Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, has pointed to Meta in a new interview suggesting that his version of the Metaverse will simply repeat all his past mistakes.
In an interview with Politico, Haugen said that:
“They have made very grandiose promises about ‘security by design’ in the Metaverse. But if they don’t commit to transparency and access and other accountability measures, I can imagine all the damage currently seen on Facebook will be repeated.”
In 2021, Haugen leaked thousands of internal Facebook documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and The Wall Street Journal. His experience working for the company has left him concerns about privacy issues and letting the corporation amass data on every aspect of user interactions in the Metaverse.
“I am very concerned about the number of sensors involved. When we’re in the Metaverse, we have to put up a lot more Facebook bugs; many other types of sensors in our houses“, said.
“Right now, really. you can’t choose if you want Facebook to spy on you at home or not. We just have to trust the company to do the right thing.”
Haugen isn’t the only one concerned. According to a recent survey, 70% of people don’t trust Meta to handle privacy correctly.
Andy Yen, CEO of encrypted email service ProtonMail, is also concerned about the unilateral powers of big tech giants like Meta.. Last week he said in an interview that his own company, Proton, will only be able to survive thanks to the goodwill of the tech giants.
“Today, tech giants could remove us from the internet without any legal or financial repercussions“, said.
Yen has also raised concerns about big tech control of the metaverse in the past, telling Newsweek last year that Meta was “building a new infrastructure where they control everything. They control the device, they have the VR headset, now you’re in their world, on their devices, on their platform.”“.
Yen said that, given his track record, he doesn’t think we should trust Meta with such power and that promises around privacy in the Metaverse are worthless unless their business model changes.
“At the end of the day, their business model revolves around taking your data and monetizing it. So fundamentally, there’s always going to be a conflict between what they say and what they actually have to do to make money.”
Data collection
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a non-profit organization that defends civil liberties in the digital world. Like Yen, he believes that virtual reality headsets, augmented reality goggles and other wearables will make data collection and surveillance easier than ever. In December, they stated:
“This data collectionsometimes done by companies with a history of putting benefits before protections, paves the way for unprecedented invasions into our lives, our homes, and even our thoughts“.
The EFF is concerned that data collected and used for targeted advertising generates “biometric psychography” and that our deepest desires and inclinations are for sale. Once the information is collated, third parties could monetize the data, even without our knowledge or agreement.
The Chinese Syndrome
While the metaverse may seem like a topic for the distant future, in China citizens experience it differently every day.
WeChat is the preferred social media platform in China. It has a mind-boggling user base of over a billion. Of them, 850 million are active users. The app is amassing data on users in China on a scale never seen before. In addition, the Chinese government can control every word, image and video that appears on it..
WeChat came under heavy criticism from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ahead of this year’s Winter Olympics.. RSF urged journalists to protect themselves from Chinese surveillance while reporting. They said: “RSF recommends journalists traveling to China to avoid downloading apps that could allow Chinese authorities to monitor them.” Among them, WeChat and TikTok.
Imagine having that power over the Metaverse.
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