Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is the latest among a clutch of celebrities that have shunned Facebook in recent times over privacy issues. Steve, however, has said he isn’t deleting his Facebook account just yet. Instead, he has just deactivated it for now.
Steve said the reason he has opted out of Facebook is the manner in which the social media site tends to use the personal info of its users to maximize its ad potential. He also stated he would even prefer paying Facebook if that can prevent the social site from commercializing its user’s personal information to boost advertising revenue.
However, Steve continues to be attached to his Facebook handle ‘stevewoz’ and is loath to give up on that, not even for another Steve Wozniak. That makes us wonder if his new-found hatred for the social media giant a short-term gimmick is; or will eventually lead to his deleting his account on the whole.
Steve also used the opportunity to uphold the high standards Apple maintains when it comes to safeguarding the privacy and its users. Comparing Facebook with Apple, Steve said the latter makes money by selling quality products. Instead, users of the social media site itself are its products.
Apple CEO Tim Cook too had expressed his reservations about Facebook and the way it operates in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data breach issue. Data of 87 million users reported to have been shared with research organizations having a political affinity, with the majority or 70 million being from the US alone. What is even more worrisome is that most users aren’t believed to be aware of the data leak or its wider implications.
The revelation of the Cambridge Analytica scandal has also led to an exodus of sorts with several other celebrities opting to leave Facebook for good. Prominent among them is Elon Musk, Mozilla, Playboy, Brian Acton and Will Ferrell.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg no doubt has a hard time convincing others that they do care about user’s privacy after all. While he is scheduled to face a congressional committee following the Cambridge Analytica breach, he also tried to downplay privacy issues claiming they do work hard to uphold such values while providing a free service so that everyone can be part of it.
