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Comment by forgottenpass | Hacker News Reader

Remember when Whatsapp got bought?

    Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA, and we built WhatsApp
    around the goal of knowing as little about you as possible [...]
    If partnering with Facebook meant that we had to change our values,
    we wouldn’t have done it. Instead, we are forming a partnership 
    that would allow us to continue operating independently and autonomously.
    Our fundamental values and beliefs will not change. Our principles
    will not change. Everything that has made WhatsApp the leader in
    personal messaging will still be in place. Speculation to the 
    contrary isn’t just baseless and unfounded, it’s irresponsible. [0]

Well, good news for them. They never outlined what exactly their principles were, so they weren't technically lying. We just get to see how thin their principles (retroactively) turn out to be.

[0] https://blog.whatsapp.com/529/Setting-the-record-straight

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Does anyone actually believe a word which these companies say? I think if at all there was a company which deserved some serious scrutiny under anti-trust, it was Facebook. Much more than Google or MSFT. They have done exactly the things which is supposed to be prevented by antitrust - I mean the "spirit of the law" and not the letter of the law. But hey, there are SO many social networks - look at LinkedIn, look at Google Plus, Twitter. Except that FB somehow ends up with all the data which everyone wishes wasn't stored in one place.

I think it is just a matter of time before FB starts influencing elections to suit THEIR agenda (assuming they have not already started). Remember the experiment where they tried to deliberately influence people's emotions? [1] FB is now effectively a super creepy uber-government.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/29/facebook-...

Question to anyone who works at Facebook: how come you promptly participate in the latest HN announcement of the newest JavaScript open source framework from FB and never bother to show up on these threads. Is ethics just completely off the table when you step foot inside the company doors? I remember someone talking about Zynga the company having "sold their soul". Not that Zynga doesn't rank very high on that chart, but boy, does FB absolutely top that list by a wide margin.

I agree with many points you have stated and feel the same way about Facebook (vs. Google or others), but I do believe there is a big difference between the ethics and values of many Facebook employees and the evil things that Facebook as a company and Mark Zuckerberg want to do. I'm sure they like working on things that make a difference (including open sourcing some big impact stuff) while at the same time not liking the privacy policies and what their employer does with data collection.

I am yet to see even a single FB employee openly admit he/she is not happy with "so and so" policy but wants to stay at FB to continue working on the things which make an impact. And please give me a reference if this is incorrect.

Put another way, the silence is starting to become too damning. What else do they know but never talk about?

And yes, I feel the same way about every single one of the megacorps. However, I fear FB the most. They already have a long track record of ruthlessness when it comes to pushing the boundaries of ethical behavior.

Cory Doctorow explains why we need a "Ulysses Pact" to avoid situations like this.

http://craphound.com/news/2016/06/24/how-to-protect-the-futu...

Am I too harsh in thinking that trusting anything a tech company says is a bit unreasonable?

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