Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack deletes Facebook account: Here’s the reason why

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has deleted his Facebook account citing concerns over the carelessness with which the platform handles private information of users.

Steve Wozniak deletes Facebook, Facebook data breach, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, data privacy, Cambridge Analytica, Sheryl Sandberg Facebook, 2016 US elections, Zuckerberg Congress testimony

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has deleted his Facebook account citing concerns over the carelessness with which the platform handles private information of users. (Image Source: AP)

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has deleted his Facebook account citing concerns over the carelessness with which the platform handles private information of users. Wozniak in an email statement to USA Today said that Facebook makes its profit off of users’ private information, but none of that profit is returned to them. The Apple co-founder added that he would rather pay for Facebook’s services than have his “personal information exploited for advertising”.

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Before deleting his Facebook account on Sunday, the former Apple co-founder posted a message for his 5,000 friends on the platform. “I am in the process of leaving Facebook. It’s brought me more negatives than positives. Apple has more secure ways to share things about yourself. I can still deal with old school email and text messages,” he wrote. However, Wozniak wanted to hold on to his screen name “stevewoz” as he did not want anyone else grabbing it.

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Read: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to US Congress: The key answers he gave

He expressed his shock over the extent to which Facebook collects users’ private information and also got rid of some of the advertisers before deleting his Facebook account. “Ads and spam are bad things these days and there are no controls over them. Or transparency,” he said in the statement.

Also Read: How to delete your Facebook posts and past activity without deleting your account

Expressing concerns over how Facebook created money by advertising private information, Wozniak wrote in the email, “Users provide every detail of their life to Facebook and … Facebook makes a lot of advertising money off this. The profits are all based on the user’s info, but the users get none of the profits back.”

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Wozniak also compared Facebook’s money-making tactics to that of Apple. “Apple makes its money off of good products, not off of you,” Wozniak said. “As they say, with Facebook, you are the product.” He also applauded Apple over its commitment to user privacy.

Wozniak’s move comes in the midst of Facebook’s deepest crisis, a data breach that has affected 87 million users globally. The social media giant admitted that data consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica accessed personal data of users globally through an app-based game. The firm was also linked to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, for which Facebook is already accused of promoting political ads backed by Russian influence.

Also Read: WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton says it is time, users should delete Facebook

Steve Wozniak’s statements follow those of present Apple CEO Tim Cook, who told MSNBC and Recode that had he been Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, this situation would not have arisen. Tesla chief Elon Musk deleted the Facebook pages of himself, Tesla and SpaceX, joining the #DeleteFacebook movement. WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton was one of the first big names in Silicon Valley to call for deleting Facebook. Musk had said that the decision wasn’t politically motivated.

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Facebook has started rolling out a new tool, titled “See how you’re affected”, which will notify users if their data was shared with Cambridge Analytica without their consent. The social media platform will also give users more control over the information being shared with other apps. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg is preparing to testify before the US Congress on April 10 and 11, while Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg will meet EU officials to address the issue.