Facebook still wants to gobble up your data
The company says it’s improving the way it handles your privacy—but with its business model centered on personal data gorges, don’t expect a total U-turn.
Backstory: Every Facebook user, except those in America and Canada, signs up to terms of service agreed with the firm’s HQ in Ireland. That makes every one of them eligible for increased protection under the EU’s new GDPR data rules.
The news: Reuters says Facebook will change that, so only European users are eligible. Users elsewhere would then be governed by (weaker) US privacy laws.
Facebook says: It will extend new privacy measures to comply with the EU rules “to everyone, no matter where you live”—first in Europe and then in the rest of the world.
But: Changing terms-of-service regions would give Facebook room to handle data differently for 1.5 billion users. Non-EU users would have reduced legal recourse.
Plus: Sandy Parakilas, an ex-Facebook staffer who warned the firm about privacy issues, tells Wired that the company’s new privacy setting pages, supposedly offered to comply with EU rules, actually “manipulate you into doing the thing they want.” Which is handing over data.
Bottom line: Facebook depends on data. It won’t be rolling over to give it all up.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.