Tuesday Tip: Facebook’s Concerning Lack of Privacy

Facebook has made clear it does not care about its end user’s privacy concerns, all while making claims that user privacy is important and respected by the company. Facebook also owns the messaging app WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a free app Facebook purchased in 2014 for 22 billion dollars. Facebook makes money by collecting data from users and aggregating it with data collected from other platforms like Facebook and Instagram (which Facebook acquired in 2012). WhatsApp says it intends to have end-to-end encryption on information and messages sent on the platform. In reality, no encryption is in place and Facebook has multiple centers staffed with hundreds of people who monitor messages sent on WhatsApp.

Unfortunately, there are no setting options to prevent the company from reading your messages and seeing your photos and videos. As a user of these platforms you should know what happens to your personal information. Be aware when you access Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram your data is not private and is being used to make money for Facebook.