The Spy Within by Bill Wilson
Facebook has become such an integrated part of American society that it is difficult to extract oneself from it, but Americans should consider alternatives. We now see the apologetic television ads saying that information is going to be more secure and that the platform will do in the future what it was built to do. That really gives me pause. The Facebook platform was advertised as a safe and secure place to build community with family and friends. In reality, it does build community, and it allows connectivity with folks that you may not always be able to keep in touch with, but it is not safe and secure. No matter what goes on in the future, all of us using Facebook have been compromised in so many ways.
Facebook was part and parcel to a data mining (sic spying) application developed and used by the immediate past "president." The working model collected information on Facebook users that would be valuable to the "president's" election campaign. In 2012, Facebook even expressed surprise that the "president's" campaign was "able to suck out the whole social graph, but they didn't stop us once they realized what we were doing...because they were on our side," the campaign's director of media analytics, Carol Davidson, tweeted with a link to a talk she gave on how Facebook allowed the campaign to harvest data across friends networks.
To Facebook, it was OK for the leftist administration to use the data mined on Facebook, but it wasn't OK for the conservative campaign to use the same information. Cambridge Analytics, used by the Trump Campaign, became central to a Facebook media firestorm implying something illegal or unethical-a hypocritical double standard for sure. Especially when it is revealed that Facebook actually created partnerships with some 60 companies, according to the New York Times, to use personal information harvested from the network. Companies like Apple, Amazon, Blackberry, Microsoft, and Samsung were able to figure out what you want and put it in front of you. But wait, there's more.
If you have the Facebook app on your phone, your conversations also are likely divulging information without your knowledge. Sam Nichols of Vice.com reports that there are certain "word triggers" that cause the Facebook app and others to have access to the private data on your phone. He tested his theory using trigger words in his phone conversations and within hours, product adverts related to his conversations began popping up on his Facebook page. Don't forget, apps like this also have relationships with the government, and the previous administration was known for spying on reporters, politicians, and even citizens using Facebook, Google and others.
Jesus told his disciples regarding the end times in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." We all have been deceived to even begin to think that platforms like Facebook are safe, secure and private. In reality, they do not respect our privacy and we all need to be aware that these platforms are mining our personal data, putting us on lists, and using those lists for their agendas. Not even our conversations or information on our cell phones are exempt.
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