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Facebook is experiencing turbulent waters lately as the company comes under the scrutiny of many, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak who says he’s abandoning Facebook because of its exploitation of people’s data.
Facebook has become a target of sorts amid a variety of scandals including its violations of user privacy and its involvement with the “fake news” movement. Users are becoming wary of Facebook and its privacy practices, Steve Wozniak being one of the bigger of the users spearheading the movement to get rid of Facebook in their personal lives.
Wozniak’s announcement is only the latest in a back-and-forth swing of comments from tech leaders as Facebook deals with the repercussions of the various scandals surrounding the company.
In an update from Facebook last week, they estimated that over 87 million Facebook users’ data may have been improperly shared, something Twitter has also faced recently. Don’t forget Instagram, which is also a part of this mess since it is owned by Facebook.
“Users provide every detail of their life to Facebook and … Facebook makes a lot of advertising money off this,” said Wozniak to USA Today in an email. “The profits are all based on the user’s info, but the users get none of the profits back.”
Wozniak even said he would gladly pay for the use Facebook if it meant that his data would no longer be sold to turn a profit.
Mark Zuckerburg is, of course, defending his company and its practices, stating that his company is among those who work hard to provide a free service available to everyone.
Zuckerburg is scheduled to testify before congressional hearings in Washington this week about the Cambridge Analytica episode and Facebook’s response.
Despite the controversy surrounding the social media giant, user engagement has not changed according to Jefferies analysts.
While many are still engaged in the social media site, Wozniak is one of the first very prominent figures to take to protesting Facebook.
“I am in the process of leaving Facebook. It’s brought me more negatives than positives. Apple has more secure ways to share things about yourself. I can still deal with old-school email and text messages,” Wozniak posted on Facebook before deactivating his account.
He admits breaking up with Facebook has not been easy, and he decided not to delete his account, only to deactivate. He said he did this to preserve his username, “Stevewoz” so that no one else could have it, not even another Steve Wozniak.
Colin Schwager is a news writer and gamer from Lynchburg, Virginia. In his free time he enjoys playing Xbox, game development and marketing and design.
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