“The fallout from Facebook Inc.’s data privacy scandal is spreading,” Sarah Frier reports for Bloomberg. “The social media giant will delay the unveiling of new home products and is redesigning a menu of privacy settings on its network, stepping up its response to public outrage over revelations that it mishandled user data.”
Frier reports, “Facebook’s new hardware products, connected speakers with digital-assistant and video-chat capabilities, are undergoing a deeper review to ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data, according to people familiar with the matter.”
MacDailyNews Take: No further review is necessary. The answer is “No.” Facebook’s business model precludes user privacy. Facebook’s personal users’ are Facebook’s product.
“The efforts underscore a key concern of both Facebook and its investors: how to keep people from deleting their accounts — or just avoiding the service — over what many see as a betrayal of customers’ trust,” Frier reports. “The Cambridge Analytica affair has plunged Facebook into one of its worst crises of confidence in years. The stock has fallen 18 percent since the news was first revealed by the New York Times and The Observer of London earlier this month, wiping out almost $100 billion of market value. Facebook is no longer among the top five most valuable companies in the world.”
“The new home devices are part of Facebook’s plan to become more intimately involved with users’ everyday social lives, using artificial intelligence — following a path forged by Amazon.com Inc. and its Echo in-home smart speakers. As concerns escalate about Facebook’s collection and use of personal data, now may be the wrong time to ask consumers to trust it with even more information by placing a connected device in their homes,” Frier reports. “The social-media company had already found in focus-group testing that users were concerned about a Facebook-branded device in their living rooms, given how much intimate data the social network collects. Facebook still plans to launch the devices later this year.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, before you set up Facebook listening devices in your home, make sure you send your DNA off to some company to be analyzed first. Get a Google Home speaker, too, while you’re at it. You might as well get all of your private info out there for anyone’s, any company’s, and any government’s perusal, m’kay?
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Cook: Facebook should have self-regulated, but it’s too late for that now – March 28, 2018
U.S. FTC will investigate Facebook over privacy or lack thereof – March 26, 2018
Apple CEO Cook calls for more data oversight, ‘well-crafted regulation’ after Facebook debacle – March 26, 2018
Facebook has been collecting call history and SMS data from Android devices for years; Apple iOS devices unaffected – March 25, 2018
Apple CEO Cook ramps up pressure on Facebook, calls for more regulations on data privacy – March 24, 2018
Steve Jobs tried to warn Mark Zuckerberg about privacy in 2010 – March 23, 2018
Facebook has gotten too big, too powerful, too influential for Mark Zuckerberg to handle – March 23, 2018
How to block Facebook completely from your Mac – March 22, 2018
How Facebook made it impossible to delete Facebook – March 22, 2018
What to expect from Facebook’s Zuckerberg if he testifies before Congress – March 21, 2018
Why Facebook’s blatant disregard for users’ privacy could be very good for Apple – March 21, 2018
Facebook’s surveillance machine – March 21, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg AWOL from Facebook’s damage control session – March 20, 2018
U.S. FTC reportedly probing Facebook’s abuse of personal data as UK summons Zuckerberg for questioning – March 20, 2018
The problem isn’t Cambridge Analytica: It’s Facebook – March 19, 2018
Apple: Privacy is a fundamental right – September 27, 2017
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “David G” for the heads up.]
Lol. Virtually no one knew that Facebook was making a smart speaker, MDN. Stop portraying common folk as stupid, because y’all are just as common as everyone else.
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You already sent your DNA off to be “analyzed,” huh?
Shame regarding Facebook cancelling its smart speaker programme, it would have netted some big hardware related losses and the face palm that goes with it, like MS Surface 1&2 that had $Billion + losses 🙂 I wish Facebook had a smart speaker out right now with the fall out it is suffering it would be a great stab in the back side
Not cancelled. Merely postponed until this latest scandal blows over.
Agreed, and thank you
I’m disappointed. I wanted to put one in each bathroom. Right next to the Toilet. It’s the perfect place for FB Listening Speaker.
Hopefully Facebook will release your desired toilet decoration items later in the year 🙂 and the losses this hardware generates will be great news for Facefart haters
If Facebook really wants to protect a user’s privacy then their policy must be defaulted towards protecting privacy rather than the other way round. Anything less is a cop-out.
Every company should do this and not just Facebook because whether the data is collected anonymously or otherwise it is still an invasion of a person’s privacy.
Just for the record, you’d be amazed what Little Snitch picks up from my iMac and that also includes Apple as well.
How is this bad news?
Everything should be opt-in. Period. Remember when California was racing to make marketing an opt-in? Both Rightwingers and Leftwingers beholden to the corporation raced even quicker to preclude California from doing it first. The reason given was that it would hurt the economy. Same principle with FB spying on you.