Facebook’s Privacy Game
We’re not even speaking the same language about privacy. That’s the problem.
Fads are a big part of January. Everyone wants to hashtag their efforts at keeping up their New Year’s Resolution (#NoCheeseMonth, #NoCarbMonth, #NoFunMonth), and our collective refusal to acknowledge that the holidays are over means we’re all still desperate for distractions. But nobody minds, because we all love fads — it’s why we get obsessed with one hit wonders and dance routines (and, occasionally, both at the same time).
Yesterday, we got to see the confluence of a few of our favorite fads: megaconferences, big privacy promises, and clashes between tech giants. At CES, the Consumer Technology Association’s huge annual conference, representatives from Facebook, Apple, and others sat on a panel together. The topic, unsurprisingly, was privacy, and how these companies are adjusting to the changing political and regulatory landscape. There were the usual promises about “taking privacy seriously,” and recognition that governments are becoming increasingly concerned about the disproportionate power that businesses have to collect, and monetize, personal data.
And then, more than once, Facebook’s privacy czar Erin Egan made the claim that Facebook is just as protective of user privacy as Apple is.
