For 15 years, Facebook has profited off of tricking billions of people into sharing their personal info online, all under the guise of being “more open and connected.”
On Wednesday Zuck claimed he will put an end to the years of controversy, with a new, completely opposite idea of openness and connectedness — hint: it’s everyone’s 2nd-favorite buzzword… online privacy.
“I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today’s open platforms,” he wrote in a blog post announcing his new “vision” for social networking.
In the post, he likened the old Facebook to a townsquare of people and Facebook 3.0 to more of a “living room” vibe.
In the coming years, he said, the company will focus on moving its main apps (WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook) over to more encrypted platforms — meaning data is scrambled so that outsiders, and even Facebook, can’t read it.
But how will one of the richest corporations in the world, whose prime source of revenue is coming up with sexy new methods of data collection, make money?
There were no real solutions or examples into how respecting user privacy could in any way remain lucrative, making reactions to the announcement all the more quick and suspicious.
Privacy advocates believe “encryption” is too vague an idea, while others believe it could only worsen online harassment and misinformation.
That said, this announcement should put hungry regulatory hawks at ease for now… until they aren’t.