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Facebook Delays Home-Speaker Unveil Amid Data Crisis (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the let-the-dust-settle-first dept.

Bloomberg reports: Facebook has decided not to unveil new home products at its major developer conference in May, in part because the public is currently so outraged about the social network's data-privacy practices, according to people familiar with the matter. The company's new hardware products, connected speakers with digital-assistant and video-chat capabilities, are undergoing a deeper review to ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data, the people said.

While the hardware wasn't expected to be available until the fall, the company had hoped to preview the devices at the largest annual gathering of Facebook developers, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal plans. The devices are part of Facebook's plan to become more intimately involved with users' everyday social lives, using artificial intelligence -- following a path forged by Amazon.com and its Echo in-home smart speakers. As concerns escalate about Facebook's collection and use of personal data, now may be the wrong time to ask consumers to trust it with even more information by placing a connected device in their homes.

84 comments

  1. Good God- please can this! by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

    After the failed Facebook-Phone I can't imagine Facebook-Alexa would be anymore successful. I can't see anyone wanting facebook having a microphone in their home. If they were willing to have an ear they would have an Alexa or a Google Home by now.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    1. Re:Good God- please can this! by gnick · · Score: 2

      I can't see anyone wanting facebook having a microphone in their home.

      I still can't believe anyone would tolerate a Google mic in their home, but here we are. Agreed that most people who want one of these will have gone with Google or Amazon, but FB does have some zealots so nothing will surprise me.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    2. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "We won't record anything the device hears beyond the queries directly addressed to it to sell to our real customers -- the companies that pay us for the personal and private information we get you to turn over to us. Honest. No, we really mean it this time. Not like all the other times we promised not to do it and lied through our teeth."

      Yeah, I don't see how anyone could have problems with that... After all, doesn't everyone want to have all aspects of their life datamined and sold to advertisers?

    3. Re:Good God- please can this! by Luthair · · Score: 2

      Google? Why any company?

    4. Re:Good God- please can this! by gnick · · Score: 3, Funny

      I just picked Google because it seems like the worse actor between them and Amazon. I don't want any company having a mic in my house, but I'm not going to judge people who decide they value the convenience these devices add over their aversion to an open mic. Why any company? Because these devices provide value for some users and not everyone sees targeted advertising as an invasion of their privacy. If the mic doesn't bother somebody and they really want to be able to say, "Alexa play light jazz," that's not my decision to make for them.

      Between Facebook, Google, and Amazon, I really don't trust any of them to be responsible with my data. Why can't Microsoft make one of these? Reliable, trustworthy Microsoft.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    5. Re:Good God- please can this! by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Because these devices provide value for some users and not everyone sees targeted advertising as an invasion of their privacy. If the mic doesn't bother somebody and they really want to be able to say, "Alexa play light jazz," that's not my decision to make for them.

      I think the key here is that users have to be able to make informed consent. Not just accept a shrink wrap disclaimer that doesn't really inform them about the full implications in order to get instant gratification.
      Informed consent would imply the user not only knowing what data the company say they collect right now, but what the capabilities are, and how the data can be used for other purposes than playing light jazz. Including what the implications of a data breach could be.

      If a user isn't capable of making informed consent, perhaps the user shouldn't be presented with the decision at all.

    6. Re:Good God- please can this! by gnick · · Score: 2

      I think the key here is that users have to be able to make informed consent.

      I agree. But, if it's more profitable to be shady, and if you have a big enough customer base that either doesn't care or doesn't know any better, shady practices may prevail.

      Personally, I'd like to know more about what these companies are collecting on me as-is and I'll be damned before I'll buy one of these assistants.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    7. Re:Good God- please can this! by ctilsie242 · · Score: 3

      I can't believe anyone wants this type of appliance in their place. First, if you want decent sound, you need two speakers, and none of these support that. Apple will in a future update, but not right now. Second, do I need another privacy violating device? Not really. My desktop machine doesn't have a mic or camera on it unless I plug in a headset, and that is fine with me.

      What does this device give someone? If I want Siri or whatnot, my phone can handle that. If I want music, I have good Yamaha monitors that can be cranked, and give a far more accurate reproduction of sound than what Bluetooth can do. There isn't anything that this device gives that is worth having the extreme invasions of privacy that go with them. Plus, they are not cheap. For the price of one, I can get a decent set of decent speakers.

    8. Re:Good God- please can this! by gnick · · Score: 1

      There isn't anything that this device gives that is worth having the extreme invasions of privacy that go with them.

      I agree, but that's entirely a matter of opinion. Other people may not agree with us and that's their right.

      Plus, they are not cheap. For the price of one, I can get a decent set of decent speakers.

      I don't know what you consider a decent set of decent speakers, but you can get one of these assistants for $50 or $100.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    9. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ...Why can't Microsoft make one of these? Reliable, trustworthy Microsoft.

      I can't tell if that last comment about microsoft was sarcastic or not.

    10. Re:Good God- please can this! by KingMotley · · Score: 1

      For the price of one, I can get a decent set of decent speakers.

      Where can I find a decent set of speakers for $29? That's what I paid for my alexa dot.

    11. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Sometimes I don't know how thick the sarcasm needs to be to get through. I thought for sure that "reliable, trustworthy Microsoft" would ring every warning bell.

    12. Re:Good God- please can this! by Green+Mountain+Bot · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My wife's grandmother can' see a damned thing. For her, to be to ask a question and get an audible response is a real improvement to her quality of life.

      But I wouldn't want that shit in MY house.

    13. Re:Good God- please can this! by tripleevenfall · · Score: 2

      But the recent revelations about Facebook show that they will collect things that they know you don't want them collecting, and bury the consent somewhere in a general eula.

      I don't want corporate microphones around my house from ANY company - LEAST of all Facebook

    14. Re:Good God- please can this! by Dracos · · Score: 1

      I can't see anyone wanting any tech giant's microphone in their home. Or a TV/cable box with a microphone and/or camera in it. All these devices are designed to spy on the user who has little to no control over what information is gathered... having one is an abdication of any concern for privacy: your own and anyone else who might be in your home.

    15. Re: Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's so funny that Microsoft, might even be the more trusted technology company. I sure read the comment dripping in sarcasm, but it might actually be coming true ...

    16. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you want a decent set of speakers or a set the limited quality of the dot? Make up your mind.

      And second, I'll give you a set of speakers of better quality than a dot for free. All you have to do is allow me to install microphones in your home, give me access to your home wifi, all your logins and passwords including email accounts, banking information and that deviant porn site you think nobody knows about. Oh, and you'll have to sign an agreement that I can do whatever I want with that information and I may give or sell it to whoever I want for any reason.

      What? You're not okay with that? Well, enjoy your Alexa Dot, dumbass.

    17. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And just to be clear, the reason you're a dumbass is you think the Alexa Dot was the $29 you paid in cash. The pricetag is much, much higher and you'd have been a lot better off paying $299 or even $2,999 for a speaker the quality of an Alexa Dot without the invasions.

    18. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Smartphone == microphone.

    19. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But Facebook already has microphone turned on on all of their phone application users home. Only difference to current situation would be that people actually paid to be spied on.

    20. Re:Good God- please can this! by gnick · · Score: 1

      The trick is to pull the battery out every time you get home and then smash the phone with a hammer. It's a little pricey, but it's the only way to be sure.

      Yes, smartphones have mics (don't all phones?), but if word got out that the mic is on when it shouldn't be there will be major complaints. Some people are already suspicious and complaining, but I don't know of any PROOF of smartphones eavesdropping except when compromised.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    21. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just go to ebay and buy the cheapest piece of crap speakers. That is the audio output hardware in those spyware devices, their only concern is on the input audio quality so they can harvest maximum amount of data from their products.

    22. Re:Good God- please can this! by skids · · Score: 1

      I think it would be wise for some legislator to draft up a bill requiring people with any such device
      operating in their house to post a nice big red notice on their front door to warn visitors that they
      may be recorded while on premises.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    23. Re:Good God- please can this! by Spamalope · · Score: 1

      This is why I canceled my Oculus pre-order. It became apparent that it wouldn't be separate from the FB style of 'just take it and add an option once you're caught' style of perving on everything.

    24. Re:Good God- please can this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IANAL, but I'm pretty sure recording people without their permission is legal just about everywhere. It's just a matter of what those recordings can be used for.

    25. Re:Good God- please can this! by skids · · Score: 1

      It's legal if one party involved in the conversation has consented. If Natalie Portman and I have a conversation in your living room while you are out of the room taking a piss or filling your bathtub with hot grits, in most places in the US you are not legally allowed to record it. In some states, both involved parties must consent. Third parties, like Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple, can often also record conversations and phone calls in private locations with one-party consent but they also don't often have all the rights a participant does. Sometimes the restriction on them is to fully inform those recorded, thus, the need for a sign.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
  2. Yeah, no .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The devices are part of Facebook's plan to become more intimately involved with users' everyday social lives

    I really have no interest in tech companies being more intimately involved in my everyday life.

    And I sure as fuck have no interest in having Facebook do so.

    Sorry, I want less involvement with this shit in my day to day life, and I'm glad I've avoided the trend of social media.

    Fuck 'em, I'm not here to prop up their business model. Let the plebes fall for this shit, I've never wanted it in the first place.

    1. Re:Yeah, no .... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      The devices are part of Facebook's plan to become more intimately involved with users' everyday social lives

      I really have no interest in tech companies being more intimately involved in my everyday life.

      So you don't want an Alexa powered fleshlight for Christmas?

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Yeah, no .... by gnick · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...Alexa powered fleshlight...

      I'd go with Alexa, but I'd be thinking of Siri.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    3. Re:Yeah, no .... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      I'd go with Alexa, but I'd be thinking of Siri.

      Imagine how embarrassed people would be if their friends found out they used a Google-Mini.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  3. And what, pray tell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Makes people think that Amazon etc. are any different in their business practices? All of these devices are basically surveillance machines that people willingly put in their homes, Facebook is far from unique. It's actually a toss up whether they or Google are the worst culprits.

    1. Re:And what, pray tell? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That would be a great poll idea, wouldn't it?

      Which smart speaker would you trust the most?
      Apple HomePod
      Amazon Echo
      Google Home
      Facebook what's-its-name

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:And what, pray tell? by arth1 · · Score: 3, Funny

      That would be a great poll idea, wouldn't it?

      You're missing the last option.
      In this case, I'd actually trust Cowboyneal listening in my living room more than any of the above.

    3. Re:And what, pray tell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All of these devices are basically surveillance machines that people willingly put in their homes,

      I've often wondered about these devices. I see them all the time on the tech sites, but I can't for the life of me understand their purpose. I already have a phone where I can ask Google things, and I really only do that if I'm in the car in some unknown area where I actually need to know what the nearest restaurants are.

      Why the fuck would you want one sitting on your counter? So you can pretend that you have the most retarded version of the Enterprise main computer in your house? Surely it's only a novelty, since it can't be of much actual use.

    4. Re:And what, pray tell? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      I guess option #5 would be "Trust no one", as a reference to Fox Mulder.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    5. Re:And what, pray tell? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      The one that breaks the easiest if smashed against a hard surface.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:And what, pray tell? by Zocalo · · Score: 1

      If you're going to make it a mandatory choice between the available options, then you'd probably need to phrase it as "Which smart speaker would you mistrust the least?", but I do think the comments as people explained their choices would be quite interesting (and in many cases probably quite debatable as well). There have been a few similar polls about "big tech" - one about which you'd be most willing to give up springs to mind - but I don't recall one specifcally about privacy. Given the current climate, now's probably as good a time as any for it.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    7. Re:And what, pray tell? by nnet · · Score: 1

      no, "I want to believe."

    8. Re:And what, pray tell? by novakyu · · Score: 1

      With Amazon, at least we know we are the customers (if people stopped buying at Amazon, they'd soon go bankrupt).

      With Facebook and their like, we are not the customers; we are the products (if advertisers stopped advertising at Facebook, they'd soon go bankrupt, or at least you hope).

    9. Re:And what, pray tell? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't some of these smart speakers tie into your AC, lights and fans? I know you can build a home automated voice-controlled device out of a raspberry pi and some open source software. It's pretty freak awesome but I can't justify spending the money on all the smart items to build the system out to a useful level.

      I could imagine if you have mobility issues that a voiced controlled home could be helpful. Otherwise it just seems like a novelty and something that makes us move around even less then we already do.

  4. Put Facebook in the home? by GregMmm · · Score: 2

    Who on earth would want to have a Facebook enabled "anything" in their home?

    1. Re:Put Facebook in the home? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Who on Earth would want Facebook anything?

      FTFY

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:Put Facebook in the home? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who on Earth would want Facebook anything?

      Dumb fucks with a Zuckold fetish?

    3. Re:Put Facebook in the home? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately the social network aspect of FB is really useful at doing what it does. Sure, we can setup FB clones, even ones you control yourself. The real trick is getting everyone on your network. Everyone being there IS the selling point.

      I considered setting up a clone for my wife and as many friends as she could recruit over but honestly didn't see enough enthusiasm from her and I knew that whatever I could get up and running really wouldn't be GOOD enough because of the lack of game support.

      It doesn't help that I don't use the platform at all so have almost no experience with that kind of site.

  5. Dystopian outcomes. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

    All the tech companies that have one of these hot mics have a business model that can support it... except Facebook. I suspect that Facebook would be the company that would result in the dystopian outcome that we all fear could come about from these "home speakers" because their business model is simply to gather information and sell it.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Dystopian outcomes. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      All the tech companies that have one of these hot mics have a business model that can support it... except Facebook.

      Remember, folks, a foreign device in your home DOES NOT need a hot mic to spy one you. It doesn't even need power to spy on you. There are plenty of passive listening devices that can be remotely activated, pioneered by this one:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      To be sure, smash your Facebook Home Spy Speaker apart with a hammer, and look for hollow spaces . . .

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:Dystopian outcomes. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1, Troll

      Remember, folks, a foreign device in your home DOES NOT need a hot mic to spy one you.

      First of all, I doubt the president even reads, much less reads Slashdot.
      Second, the Russians don't need to spy on the president to find out his plans because he reports to Putin already. ;)

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    3. Re:Dystopian outcomes. by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      *cough* Google *cough*.

  6. FacePlant! by Zorro · · Score: 1

    Coming soon....

    1. Re:FacePlant! by PPH · · Score: 1

      FaceSpook?

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  7. Facebook home products?? by Kargan · · Score: 1

    Why? I mean, other than to make Facebook more money and to encroach further on Google and Amazon's territory. But why would a Facebook user want such a thing?

    --
    Palaces, barricades, threats, meet promises
    1. Re:Facebook home products?? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Why? I mean, other than to make Facebook more money and to encroach further on Google and Amazon's territory. But why would a Facebook user want such a thing?

      Some people like to share everything. One of my coworkers annoyingly takes photos of her lunch... EVERY DAY and uploads it. You can probably predict how long she spends on the toilet by watching her facebook feed to see what she's eating.

      ... ahh apples and oatmeal today with a cup of coffee... She's going to be pretty quick today.

      Maybe the Facebook-Alexa can update your relationship status based on whether it hears any moaning coming from the bedroom. Moaning therefore Relationship Status = in a relationship. Two different voices heard = it's complicated.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  8. Consumers upset consumer tracker tracks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Consumers are upset that a Consumer Tracking Company Tracks Them.

    This adds to negative press that blames Facebook for being Facebook, and draws attention away from the Democrats' utter incompetence in failing to use Facebook effectively and the Republicans' idiotic use of foreign nationals and foreign companies to use Facebook effectively.

    The problem with leaving Facebook is the network effect. Force them to use open standards for their messaging platform and people will mostly ditch them tomorrow.

    1. Re:Consumers upset consumer tracker tracks by magarity · · Score: 1

      Consumers are upset that a Consumer Tracking Company Tracks Them.

      Consumers? I get that Alexa is to make it easy to buy stuff from Amazon but what exactly is Facebook hoping to sell via such a device?

  9. How does this relate to Oculus? by phazemstr · · Score: 0

    Being that they are one and the same now.

    --
    Nothing to see.
    1. Re:How does this relate to Oculus? by PingSpike · · Score: 1

      They'll probably push an update to the Oculus that turns it into one of these things, if I had to guess. A lot of people bought that thing recently because they slashed the price on it so much.

  10. Privacy and Facebook, are you kidding? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who in their right mind would think their information is private or that Facebook has any concern about using your information for their benefit or their advertisers who by the way are the paying customer not the end user.

  11. Does not compute by arth1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    to ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data

    There are things you just shouldn't have any authority to decide on trade-offs for, and especially trade-offs on the behalf of others.

    I think this highlights why the US needs data protection regulations like the EU and other European countries have, where personal data is owned by the user, and not the company that collects it, and where companies who create databases of user data beyond what's needed for a transaction have to provide a justification and obtain a permit.
    Giving them a carte blanche and letting them decide for themselves what "trade-offs" they want to play is stupid.

    1. Re:Does not compute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even the EU legislation is way too favorable to data collectors. They only need that you click on a button (as if people read agreements) and they can do whatever with your data. The only real limitation is that they have to provide you with a method to rectify the data, something nobody does indeed.

      What is really needed is that *each* and *every* transaction with your personal data be aproved by you, in a non-transferable way, with all parties and intentions identified. That would put an end to the personal data "black market" that exists today.

    2. Re:Does not compute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you hate America?

  12. Privacy by Design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Their conference is on the 1st of may.

    If they had launched it before the 25th of may they could've tried to argue that they weren't bound by Europe's new Privacy by Design rules, which go into effect on the 25th of may.

    If they launch it in the fall they will have to prove that they followed Privacy by Design principles anyway.

    I'm really looking forward to all the court cases we will see in the coming years where consumers want to see some proof that privacy was a serious consideration during the design proces.

    1. Re:Privacy by Design by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Their conference is on the 1st of may.

      Deliberately, to ensure that non-Americans like EU officials won't attend?

    2. Re:Privacy by Design by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Should've held it at April 1st.

      Any claims about privacy would have been so much more topical that day.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. Right tradeoffs? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    ... ensure that they make the right trade-offs regarding user data...

    Facebook is incapable of making the "right trade offs" regarding user privacy. User privacy runs against the very core of Facebook's existence.

  14. Trust by sjbe · · Score: 1

    I can't see anyone wanting facebook having a microphone in their home.

    No worse than Google, Amazon, etc. Honestly I don't really trust any of them though I will agree that I trust Facebook the least of the big tech firms. By a lot.

    There also is the fact that I don't have any use for this thinly disguised spy devices. They strike me as a solution looking for a problem. I don't use Siri on my phone so it's unclear why I would be interested in wiring my house with another service I won't use that might be spying on me to boot.

  15. They all suck by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Which smart speaker would you trust the most?

    The real answer is "None of the Above" but put a gun to my head and the answer is clearly Apple. Why? I trust their profit motive the most. Apple just wants to sell me more Apple products and actually has a not completely terrible record with regard to privacy. All the others want to sell data about me to third parties of unknown reliability. Amazon would be the next option, again because of their profit motive which is to sell me physical and digital stuff. Google and Facebook I don't trust at all. They are advertising companies start to finish and I have no interest in cooperating with that.

    1. Re:They all suck by arth1 · · Score: 2

      The real answer is "None of the Above" but put a gun to my head and the answer is clearly Apple. Why? I trust their profit motive the most. Apple just wants to sell me more Apple products and actually has a not completely terrible record with regard to privacy. All the others want to sell data about me to third parties of unknown reliability. Amazon would be the next option, again because of their profit motive which is to sell me physical and digital stuff. Google and Facebook I don't trust at all. They are advertising companies start to finish and I have no interest in cooperating with that.

      I'd take any Chinese company over Apple. The reason is that you can be fairly certain that they eavesdrop, but that it's the Chinese government that controls it. And they have no interest in private individuals who don't know anything that might benefit them, and certainly won't hand data over to bad apples in US law enforcement or US political factions.
      With Apple or any US based company, that's not a given.

    2. Re:They all suck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google and Facebook I don't trust at all

      Good; you named two that are at the very heart of the data privacy issue vis-a-vis Cambridge Analytica fallout.

  16. The actual product name... by thomn8r · · Score: 1

    FSB or "Facebook Surveillance Box"

    1. Re:The actual product name... by PPH · · Score: 2

      Oh come on now. You're just Putin us on.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  17. Oculus Rift by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Oculus Rift came out two years ago today, and at the time there was a lot of outrage over the privacy policy:

    https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/04/02/0636220/oculus-always-on-services-and-privacy-policy-may-be-a-cause-for-concern
    https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/04/03/2139246/there-are-some-super-shady-things-in-oculus-rifts-terms-of-service
    https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/04/09/0039214/senator-al-franken-takes-on-oculus-over-vr-data-mining

    But then I haven't heard any follow-up in the years since.

    1. Re:Oculus Rift by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck Oculus Rift too and I sold the glasses when faceplant purchased them.

  18. Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    Let's face it: Anyone trusting them on ANYTHING anymore cannot be helped. If you still can't understand how you're nothing but a commodity to that company, well, there's no amount of evidence, argument or convincing going to be of any use.

    And if you really believe them when they say that they will "improve", there isn't anything left to be said either. Their whole business model is to sell your privacy to whoever is willing to hand them money. That is their business model. In case you don't believe it, just tell me what else this company could possible sell to make money.

    And if that doesn't work for you, how about greed and miserliness. Ponder how much Facebook is "worth". Ponder what you got for being sold by them. Now tell me you don't feel like you've been getting a raw deal. They sell you for thousands of dollars and you get ... umm... a place to put pictures of your lunch.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  19. The Easter Bunny.. by Zorro · · Score: 1

    Is not Pleased with this comment. Or is it just a April Fools Bunny joke?

    1. Re:The Easter Bunny.. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Nah. An Easter joke is this:

      Hey Jesus, what you gonna do for Easter?
      Dunno. Prolly just hangin' 'round.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  20. Most of humanity shoudn't be online by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Do you REALLY think Joe Q. Intarwebbor gives a fuck about being informed? They just want their email/porn/video/gaymez, and they want it now. If they cared about security, the internet as we know it wouldn't exist in its current form. like duh. Progress before wisdom. Greed before all. Greed, avarice, and narcissism, the root of the downfall of western society.

    Make Greed Great Again

  21. Facebook sez... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    ... they harvest and use my personal data for my benefit, i.e., so that Facebook can assure that the ads I see are relevant. If it really is to my benefit, shouldn't I be able to tell Facebook that I do not want that benefit, that I don't care whether the ads I see are relevant because I generally ignore the ads anyway.

    1. Re:Facebook sez... by srmalloy · · Score: 2

      The problem, as I see it, is that you are misconstruing what Facebook is. Facebook's business model depends on getting the users of its social media system to willingly (and also, as it appears, unwittingly) reveal personal and private information about themselves so that information can be sold to other business to use for their marketing. As such, you are not a customer of Facebook; you are its product. The companies Facebook sells your information (and access to, by serving as a platform to feed you targeted ads) to are its customers. As such, your desire not to have targeted ads presented to you is irrelevant to Facebook, except insofar as the lack of ability to opt out of targeted advertising causes a mass exodus of Facebook participants, which would negatively impact its bottom line.

  22. When your entire business model... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    involves making people targets, expect to one day become a target yourself.

  23. It's time to move on, people. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Facebook has run it's course. It's a giant oak tree that's rotting from within, and it's time to chop it down and move on. #DeleteFacebook

  24. All of this smacks of 1984 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When will the telescreens arrive? FOSTA now makes corporations the Thought Police and the rest of us Winston Smith. How long before Miniluv comes knocking on the door because you "offended" someone?

    1984 was meant to serve as a warning, not an instruction manual.

  25. Facebook delays... by VeryFluffyBunny · · Score: 1

    ...announcing their latest surveillance strategy, an "always on" microphone in your home amid current media exposure about their poor/incompetent data privacy practices.

    Who'da thunk it'd be so easy to get people to pay for and install bugging devices themselves?

    Anyway, too late Facebook. Amazon got there first.

    --
    Debate is a form of harassment. Do not question my truth.
  26. Facebook doorbell by iduno · · Score: 1

    What I'm waiting for is the facebook security camera/doorbell. They've got facial data for most people on facebook, and have demographic info. Whenever a "friend" rocks up to the front door, it can send alert. Your local delivery people can have the door automatically unlock to put the package inside. When the derelicts rock up, automatically call the cops. Jehovah witness, send out the alarm to stay away from the front door and windows.