Brian Acton, co-founder of popular messaging app WhatsApp wants each and every Facebook user to delete their Facebook accounts permanently and leave the social media giant created by Mark Zuckerberg.
Brian who recently founded a non-profit organization “The Signal Foundation” expressed his view on Twitter with a brief tweet saying “It is time. #deletefacebook.”
It is time. #deletefacebook
— Brian Acton (@brianacton) March 20, 2018
In another tweet, Brian went on to say that in order to protect your privacy, this is the right time to delete Facebook accounts and forget about it.
“Delete. Forget it. Now’s the time to care about privacy,” Brian tweeted.
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 tweets came days after Facebook was caught in the middle of accusation that the social media giant secretly provided the UK based Cambridge Analytica analytic and data mining firm access to 50 million profiles without the consent of users.
The privacy breach incident was exposed by a whistleblower Christopher Wylie who worked on the project while working for Cambridge Analytica. In return, Facebook suspended Wylie’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp accounts.
The #DeleteFacebook movement emerged this week due to data leakage of 50 million users involving Cambridge Analytica.
Lynnette Luna Principal Technology Analyst at GloblaData, a leading data, and analytics company commented on the scandal and said that ‘‘Data privacy has always been bubbling under the surface as a concern for Facebook users. Trust is the lifeblood of Facebook’s business. If it loses that, it will lose more than its stock price in the long run.”
Facebook must be concerned that this data breach incident could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for regulators.’ Regulation will stifle Facebook’s main value proposition: The ability for advertisers to use granular data to target receptive audiences.’’
As for Brian, remember, in 2014, WhatsApp was sold to Facebook for a whopping 19 billion and since then privacy advocates have been questioning whether their communication on the app is in safe hands. So much so that its end to end encryption could not answer the questions.
However, it is unclear if Brian has same reservation about WhatsApp as he has on Facebook. Moreover, Brian has recently invested $50 million into Signal, a Facebook rival and Edward Snowden’s favorite encrypted messaging service.
How to delete your Facebook account permanently
To delete your Facebook account permanently follow this link, it will ask you for your Facebook password or follow these steps and say goodbye to your account:
- Click the account menu down arrow at the top right of any Facebook page in your web browser.
- Select ‘Settings’
- Choose ‘Security’ in the left column.
- Choose ‘Deactivate your account’, and then follow the steps to confirm your decision.
Are you willing to delete your Facebook account or doesn’t Cambridge Analytica scandal bother you at all?
Image credit: Depositphotos
