Face frightening facts

THERE IS GOOD IN THE PLATFORM BUT IT’S TIME PEOPLE STOPPED BEING NAIVE ABOUT ITS STRANGLEHOLD ON SOCIETY... USERS SHOULD BE CONCERNED — THEIR INFORMATION IS STORED AND USED FOR PROFIT

We’re working on an incredible story – the likes of which will cause mass outrage. It’s so big it will put the fear of Satan in you and make you take to the streets in protest. This story is about the abuse of trust and a lust for power. We’ve been watching this mob for a while. A few years actually. Evidence is mounting and it doesn’t look good. Something needs to be done. Here’s what we’ve got on them so far: 1. They monitor and track nearly everyone. This is global, folks. 2. They use and sell your personal data without paying you a cent. 3. They set their own rules and regulations with no real process and no one has a right to appeal. 4. They punish anyone who doesn’t play by their rules. 5. They control access to information, news and business. (I squirm just writing this.) 6. They have no accountability. Zip, zilch, nada, none. 7. They’re rich. Really rich. And they do everything in their power to ensure the playing field is never level. 8. Their charter is about making the world better but there’s a catch. You have to trust everything they do.

Who or what is it? Facebook. A company which has become a modern, intrinsic part of life and been allowed to do whatever it wants. We would scream bloody murder if the government tried the same thing. I remember when I first signed up to Facebook. My friends mocked me because it took so long. I just couldn’t believe anyone would be that interested in my day-to-day life and I certainly didn’t want to know what people ate for dinner. Every single night. Facebook is a big part of my professional life and there is good in the platform but it’s time people stopped being naive about its stranglehold on society.

There is a lot of justified attention on Facebook at the moment due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Users should be concerned – their information is stored and used for profit.

While I’m not a heavy user of Facebook, I downloaded the file it has on me. Messages, photos, a profile and every contact number I’d accumulated over 25 years of journalism. My contact information had been sold to three advertisers.

There’s a reason why Facebook is worth about $500 billion and it’s all because of its users. So, what price is there on privacy? Facebook needs to be regulated, otherwise the cost to our society could be far worse than any number with a dollar sign in front of it.

To download your personal data: Click at the top right of any Facebook page on the desktop version of the site and select Settings. Click “Download a copy of your Facebook data” below your General Account Settings and then click the green button. It takes about 10 minutes for Facebook to retrieve the file and you’ll get an email and notification when it’s ready to download.