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Steve Wozniak Drops Facebook: 'The Profits Are All Based On the User's Info' (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the business-decisions dept.

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak has formally deactivated his Facebook account. In an email interview with USA Today, Wozniak wrote that he was no longer satisfied with Facebook, knowing that it makes money off of user data. "The profits are all based on the user's info, but the users get none of the profits back," he wrote. "Apple makes its money off of good products, not off of you. As they say, with Facebook, you are the product." Ars Technica reports: His Sunday announcement to his Facebook followers came just ahead of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's scheduled testimony before Congress on Tuesday. The CEO is also reportedly set to meet with members of Congress privately on Monday. Wozniak wrote that Facebook had "brought me more negatives than positives." Still, when Wozniak tried to change some of his privacy settings in the aftermath of Cambridge Analytica, he said he was "surprised" to find out how many categories for ads he had to remove. "I did not feel that this is what people want done to them," added Wozniak. "Ads and spam are bad things these days and there are no controls over them. Or transparency."

3 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. Um ... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wozniak wrote that he was no longer satisfied with Facebook, knowing that it makes money off of user data.

    Are you just figuring that out Steve or were you once okay with that arrangement and have since soured on it?

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  2. AOL by sycodon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I figured Facebook would go the way of AOL eventually. But not this way.

    AOL suffered a long, painful, pathetic death. Looks like FaceBook will be put down pretty soon compared to AOL.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re: AOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      AOL failed because its core service was obsolete. FB sucks, and everyone here wants them to fall, but their core service is still valuable and relevant for a ton of people.