Facebook is always under some seize, one way or the other. Granted, they don’t have a great track record when it comes to privacy. Leading up from their 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal to the one some months ago, when it was spying on people who don’t even use Facebook! And they did try to convince users about how they’re bringing new kinds of security and privacy measures in their Facebook Developer Conference 2019. But then again, there are people who trust them, and there are who don’t. And then, there are people like me who don’t trust them, and yet won’t stop using it! But just recently, Apple Co-founder, Steve Wozniak, advised people to get off of Facebook.
It didn’t happen out of the blue, though. TMZ, the celebrated celebrity online magazine had a run-in with Steve Wozniak at the National Regan Airport in Washington D.C. When questioned about certain privacy-related stuff, Steve Wozniak went on to express his views and finally advised the people to get off Facebook if they could. Steve Wozniak also deleted his own Facebook account last year.
When asked if he was worried about smart devices spying, he said he was. But there was nothing we could do to stop it. And that makes sense. With many of us using features like smart home appliances, things like Google Home and Alexa have an easy way to access our data. In our bid to stay interconnected, we might be exposing our conversations for all of them to hear. And the level of privacy we think we may have is just not there.
Wozniak even went on to say that social networking companies such as this, should give the users options. Meaning, users can pay for using the platform while the platform keeps the data secure and not sell it to advertisers. And according to various researches, the average cost for using such services ads-free would amount to only $15 a year! And in order to save that, we’re selling off our data, through which these companies make millions!
Also, he said it was smart to delete our Facebook and Instagram accounts. Of course, for many, it doesn’t matter if their information leaks. But if you’re anyone with influence or worth something, or just value your privacy, it’s very smart to do so. Of course, Facebook is only one of such sites. But it comes under constant fire, because well, they can’t seem to keep themselves out of scandals. However, Google has more data on you than anyone else. Because, with their tracking code on almost every website you visit, they have a front row seat to what you’re doing!
But getting rid of Facebook is a start, I guess. Yes, we can’t stop Google, but Facebook is a platform we willingly upload our data to. And with all of this, it’s even more difficult to trust Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra.
While we cannot stop doing that altogether, we can control what we upload on it. And let’s see if Mark Zuckerberg means to actually resolve such issues as he put it on Facebook Developer Conference 2019. He stated Facebook is implementing end to end encryption on Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, too, and wants to improve users’ trust in how they store data. But only time will tell if he’ll keep his word.
