“Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak announced that he has quit Facebook after deactivating his account on Sunday,” WebProNews reports. “He cited growing concern for the lack of privacy and security on the social media platform in the wake of its recent scandal.”
“He hopes that his departure from Facebook will encourage others to follow suit and rethink how users share information on social media,” WebProNews reports. “Wozniak said that it was unethical for Internet companies to monitor and sell its users’ personal data.”
“Users have come to realize that personal data might not be as private as they think it is. In the case of Facebook, the social media giant earns from targeted advertising based on its users’ information,” WebProNews reports. “Tech companies have the responsibility to respect and protect the privacy of its users, Wozniak emphasized.”
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, known as Woz, says he deactivated his Facebook account because "with Facebook, you are the product." https://t.co/GLk7yiWHjf pic.twitter.com/aabWd63Hs2
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) April 9, 2018
“He’s not hopeful for any swift changes after the Congressional hearings where Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify,” WebProNews reports. “‘Facebook will come out and say, ‘Oh, we are going to do this little one extra thing to protect your privacy. But really, they are advertising you. You are the product with Facebook — and Google,’ Wozniak dismissed.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Woz finally swallowed the red pill.
Instant messages sent by Mark Zuckerberg during Facebook’s early days, reported by Business Insider, May 13, 2010:
Zuckerberg: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuckerberg: Just ask
Zuckerberg: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend’s Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?
Zuckerberg: People just submitted it.
Zuckerberg: I don’t know why.
Zuckerberg: They “trust me”
Zuckerberg: Dumb fucks—
Facebook makes their money by exploiting and selling intimate details about the private lives of millions, far beyond the scant details you voluntarily post. They are not victims. They are accomplices. — Edward Snowden, March 17, 2018
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We use FaceBook as an RSS feed. Our CMS automatically reposts our article headlines and links them back to our website. That is our only interaction with Facebook and has been our only interaction with Facebook for years. We deleted our personal accounts many years ago.
If you want to share photos and videos with friends, text them using Apple’s end-to-end encrypted iMessage service. You need to control your social networking, not cede it to a gatekeeper like Facebook. – MacDailyNews, March 19, 2018
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The problem is two-fold: Facebook – and companies like Facebook that thrive on user data (Google, for one, if not the, prime example) and gullible users who piss their privacy and the privacy of their “friends” away willy-nilly while naively sending their DNA off to be analyzed by other companies.
Stop the idiocy! — MacDailyNews, March 21, 2018
SEE ALSO:
How Facebook lets brands and politicians target users – April 11, 2018
Facebook’s Zuckerberg was ready to slam Apple if Congress asked him about Tim Cook’s privacy comments – April 11, 2018
Apple co-founder Woz quits Facebook – April 9, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg admits Facebook scans the contents of all private Messenger texts – April 4, 2018
Facebook to warn 87 million users that their data ‘may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica’ – April 4, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg and the never-ending stench of Facebook – April 2, 2018
Apple may be the biggest winner from Facebook’s data scandal – April 2, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg blasts Apple CEO Cook’s criticism of Facebook as ‘extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth’ – April 2, 2018
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
Much too late!
Never Facebook, cuts it a bit too close for comfort.
Great Job Woz, hopefully more people will do the same. Also it is hypocrite of MDN to criticize Facebook when “Google Ads” are dominating their page. Every time i click on the X to stop a Google ad, i get the option of “not interested” “aldready Bought this” etc, and then it says “will not show this ad”, ad stopped by google ad. Worst ads are the video ones that are noisy and slow down the page upload.
Facebook is not Google, but that’s beside the point.
Monopolies that should have been broken up but weren’t due to campaign contributions distort the market and force us to use what is basically the only solution available.
The reason there are so many ads here are because they each pay far less than they used to when there was actual competition in online advertising. Google controls the market and the pricing. Sites are either folding (see: MacNN), piling on ads, and/or trying subscriptions.
As we wrote in July 2016:
Imagine if your livelihood depended on one company that had not only monopolized web search (and, thereby, basically controlled how new customers find you), but also controlled the bulk of online advertising dollars which funded your business and which they could pull, simply threaten to pull, or reduce rates at any time? Now also imagine if you believe this monopolist basically stole the product of another company that is the very subject of your business? How much would you criticize the monopolist thief’s business practices?
You might guess that it would be a tough road to walk. (We’re only imagining, of course!)
That would be a good example of why monopolies are bad for everyone.
The U.S. government has utterly failed to police Google. Because the people with the power to do so currently are corrupt. Follow the money. Hopefully, the European Union will help to correct the situation.
In the meantime, stop using Google search and Google products wherever possible. Monopolies are bad for everyone.
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If you haven’t already, give DuckDuckGo a try! https://duckduckgo.com
SEE ALSO:
Google’s Eric Schmidt wore staff badge at Hillary Clinton’s ‘victory’ party – November 16, 2016
WikiLeaks emails show extremely close relationship between Clinton campaign and Google’s Eric Schmidt – November 1, 2016
Eric Schmidt-backed startup stealthily working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House – October 9, 2015
The FTC’s missed opportunity on Google – January 4, 2013
Google to settle U.S. FTC antitrust probe, sources say – January 2, 2013
Obama to reward Google’s Schmidt with Cabinet post? – December 5, 2012
Google outfoxes U.S. FCC – April 17, 2012
Consumer Watchdog calls for probe of Google’s inappropriate relationship with Obama administration – January 25, 2011
Wired: Google, CIA Invest in ‘future’ of Web monitoring – July 29, 2010
Meanwhile on Twitter … Woz is routinely broadcasting his departures from airport terminals alerting any followers that his residence is vacant. This message is brought to you by SwarmApp. And Outback Steakhouse.
Cann anyone honestly tell that they didn’t knew what they were signing on when they joined facebook? come on.
Fortunately i deactivated my interest in Woz years ago..
One person out of 200 million means absolutely nothing at all to Facebook. Zuckerberg and Facebook have nothing to worry about because Facebook has so many loyal users who will never give up their accounts. Most of those people don’t care anything about personal privacy because they wouldn’t be uploading their personal data to Facebook if they did. There will be no major following of the #DeleteFacebook movement or because one or two big name people delete their accounts. Those people are in the minority. Facebook shareholders will continue to laugh all the way to the bank.
Most people seem unaware that personal data harvesting is a highly profitable business and that all of Wall Street is behind data-harvesting companies such as Facebook and Google. Data breach scandals mean nothing when compared to making huge sums of money. Facebook will always be valued far higher than Apple despite Apple’s user privacy stance. Big investors know that Apple is leaving money on the table with that business model and they don’t want any part of it.
Consumers absolutely love free services because they believe they are getting a bargain. I’m sure the advantages of Facebook far outweigh the disadvantages to most Facebook users. I haven’t heard of a single class-action lawsuit against Facebook while Apple is getting its pants sued off from the iPhone slowdown incident. That shows how much Facebook users care about their personal data being used. Not a lick. Companies like Facebook and Google will always win because they understand human nature and know how to take advantage of it.
I honestly don’t understand why Apple doesn’t buy DuckDuckGo and offer Apple users a private search engine choice of not being bombarded by ads and tracking. Maybe that’s not profitable enough for Apple to be bothered with. Whatever. I don’t use DuckDuckGo as much as I could, so maybe it’s a lot less powerful than Google Search. I suppose Apple knows what it’s doing so my opinion obviously doesn’t matter much to Apple’s cash machine.
Who cares