At first, I was willing to let the controversy over Beacon pass without taking any action. I was not aware of Beacon’s data collection affecting me personally; I suspect I did not see Facebook take any data from me because I had made a systematic effort to minimize the amount of data I was giving to the site, already being distrustful of the pervasive demands for more and more personal information. But after reading this New York Times article, I have changed my mind. I’ve just now disabled my account and I’ve written the following as my reason, though I might as well have simply said that I refuse to interact with a company whose leadership is so mind-numbingly arrogant and unapologetic after instituting a plan of data collection that I think is arguably criminal:
Beacon is intolerable. Until a formal public apology for even considering implementing such a policy is made, I will not use the site and I will discourage others from using it as well.
If you are reading this, I encourage you to cancel your membership as well, noting both Beacon and the attitude of Facebook vice president Chamath Palihapitiya among your reasons.
i told you i wasn’t comfortable with the site having so much information about so many people taken from so many different sources and mixing it all together.
It had all the ingredients to become a privacy nightmare in the future, since it doesn’t matter whether you give them the information or not since most your friends will do it for you…
And now with Beacon they just crossed the line. I’m cancelling too… and i’m glad i’ve just been on the site for less than a month
And you were clearly right to be suspicious. I’ll take your prescience more into account next time.