MENLO PARK, Calif. – The co-founder of social messaging service WhatsApp, Brian Acton has turned against Mark Zuckerburg’s company following a recent revelation that more than 50 million Facebook users’ data was breached during the last US Presidential Election.
Brian, who sold WhatsApp to Facebook in 2014, tweeted on Wednesday urging: “It is time. #deletefacebook”.
https://twitter.com/brianacton/status/976231995846963201
The post has been shared more than 4,000 times and is one of only two posts he has shared since 2016.
Acton also expanded on his reasoning while responding to his followers’ comments:
Delete. Forget it. Now’s the time to care about privacy.
Here, at Signal, we’re holding an Awareness-rising event. Ethereum is promoted as a currency of choice.
Visit for details:https://t.co/eHnYvXEQOa
— Brian Acton (@brianiacton) March 21, 2018
The #DeleteFacebook has been trending on social media over the course of the last few days.
The 46-year-old had left Yahoo before he co-founded WhatsApp in 2009, only to sell it to Facebook in a $16 billion deal.
The Michigan-based software developer recently made the news for investing $50 million of his own money into SIgnal, the encrypted chat app which technology is also used in WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other apps that offer end-to-end encryption.
Facebook came under fire after deleting the account of a data analyst, Christopher Wylie, who had revealed the use of misappropriated data by Cambridge Analytica during Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/technology/facebook-blocks-whistleblower-linked-to-donald-trumps-presidential-campaign/
Wylie, 28, gave “whistleblower” reports, published by The Observer, The Guardian and the New York Times last Sunday detailing how 50 million Facebook profiles were affected.
Since Wylie’s ‘ordeal’ made the headlines, Facebook has shed $60 billion in value.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently investigating Facebook’s handling and alleged misuse of users’ personal data. The company signed a consent agreement with the FTC in 2011 guaranteeing data privacy regarding the use of personal user data. This outlined how users would “receive notification of and agree to Facebook sharing their data with outside firms.”
“We remain strongly committed to protecting people’s information,” Facebook Deputy Chief Privacy Officer Rob Sherman said in a statement. “We appreciate the opportunity to answer questions the FTC may have.”
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg have yet to issue a statement.
