
And for good reason.
This organization started because of the Facebook Real Names Policy in early 2013 and to this day we harp on Facebook’s refusal to protect LGBTQ+ people by providing alias names, securing data and information better, not catering to peoples’ privacy, and generally sucking at community anonymity when we ask them to.
But something changed recently in Mark Zuckerberg’s little scrooge heart (possibly robotic?).
A week ago Zuckerberg published a near 3,200-word blog about a shift from public information social networks to private networks. And that’s VERY good for all of you.
In this blog, Zuckerberg admitted to the security problems with his platform and announced he will be pivoting to a security-based social platform that we feel holds a lot of promise for your safety, security, and anonymity on the web.
So in this blog, we’re going to go over his letter to let you know what may or may not be “troubling”.
A quick summary of his Blog
Zuckerberg starts out by suggesting a few ideas about what the future of the internet will entail and we are VERY proud of him here. He is championing from here on out:
- Private interactions between people without any “eyes” on your conversation,
- Encrypted Data so no “eyes” are watching the mail process in the first place,
- Temporary & Secure Data Storage so they’re not holding info longer than needed,
- Safety for everyone involved as they interact on the platform and,
- Platform Inter-operability that rolls these changes out to every platform they own.
We’ve super-cut all the parts that are important to you in a way that makes sense*:
(also check the P.S for more below!)
“I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today's open platforms. Privacy gives people the freedom to be themselves and connect more naturally, which is why we build social networks. [...] But people should be comfortable being themselves, and should not have to worry about what they share coming back to hurt them later. ” [...] Now, with all the ways people also want to interact privately, there's also an opportunity to build a simpler platform that's focused on privacy first.
[...] Frankly, we [Facebook] don’t currently have a strong reputation for building protective privacy services, and we've historically focused on tools for more open sharing. [...] There is also a growing concern among some that technology may be centralizing power in the hands of governments and companies like ours. [...] But in WhatsApp, for example, our team is obsessed with creating an intimate environment in every aspect of the product. [...] I believe we should be working towards a world where people can speak privately and live freely knowing that their information will only be seen by who they want to see it and won't all stick around forever." ~ Mark Zuckerberg; Wed. March 6th |
So can we trust him?

Right now, according to the Online Data Privacy survey, a whopping 83% of Americans believe that too much of their personal information is being made public without their consent and virtually all of them are worried about that information being stolen or abused.
So in my opinion...
It’s too soon to tell when these features will be rolled out, if they’ll be useful, and whether they are going to be made in your interest. Plenty of politicians submit well-meaning population focused bills to Congress that turn into money-grubbing industry-focused laws and that’s no different for technology.
So we suggest
Samantha V LoganSamantha is the Executive Director of RESCQU.NET as well as a full-stack digital marketer. She struggles with both of these roles as her primary job asks her to collect as much information as the internet will allow, while she also actively fights that surveillance marketing for you here at RESCQU.NET. |