Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak said he is abandoning his Facebook account because of concerns about the company’s use of personal data.
April 9 (UPI) — Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak said he is abandoning his Facebook account because of concerns about the company’s use of personal data.
Facebook is currently enmeshed in several scandals, including the issue of its privacy protocols in the wake of misuse of information, provided by users, by the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Facebook acknowledged that up to 87 million users may have had their data improperly shared.
Wozniak, who keeps a relatively low profile since leaving Apple’s day-to-day operations in 1985, said in an email, “Users provide every detail of their life to Facebook and… Facebook makes a lot of advertising money off this. The profits are all based on the user’s info, but the users get none of the profits back. Apple makes its money off of good products, not off of you. As they say, with Facebook, you are the product,” USA Today reported on Monday.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said last week that Facebook users would need to pay to keep the company from using their personal data, although Facebook does not currently have a service tier for those seeking such privacy.
In the email, Wozniak said he would pay to keep Facebook from exploiting his information.
