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Facebook Preparing Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple for 'Unfair' Approach to Privacy and Default Apps

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Arbuthnott said:
When has Apple ever said that they would not follow the same rules? They have clearly stated that they will follow the same rules, which is no surprise. It would have been a surprise if Apple had said anything else.

BTW the issue is not simply your buying habits. It's a nuisance to be followed around with companies trying to sell you things related to your browsing or searching habits, of course, but really this is not the issue. The bigger issue is that by the use of big data, For example, Cambridge Analytica bought FaceBook data that allowed them to bias the Brexit vote in a way that has caused untold damage to the UK's current businesses and future prospects, and against what had been the majority preference for the UK to remain part of Europe. The power to influence such things, and to know how to present misleading and skewed information to key groups in the community, effectively undermines the working of democracy and opens us up to manipulation that is more powerful than simply cheating during poling. It risks us being manipulated into conflicts against our interests. It risks us failing to deal with theft and corruption by powerful interests. It can create en environment in which people think that it is reasonable to take part in Extinction Rebellion riots, or encourage targeted flash violence that can damage the malls owned by the competition. This is a much bigger issue than trying to sell you a better mattress or a different brand of washing powder.
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I agree with your point about the damage being done with this technology.

But it sounds like the underlying issue you’re describing is the manner in which elections are being used (eg: should everyday citizens really be made to decide the fate of a nation?) AND how gerrymandering of populations is being exacerbated by these highly targeted advertising technologies.

These two problems still exist if you take away this technology, it’s just not as easy to manipulate without it.
 
Facebook really should have tried harder to make their own phone, they wouldn’t be in half as bad position as they are in now if they had their own hardware and app marketplace.
 
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shapesinaframe said:
Facebook really should have tried harder to make their own phone, they wouldn’t be in half as bad position as they are in now if they had their own hardware and app marketplace.
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Plus think all the user data they could have vacuumed up if they ran the entire OS!
 
dwaite said:
Plus think all the user data they could have vacuumed up if they ran the entire OS!
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Exactly. If their business model relies on unfettered access to user data they really should have minimised the risk of losing access to that data by building the infrastructure necessary to maintain access.

I think they worked out early on they didn’t have the resources to complete against iOS and Android handsets - so they instead invested in VR, and will probably backfill with a connected mobile device when they hit a critical mass of VR users that make it worthwhile.
 
Best to delete your account from Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, and anything else they have.
 
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I suspect the only real argument here is that Apple says they don't collect or share data, therefore, don't apply the same check that would be applied to every other App to 'prove' that. So if they change that so that it does happen then surely that closes the issue down completely.
 
theotherphil said:
I’ve been quite successful in getting my contacts to switch to Signal by actually using FB to do so. Every couple of days, I have shared news stories with regards to signal and whatsapp and explained why Open Source, not for profit is better. I also used the App Store “Privacy Labels” by taking a screenshot of each and posting them as a comparison.

These small, bite sized chunks of information seems to be all the current generation can handle instead of a single massive rant.
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I haven’t had much luck unfortunately 🙁 even of my closest friends, who introduced me to Mailbox.org and always tries to use open source stuff for privacy concerns, still communicates with me through WhatsApp even though he has Signal. So I don’t have that much hope! 😕
At least what I can do is reduce to the minimum the amount of data they track from me. For instance, last time I wiped my phone, about one year ago, I didn’t install Facebook or any social media app. Instead, I installed Firefox and use it in the rare occasions I need something from those sites. For regular browsing it’s Safari. It was a quite a nice detox I have to admit!
 
I've never understood the antitrust default apps argument against apple because they literally invented the App Store and the platform it runs on - its their playground with their rules, follow them or leave, surely
 
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Zucker, spend all your profit in court, losers do that and if you don't like what Apple is providing- go somewhere else , I'm not happy with small shops, so I do shopping in supermarkets , people don't like spying and parasites- that's bad news for you
 
yes, I agree, Mr. Zucker,when home is equipped with good alarm that's make thefts life very miserable- how to do a job?
 
Arbuthnott said:
Thank you for today's bit of humour. Hopefully you are being ironic rather than trying to mislead people with inflammatory nonsense ...
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Yes I am being ironic / funny. I thought about putting a disclaimer in when I first composed that post, and I will go back and do that.

Thanks for calling it out, this was one of those times that I should have gone with my instincts. :)
 
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mi7chy said:
Not a FB fanboy and use a browser and not their app but they have over 2.7 billion active users and growing. Doubt they're going anywhere with no viable alternative platform. Part of issue is Apple is jealous they don't have the user base the size of FB to collect data from.
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Mark love harvesting data?, so he should let others to harvest FB data for their profit
 
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PhoneI said:
Best decision I made was deleting my Facebook account a few months ago.
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I did the same at the end of 2020. I had only kept it because of the high school friends and co-workers from my last job that I was keeping in touch with.

But the BS from Zuck & the other Facebook people handling communications, and the overall evil & hypocrisy of Facebook's actions, finally overrode my desire to have a convenient method of staying in touch with people.

But I shared my email address with (only) my former Facebook friends, so they can contact me if they want to. ^)
 
after Facebookgate when public more familiar with their milking policy there is no chance to rescue -FB is dead!!!
 
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