What is the Facebook Universe?
All apps/services/products owned and/or operated by Facebook.
- FB Messenger
- Onavo (VPN App for iOS and Android)
- Oculus
Why I left the Facebook Universe?
I left Facebook on 1 januari 2012. Never used Instagram and stopped using WhatsApp on 30 April 2017. I haven’t missed it for a second. Some people asked me why I don’t have Facebook / WhatsApp anymore. I have a few answers for them:
- It became clear that Facebook broke it’s promise. It promised it would not connect Facebook and WhatsApp. And would not use any WhatsApp data to improve their advertisement platform.
- I spent too much time in WhatsApp, it became unhealthy.
- I absolutely hated the group conversations, and you are kind of mandatory to be part of it and be responsive.
- I hate the company Facebook and everything it stands for. I am principally against it.
- Your data is used to sell more ads.
- Cambridge Analytica used a lot of Facebook data to influence voters. It was not the only company that uses data to influence people.
Why you should leave too!
In the last few weeks there is a lot of media coverage about Facebook. Founders of WhatsApp and Instagram left Facebook because they did not agree with Facebook management. Facebook was hacked and 50 million login details were leaked. It is using your phone number now for selling ads.
Below are 10 articles that are really interesting to read. It should open your eyes about the real cost of using Facebook and maybe it starts you thinking about your privacy!
Facebook Is Giving Advertisers Access to Your Shadow Contact Information
“I think that many users don’t fully understand how ad targeting works today: that advertisers can literally specify exactly which users should see their ads by uploading the users’ email addresses, phone numbers, names+dates of birth, etc,” said Mislove. “In describing this work to colleagues, many computer scientists were surprised by this, and we’re even more surprised to learn that not only Facebook, but also Google, Pinterest, and Twitter all offer related services. Thus, we think there is a significant need to educate users about how exactly targeted advertising on such platforms works today.”
→ https://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-giving-advertisers-access-to-your-shadow-co-1828476051
Exclusive: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton Gives The Inside Story On #DeleteFacebook And Why He Left $850 Million Behind
“More than four years ago, Acton and his cofounder, Jan Koum, sold WhatsApp, which had relatively insignificant revenue, to Facebook for $22 billion, one of the most stunning acquisitions of the century. Ten months ago he left Facebook, saying he wanted to focus on a nonprofit. Then in March, as details of the Cambridge Analytica scandal oozed out, he sent a Tweet that quickly went viral and shocked his former employers, who had made him a billionaire many times over: “It is time. #deletefacebook.” No explanation followed. He hasn’t sent another Tweet since.”
Facebook’s New Message to WhatsApp: Make Money
“WhatsApp on Wednesday detailed plans to sell advertisements and charge big companies that use its service to interact with customers, launching its first major revenue streams as growth at Facebook’s main app is starting to decelerate.”
→ https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebooks-new-message-to-whatsapp-make-money-1533139325
Hating Facebook
“I hate that, if I somehow don’t want to consign my personal data, beliefs, preferences, relationships, work history, daily plans, and private messages to a massive advertising corporation, I have to risk missing out on seminal life events. Not being on Facebook is sort of like not having a cellphone. Sure, me and a small number of weirdos can opt out, but we are increasingly disadvantaged by it. The disadvantage comes from the larger society relying more and more on such technologies. If even a small subset of your friends make heavy use of social media, you ARE missing out, and sometimes you can miss out on important life or death stuff.”
Achtung! Decentralize, decentralize, decentralize!
“I can hardly believe it, but the media is finally putting Facebook’s feet to the fire! No longer is it just the weird paranoid kids shouting at everyone to stop giving all of their information to these companies. We need to take this bull by the horns and drive it in a productive direction, and for that reason, it’s time to talk about decentralization, federation, and open source.”
→ https://drewdevault.com/2018/03/24/Decentralize-decentralize-decentralize.html
Facebook apologizes for privacy breach with full-page newspaper ads
“Facebook isn’t just relying on TV appearances to apologize for its poor handling of Cambridge Analytica’s data sharing. The social network took out full-page apology ads in several major US and UK Sunday newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times. In each case, the ad included a missive from Mark Zuckerberg, who said he was “sorry” Facebook didn’t “do more” when it learned that Cambridge Analytica had harvested data on more than 50 million people without their permission.”
→ https://www.engadget.com/2018-03-25-facebook-apologizes-for-privacy-breach-with-newspaper-ads.html
#deletefacebook
“Facebook is using us. It is actively giving away our information. It is creating an echo chamber in the name of connection. It surfaces the divisive and destroys the real reason we began using social media in the first place – human connection. — It is a cancer.”
→ https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/19/deletefacebook/
Edward Snowden: Facebook is a surveillance company rebranded as ‘social media’
“Businesses that make money by collecting and selling detailed records of private lives were once plainly described as “surveillance companies.” Their rebranding as “social media” is the most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense.”
What Instagram users need to know about Facebook’s security breach
“Due to the nature of the hack, Facebook cannot rule out the fact that attackers may have also accessed any Instagram account linked to an affected Facebook account through Facebook Login. Still, it’s worth remembering that while Facebook can’t rule it out, the company has no evidence (yet) of this kind of activity.”
→ https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/28/facebook-hack-instagram-facebook-login/
The Facebook hack affecting 50 million people also let the attackers access users’ Tinder, Spotify, and Instagram accounts
“So what happened? In short, the attackers found a way to trick Facebook into issuing them “access tokens” — basically, digital keys — that let them access other users’ accounts as if they were that user. After spotting some unusual activity earlier this month, Facebook realized what was going on on Tuesday evening and subsequently revoked these access tokens before disclosing the hack publicly on Friday — though not before 50 million people were affected.”
→ https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-hack-tinder-instagram-spotify-accounts-2018-9?r=DE&IR=T
Alternatives for Facebook Universe
Important messages / information
For important stuff you should use the most used platform there is. Email. Because everyone has email and there are always people that do not use the latest social media website.
WhatsApp + FB Messenger
- iMessage (macOS and iOS)
- Signal (macOS, iOS, Windows, Linux and Android)
- Telegram (macOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, Web and Android)
- Wire (macOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, Web and Android)
Groups
- Slack (macOS, iOS, Windows, Web, Linux and Android)
- Yammer (macOS, iOS, Windows, Web, Linux and Android)
- All the texting platforms
Pages
- Every company that has a Facebook page should also have a website. With exactly the same information on it. If you do not have it, you as a business are not serving your non facebook users.
- A website will cost like 50 euro a year, to keep it up and running.
- Limiting your company information to be in one closed environment is really bad.
How to delete Facebook?
- Download all the data Facebook has of you.
- Go to the top right of Facebook.
- Click Settings.
- Click Your Facebook Information.
- Go to Download Your Information and click View.
- To add or remove categories of data from your request, click the boxes on the right side of Facebook.
- Select other options, including: The format of your download request. The quality of photos, videos and other media. A specific date range of information. If you don’t select a date range, you’ll request all the information for the categories you’ve selected.
- Click Create File to confirm the download request.
- After you’ve made a download request, it will appear as Pending in the Available Files section of the Download Your Information Tool. It may take several days for us to finish preparing your download request
- Post a message explaining why you delete your Facebook account
- Wait for 48 hours, so everyone has a change to read your message
- Delete your Facebook account
- Head to Facebook’s Delete Account page
- Select Delete My Account
- Do not login for 30 days
- Otherwise your account is activated again
- It can take 90 days before your account is removed from all Facebook systems
How to delete Instagram?
- Download all the data Instagram has of you
- Go to instagram.com.
- Click on the gear icon next to your Edit Profile option and select Privacy and Security.
- Scroll down to Data Download.
- Click Request Download.
- Type in your email address if it doesn’t automatically pop up, then click Next.
- Enter your password and click Request Download.
- Post a message explaining why you delete your Instagram account
- Wait for 48 hours, so everyone has a change to read your message
- Delete your Instagram account
- Head to Instagram’s Delete Account page
- Login with your account details
- Select ‘Privacy concerns’ at “Why are you deleting your account?”
- Re-enter password
- Permanently delete my account
How to delete WhatsApp?
- Download all the data WhatsApp has of you
- Go to Settings > Account
- Request info on my account.
- Could take between 1-3 days to complete
- Once you receive the report, download it. You’ll then have a .ZIP file in your hands.
- Post a message explaining why you delete your WhatsApp account
- Wait for 48 hours, so everyone has a change to read your message
- Delete your WhatsApp account
- Open WhatsApp
- Tap the Menu Button > Settings > Account > Delete my account.
- Enter your phone number in full international format and tap Delete my account.
Block Facebook in the browser
With Quiet you can block Facebook in Safari. This blocks/removes all the like buttons and tracking scripts from Facebook.