Conor Friederdorf makes a good point about Mark Zuckerberg’s recent declamation about Facebook’s newly-discovered commitment to privacy in his most recent column at Atlantic:
The impression is a CEO forthrightly owning a flaw. On reflection, however, one realizes that Facebook’s reputation is merely how others perceive it. Zuckerberg writes as though how Facebook is seen is the crux of the matter, rather than how it is. A more forthright CEO would acknowledge that skepticism of Facebook’s is rooted in its actions. The company repeatedly compromised user privacy to advance its interests.
Those transgressions are what rendered it untrustworthy.
which is closely allied to the point I made in my post on the subject. I don’t think he takes his criticism to its logical conclusion. Facebook’s problem is its business model. Its business model is imcompatible with privacy.
All social media is designed to sell the user’s private info. Because Facebook is the biggest, it is the biggest problem, and all the others would love to have the same problem.
This goes for mobile apps that require you to allow access to your personal info before you can install them. What the hell does a calculator app need with your contacts?