Facebook workers’ morale at rock bottom: Paul Olivier DeHaye

Morale at embattled social media giant Facebook has hit rock bottom, protection specialist Paul Olivier DeHaye says.

ShareRoot chief executive Noah Abelson-Gertler.

Morale at embattled social media giant Facebook has hit rock bottom, according to data protection specialist Paul Olivier DeHaye, who has just joined Silicon Valley ASX-listed company ShareRoot.

The software as a service platform for social media marketing expert is looking to reboot how companies engage with personal data of their customers with its new platform MediaConsent.

ShareRoot boss Noah Abelson-Gertler describes Media­Consent as a platform focused on protecting consumer data and privacy in marketing for companies and consumers alike.

MediaConsent protects companies from being sued in a world of rapidly changing legal framework, and gives consumers a choice over when they are advertised to, when they are being tracked wherever they go, and when their search history or their personal identifying information is being followed.

“Consumer data and privacy have been infringed upon for years, as technology has got more and more advanced and data gathering has become more and more robust,” Mr Abelson-­Gertler told The Australian.

“Regulatory bodies and governments throughout the world have finally woken to the fact they need to prioritise the protection of consumers’ data and privacy.”

ShareRoot is building an advisory board of privacy and marketing leaders for MediaConsent, including Paul Olivier DeHaye, a mathematician previously at the University of Zurich in Switzerland who published some of the first research into Cambridge Analytica’s processes. He is bullish on the ability of MediaConnect to change how users handle their personal data.

“We will see a quick evolution in expectations from individuals regarding how their personal data is handled, and things might heat up quickly from a legal standpoint,” he said. “Companies need to be ready to engage more clearly with people, on a new basis of trust, maintained over time.”

Mr Olivier DeHaye said the most significant change so far in the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica revelations is we have started to see leaks from Facebook.

“People are internally questioning Facebook’s mission, and how it is being pursued,” he said. ‘‘Morale seems to be going down. This might have long-term effects, for instance around recruiting. Facebook has the opportunity here to reinvent itself, and be a leader for a new form of economy. I doubt they will, however.”

He said he joined the ShareRoot advisory team given ShareRoot and its MediaConsent platform were genuinely trying to reboot how companies engaged with personal data.

“MediaConsent will be doing this simultaneously on the B2B and B2C side of things,” he said.

“Their strategy is also very clever, since they are expanding from an area where the law is settled — copyright on images — on to more uncertain areas.”

ShareRoot will use blockchain technology in the rollout of this new platform, alongside the advisory of blockchain and crypto consultancy ASX-listed company Digital X.

Mr Abelson-Gertler called the integration of blockchain technology into ShareRoot’s platforms and services a no-brainer.

“Blockchain at its foundation is focused on protecting and securing data, and in MediaConsent’s case will ensure consumer data cannot be modified without a consumer being aware and approving the modification first,” he said.

To complement the launch of its new platform, ShareRoot has also acquired social media and digital marketing agency, The Social Science, arming the firm with a creative agency experienced in creating legally compliant social media campaigns.