On a March episode of the “Steve-O’s Wild Ride!” podcast, hosted by entertainer, television personality, and stunt performer Steve-O, Steve “Woz” Wozniak said that he and his wife both recently deactivated their Facebook accounts over data privacy concerns.
When he “likes” a friend’s post, the interaction isn’t about connecting with someone he knows, the Apple co-founder said – it’s about revealing his interests to advertisers.
That’s enough to keep him off the platform for the foreseeable future, he said, noting that he’s “scared a bit” about the amount of access Facebook had to his life: “Of all Big Tech, Facebook is probably No. 1 that I don’t like.”
“I read how it can still grab data and [send it] to Facebook, even when you’re not using the [platform],” Wozniak said. “I don’t believe this is right, because you should [be] honest, [so that] that every person who uses it knows what they’re doing.”
MacDailyNews Take: Exactly.
Privacy means people know what they’re signing up for, in plain English, and repeatedly. I’m an optimist; I believe people are smart, and some people want to share more data than other people do. Ask them. Ask them every time. Make them tell you to stop asking them if they get tired of your asking them. Let them know precisely what you’re going to do with your data. — Steve Jobs
Wozniak isn’t the only one wary of Facebook’s privacy standards. In October, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager for civic misinformation, testified to Congress that the platform actively prioritizes user engagement over safety and mental health. Facebook presents “false choices … between connecting with those you love online and your personal privacy,” Haugen stated.
To stay connected with friends and family, Wozniak — perhaps predictably — said he primarily relies on Apple services.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, again.
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 [which we opened only so we could understand the Facebook phenomenon] 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
As we’ve said many times: Delete Facebook.
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