Delete Facebook Accounts, Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Urges Users

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak has urged Facebook users to delete their Facebook accounts permanently. Due to privacy concerns, the 68-year old inventor appealed to the public to find a way to get off one of the biggest social media platforms.

In an interview to TMZ, Wozniak revealed that he deleted his Facebook account last year and challenged people to do as he did. He added that the lack of privacy is not worth it for most of the Facebook users.

The Apple co-founder decided to get off his Facebook account for good in March 2018. The act was in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Wozniak immediately deleted his Facebook account permanently after finding out that the user moods and platform behaviors were monitored to help manipulate the 2016 presidential elections. The said data gathered were later used in Donald Trump's campaigns.

The technology entrepreneur cited concrete examples of privacy issues arising on some trusted platforms. He specified Alexa which has been in headlines for allegedly listening and recording private conversations.

“Who knows if my cellphone is listening right now,” he added.

Wozniak gave a list of possible privacy risks that await Facebook users with the scope of invasion that the technology and social media platform have over a lot of people, citing examples such as the ability to measure heartbeat with lasers.

The Cupertino-based tech giant's co-founder expressed his worry over Facebook users saying that people could be made to believe that they are having private conversations when in fact they are not. He also mentioned about paying a certain amount to keep users’ data more secure and ending up having their personal data handed over to advertisers.

Facebook has been embroiled in quite a number of privacy issues. The allegations were admitted by the social media giant in a statement released by Alex Warofka, a Facebook product policy manager, in 2018 acknowledging that they can and should do more.