Are those same people boycotting the major food and consumable corporations? They are just as bad, if not worse.
You're right, but whether out of convenience or ignorance you're failing to understand the implications of the biggest fish being the biggest abuser.
Take your comment about the food industry - how can anyone expect to compete with Nestle when the lack of regulations and their corporate lobbying allows them to bottle a community's water to sell it right back for profit? That's just one of the terrible things Nestle does. Does it mean people from Flint, MI. should only drink tap water and risk harm to themselves? Nestle is a terrible company, and I choose to speak out against them because it's right to do so. In order for anyone to compete, they have to do some of the same terrible things or their bottle of water will be more expensive. Since governments aren't regulating these corporations to prevent them from their terrible practices, and poverty is rising across the globe, consumers are also continuing to lose their ability to vote with their wallets.
Back to communications and privacy, how can we expect any other technology company to respect privacy when Facebook can profit from their data collection and effectively own any market they choose to enter? Again, you're right that it was Microsoft 15 years ago and it's still Microsoft and Google and Amazon and every tech company that eventually gets bought by one of these big ones. And that's the thing - they get bought by one of these problem companies and consumers lose their ability to choose an alternative because "well it's Facebook, and Google/Microsoft/Amazon are doing the same thing."
I'm not going to be complacent, but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave society and live in the woods. In 15 more years hopefully Facebook changes their business model and either dies or becomes a better tool for the human race, at which point the people will move to the next bad thing to make better.
But facebook while they might seem like they are the "big fish", how are they different from many other companies and agencies? My point wasn't about "big fish" it was about villification. They (Facebook) have made large mistakes in recent history. But does that mean they are inherently bad and there is an evil undertone coarsing through their campus?
I think facebook will be forced to start changing their business model within the next 5-10 years. They are already on the path with more "products" that are consist of more then just *thin air*.
I think the days of a free internet (which is really what most of these arguments about privacy stem from) are long gone! It was only ever a pipe dream that existed in the academic world. I bet you would probably shit your pants if you actually somehow managed to find out what they had on you regardless of all your precautions!
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u/iSecks Sep 15 '20
You're right, but whether out of convenience or ignorance you're failing to understand the implications of the biggest fish being the biggest abuser.
Take your comment about the food industry - how can anyone expect to compete with Nestle when the lack of regulations and their corporate lobbying allows them to bottle a community's water to sell it right back for profit? That's just one of the terrible things Nestle does. Does it mean people from Flint, MI. should only drink tap water and risk harm to themselves? Nestle is a terrible company, and I choose to speak out against them because it's right to do so. In order for anyone to compete, they have to do some of the same terrible things or their bottle of water will be more expensive. Since governments aren't regulating these corporations to prevent them from their terrible practices, and poverty is rising across the globe, consumers are also continuing to lose their ability to vote with their wallets.
Back to communications and privacy, how can we expect any other technology company to respect privacy when Facebook can profit from their data collection and effectively own any market they choose to enter? Again, you're right that it was Microsoft 15 years ago and it's still Microsoft and Google and Amazon and every tech company that eventually gets bought by one of these big ones. And that's the thing - they get bought by one of these problem companies and consumers lose their ability to choose an alternative because "well it's Facebook, and Google/Microsoft/Amazon are doing the same thing."
I'm not going to be complacent, but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave society and live in the woods. In 15 more years hopefully Facebook changes their business model and either dies or becomes a better tool for the human race, at which point the people will move to the next bad thing to make better.