I deleted Facebook about two months ago because:
- I wasn’t using it much.
- Facebook’s privacy violations¹ are not cool.
- I didn’t like the idea of my implied support by having an account.
- I was aware of filter bubbles and wanted to avoid falling too deeply into one.
- I’d rather use platforms where I can own my data² and not have it sold to advertisers.
I also came across this very weird fact. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) which is part of the United States Department of Defense had something called the LifeLog Project which aimed to “gather in a single place just about everything an individual says, sees or does: the phone calls made, the TV shows watched, the magazines read, the plane tickets bought, the e-mail sent and received. Out of this seemingly endless ocean of information, computer scientists would plot distinctive routes in the data, mapping relationships, memories, events and experiences.”
The project was killed at the end of January 2004, but the announcement for it was on 4th February 2004 by WIRED. Weirdly, Facebook launched on 4th February 2004. The LifeLog Project sounded exactly like Facebook. Combine that with the consistent privacy violations and Facebook might as well have been a DARPA project.
I’m unwinding myself from certain platforms and looking to find and use alternatives. This also includes my dependence on Google, which nowadays is everywhere. I’m hopeful that real alternatives are on their way via using the Metanet.
Why Privacy Matters
Privacy matters because the freedoms we have in our respective countries are not guaranteed freedoms. They were freedoms that were fought for and gained over many, many years. There is a constant fight for freedom, indeed the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. It starts with small compromises and ends with walking obediently towards a gas chamber.
Genocides are an actuality. They’ve happened over and over again. And they are still happening today. I know two friends now, both originally from Cambodia, who lost family and friends when Pol Pot was in power. These things happen, and they can happen in any country. I believe it’s one of the reasons why Americans are so god damn passionate about their guns. Removing guns from citizens is how you impose martial rule.
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¹ Articles about Facebook’s privacy violations:
- Timeline of Facebook’s eroding privacy
- Facebook to be fined $5bn by FTC
- Users privacy settings being reset without warning
- Tracking without consent and this
- Breaches EU privacy laws
- How much does Facebook know about your life?
- How to delete Facebook
² See Creating “Own Your Data” Applications with Money Button (San Francisco, Oct 10, 2019) and apps like Twetch.
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