide data but also becomes a contributor to data collection. The loophole is believed to be used by parties outside of Instagram to commit crimes.

It is known that users can create their own version of questions or challenges in the Add Yours feature. We can ask other people to mention their age gap with their partner, show their screen time, and finally, mention variations of nicknames. The latter is used as a mode of fraud as told by the @ditamoechtar_ account.

He told that his friend was called by a person claiming to be a colleague and asked for some money to be transferred. The friend believed because the fraudster called him by a familiar nickname, which was allegedly taken from the Add Yours Instagram challenge that his friend participated in.

"What made my friend believe, the cheater called him "pim". "Pim" is my friend's little nickname, which only close people know. Then he remembers he has joined (Add Yours challenge)," Dita wrote in her upload.

This morning, my friend called, crying after being tricked, he said. It's normal, it's a scammer who asks for a transfer like that. What makes my friend believe, the cheater calls him "pim". "Pim" is my friend's nickname, which only close people know. Then he remembers him after joining this: pic.twitter.com/DdvW62ia0e

— Dita Moechtar (@ditamoechtar_) November 23, 2021

Okay, so far we understand that the Add Yours feature is vulnerable to being used by parties outside of Instagram to commit crimes. Even so, the development of the Add Yours trend itself is interesting to observe.

At the beginning of its appearance, the challenge and question features in the Add Yours feature provoked users to participate in small things. The questions and challenges do not involve sensitive data. For example, asking users to take pictures of objects in front of them or showing their gadget screentime.

Yes, that too is a form of data mining. It's just not primary data such as self-identity and so on. But over time the challenges and questions that arise begin to touch the most personal realm. Senior Data Engineering IYKRA Rahul Muliana describes this as an inverted pyramid technique.

This is usually done by application developers or digital platforms. Data collection is carried out from the most general things which will eventually lead to the most personal primary data. In this context we cannot rule out the possibility that this scheme has also been designed by Instagram.

"If I see this the triangle method is reversed. So the general one first is to observe the environment around the user first. Then refer to it. Later on, we'll just mix-match from the nickname. The relation is more there."

"So usually making applications is like that. General first. After that to personal data. Later after that we may not upgrade the application version to allow contact with your name. It has already been reduced to friendship."

Seeing the broader context of our activities on social media, we also need to understand what is called social engineering or social engineering, which is known as a major threat to the security of our data. This type of data breaching is not easy for us to detect because it is manipulative.

Social engineering is a manipulation technique carried out to gain access to personal information or valuable data attached to a person by exploiting the person's own mistakes. In the world of cybercrime, social engineering encourages users to disclose data or spread malware infections to give access to secure systems.

Generally, social engineering has two specific goals: sabotage and theft. Because it exploits human psychological gaps, this method is very useful for influencing the victim's behavior. That's what happened to a lot of people in the Add Yours feature. And an important key to the success of social engineering is the lack of digitally educated community groups.

"I will say this to help them do data mining. This is not a secret for the company. Sometimes we provide features to actually generate data mining. Actually why social media is easy to do data mining because people are not aware of the consequences when downloading an application ."

"So they ignore it. For example, when we download Instagram, WhatsApp, there is something we have to agree on. Actually, from there without even uploading we have provided our data."

What is important to understand is that the use of personal data is not necessarily bad. Basically, many companies use data to optimize services. But in practice there are many vulnerabilities in the misuse of personal data.

"In the data world, there is the concept of data monetization. Not trading. But how about partnerships, better use of data. But this context is the gap. When we monetize data, we sometimes don't think about data privacy or data leaks," said Senior Data Engineering IYKRA Rahul Muliana.

Back to the context of social engineering, this actually happened a long time ago. Remember the 'Happy Family' sticker that is often affixed to cars, maybe even our own cars? This sticker includes social engineering carried out through campaign activation. The goal is to find out basic data from car owners: members in the family institution.

"Interesting, yes. The Happy Family sticker indicates that each car shows how many people there are in the family. That's also data mining, but through a campaign."

The big revolution in data mining and social engineering occurred along with the development of technology. The community is encouraged to carry out all activities through their digital devices. This allows for easier data utilization work. No longer need to go through manual campaigns but can use an integrated technology system.

"Well actually the biggest change is now because it is supported by all activities that have been carried out on mobile, so it's easier no longer to need to make campaigns, just build applications."

Closing the conversation, Rahul explained that in the future our lives will be closely related to the interests of personal data. We can't avoid it. But realizing and understanding the basic concepts of using our personal data is important. Tech companies may devise social engineering to lure us in. But the control of protection is also in our hands.

"In the future, data security can be handled not only from one party. Not only from the company but also from the community side. The point is that we have to be aware, all the contexts of activities on the internet are already related to data. This means that we must realize it. where do we give our data."

*Read other information about PERSONAL DATA or read other interesting articles from Yudhistira Mahabharata.