Many Canadians are pledging to delete their Facebook accounts as part of an online campaign encouraging people to permanently log off the site amid mounting concerns that the social media giant is inappropriately sharing users鈥� information beyond their circle of friends.

Privacy experts say numerous Canadians are taking to other social media platforms to join in on the #DeleteFacebook hashtag in the wake of recent revelations about the potential for their personal information to be mined for political gain.

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Canadian data scientist Christopher Wylie has accused a voter-profiling company of improperly obtaining private Facebook data from some 50 million users in an effort to tip the scales in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and the U.K.鈥檚 Brexit referendum.

Former Ontario privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian said a data leak of that scale was an 鈥渦nthinkable proposition鈥� for many Canadians who have long harboured frustrations about Facebook鈥檚 apparent lack of safeguards to protect user data from being shared with dubious actors.

鈥淧eople are very concerned and they feel they鈥檝e lost control, and this just confirms that,鈥� said Cavoukian, who is an expert-in-residence at Ryerson University鈥檚 Privacy by Design Centre in Toronto.

鈥淵ou just reach the point where you say, 鈥楨nough is enough. I鈥檓 out of here.鈥欌��

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She said the exposure of the data-harvesting technique has been a wake-up call for citizens who fear similar tactics could be used to influence Canada鈥檚 2019 federal election, and now feel compelled to stand up for their country鈥檚 democratic institutions.

鈥淣o one wants to be under that kind of dark influence,鈥� Cavoukian said. 鈥淵ou have no idea what 鈥� massive shifts are happening as a result of this. You鈥檙e being manipulated.鈥�

University of Toronto marketing professor David Soberman said there has been increasing awareness about the risk of political operatives using social media tactics to sway elections.

Soberman said he thinks the Facebook data leak has resonated not only because it punctured public confidence in the social media company鈥檚 privacy protocols, but because it had a tangible effect in the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose campaign has been linked to the data analytics firm allegedly behind the data-harvesting technique.

In an increasingly interconnected world, he said, what happens in one jurisdiction can signal what will happen in another, so all Canadians have to do is look to their southern neighbours to understand that social media meddling can have sweeping political consequences.

鈥淔acebook is moving from the world of a novelty to becoming what I would almost call a public utility,鈥� he said. 鈥淔acebook provides a lot of value to a lot of people 鈥� but when you鈥檝e got a really, really valuable company and you鈥檙e under threat, you鈥檝e got to figure out actions you can do to protect that value.鈥�

Mike Smit, an associate professor at Dalhousie University鈥檚 School of Information Management, said most people are aware of the privacy risks involved in sharing their personal information with Facebook, but their reservations are outweighed by the immediate rewards of online connection.

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But as the potential loopholes in Facebook鈥檚 privacy measures become harder to ignore, those seemingly abstract privacy concerns have come to feel more concrete for many social media users, Smit said.

鈥淚t changes the whole calculus (of the) decision-making process when we thought there were all these protections in place, but instead, they鈥檙e not,鈥� he said. 鈥漁ur safety blanket has been ripped away from us and we鈥檙e feeling vulnerable.鈥�

Smit said the social media company鈥檚 initial cagey response to the revelations did little to restore consumers confidence that their private information was in safe hands.

Days after the data leak was first reported by The Guardian newspaper and the New York Times, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday that the company is taking steps to protect people鈥檚 private information, including banning developers who don鈥檛 comply with audits and limiting access to user data.

鈥淲e have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can鈥檛 then we don鈥檛 deserve to serve you,鈥� Zuckerberg said in a statement. 鈥滻鈥檝e been working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure this doesn鈥檛 happen again.鈥�

Facebook has denied the data collection was a breach because people knowingly provided their information. The company has said a University of Cambridge psychology professor accessed the information after he requested it from users who gave their consent when they chose to sign up for his test via a Facebook app.

The newspaper reports said Facebook first learned of the leak more than two years ago, but didn鈥檛 disclose it until now.

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鈥� With files from The Associated Press

Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press

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