Does Facebook Really Care about Internet Privacy?

Amy Awol

Let’s face it. Most of us can’t resist social media. It’s part of our daily routine and we can’t
imagine life without it. You get up to check your smartphone or tablet with your morning
coffee. That’s what the marketing world is counting on. Millions of addicts like us are
doing the same thing.

Users rely on their sources to get more. Meanwhile, web page AI bots collect our data to
harvest sales and profits with no regard for privacy. After all, they’re only digital machines.

One corporate executive has made it perfectly clear that collateral damage isn’t a greater
concern over the bottom line, which is corporate growth. Andrew Bosworth, a Facebook
VP, wrote an internal company memo, which tagged a few unmentionable consequences
of that growth, such as bullying, suicide, and terrorism. These were justifiable, he argued,
if we keep in mind the overall good of connecting people.

In a later comment, Bosworth admitted that he didn’t actually agree with what he said.

That leads us to question if it’s worth the time we spend browsing social media sites such
as Facebook or Twitter, and if it’s safe enough for us to use them.

As much as we’d like to rationalize what we do because we’re accustomed or addicted to

it, most people ignore consequences until they come back to bite them.

Does Facebook really care that data was hacked from 50 million users in the Cambridge
Analytica case? It probably does, but not in the sense most people would think. Facebook
executives care about the negative publicity that affects their product image, but not so
much about what happens to a limited number of users. What’s 50 million compared to a
billion users? It’s all relative.

Profits from Facebook, Google, Snapchat, Twitter and others come from mining user
metadata. Contrary to what you’ve been told, Facebook already has your data if you’re a
user, whether they deserve it or not. When you use “free”services, you’re automatically
exposing personal information. You may not detect a tangible connection, but there’s a
real price for using them.

Facebook isn’t a person. Corporations aren’t people. We forget that every time someone
speaks on behalf of Facebook (or any other corporation) because the person who speaks
is human. It’s a nice touch since it fools us into thinking otherwise. Facebook doesn’t care
what you feel or think because it isn’t human. It’s just a global network, controlled by
algorithms that collect and harvest user data for profit. The beauty of automation is that it
works without thinking, regardless of what people say.

Don’t be distracted by the man behind the curtain. He won’t say more than what’s already
been said, even if he’s called before Congress.

Will your data be safeguarded and your privacy protected? What do you think?

CC 2018 by Amy Awol. This document may be saved or shared according to Creative Commons
copyright guidelines for personal, educational, or non-commercial use.