Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
A look at Facebook’s vulnerability
"They’re not good in any industry they have to compete in or have to be innovative in. They can buy and they can copy, like they just did the other day, again, with another thing. What did they borrow from? From Clubhouse or whatever. They just can’t do anything innovative."
Facebook may look invincible. Yet as Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway discuss, it could face a rough future. See: Why Facebook Is the Most Vulnerable of the Tech Giants.
It's hard to like Facebook. At its worst, the company's business model depends on manipulating emotions. At times it does this in dangerous ways. The more it seeds fear, loathing and misinformation, the richer it gets.
When it's not undermining democracy, Facebook makes money by spying on its users. It then sells the fruits of its espionage to the highest bidder.
Facebook has no respect for its users.
Over half a billion customers have details leaked
Last week we heard the personal details of over 530 million users are circulating online. Facebook treated the issue as a public relations problem, not a security breach.
To put that leak into perspective, 530 million people is around seven percent of the world's population.
Facebook says it has no plans to notify users of the data leak. At no point was there anything resembling an apology or an admission of guilt. So far it has focused on deflecting blame.
Old news
The leak may be old news, Facebook says it is. It says it fixed the problem. Yet it underlines the lax attitude and incompetence. A company packed with high-paid engineers should be able to protect user information.
There's evidence that Facebook has known about the problem for a long time.
To date the tech giant has skirted past crisis after crisis. Everyone knows you can't trust Facebook.
Each act of incompetence or cynicism looks like it could be the last straw for certain users. Each time the business recovers and moves on. It is not going any time soon.
The latest news is also unlikely to sink the company. Although if you listen to what it says, you might think otherwise.
Facebook has made a lot of noise about Apple's privacy plans for iOS 14.5. Anyone with an iOS app must warn users about the data they collect.
Squeals
Judging by Facebook's squeals, you'd think transparency will destroy the world's economy. As the Wall Street Journal puts it: Apple and Facebook Clash Over Ads, Mom-and-Pop Shops Fear They’ll Be the Victims.
Facebook launched an ad campaign insisting that those who will be most hurt by Apple’s changes are small and medium-size businesses, which represent the majority of the social network’s more than 10 million advertisers.
If their business depends on lying to Facebook users, that's not a real problem.
Swisher and Galloway end their discussion acknowledging that for a potentially vulnerable business, it remains popular with investors. That's true.
Facebook isn't going to fall overnight. There's enough wealth in the business for it to switch its focus and remain huge. Microsoft did this when it flipped from PC software to cloud computing.
A look at Facebook’s vulnerability was first posted at billbennett.co.nz.
Bill Bennett
New Zealand technology news
Bill Bennett publishes technology news and features that are directly relevant to New Zealand readers.
Covering enterprise and small business computing, start-ups, listed companies, the technology channel and devices. Bennett's main focus is on New Zealand innovation.
Bill Bennett stories are republished on Geekzone and Scoop.
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