We recently discussed how it was shortsighted to delete Whatsapp in regard to changes to its privacy policy and potential sharing of data with its parent Facebook: your data’s being sucked up by Facebook in so many other ways that your Whatsapp activity is just a small part of it.
On a chat group, one of my friends asked
Do you think someday Facebook could charge someone to keep all their data private? Do you think it’s possible for any of these tech companies to say “pay USD 50 per month or we’ll reveal your truth?”
To that,
That’s ominous and I don’t rule it out. It has one, possible major, possibly fatal downside – it can be only pulled off once because it’s a bait and switch. Once the switch is public, fewer people – if any – will bite the bait, no?
But we’re also seeing a less obvious but perhaps equally insidious: the free plan and the ‘ad-free’ paid plans. If one had to describe this arrangement in more plain terms, it’s one that demands a continuing payment to stop the hijacking of privacy and attention.