Ad-free != Privacy
Just because you’re paying $10 a month does not mean that Meta will stop farming your data. Sure, they won’t shove you any ads, but they will stockpile data for the day you decide that $10 (it’s not really $10… they will increase this price 2-3 years down the line once they feel they had gathered enough users, the Silicon Valley way) and then pump you with ads that cater you.
They don’t directly sell data, nor does Google. They analyze and use that data to sell targeted ad space.
There are data brokers that gather a ton of data and openly sell it, but Facebook isn’t one of them. Their customer data and the resulting ability to sell extremely specific ad space is probably their single most valuable; why would the sell it itself when they can sell the access it grants instead?
I think Meta very much wants to sell data.
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/facebook-to-pay-90-million-to-settle-data-privacy-lawsuit “Specifically, the plaintiffs’ alleged that Facebook used cookies and various plug-ins in order to track and save information about its users’ visits to third-party websites and then sold to advertisers.”
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/facebook-in-payment-spat-over-725-million-privacy-settlement “Consumers sued Meta in 2018 after it became public that the British research firm had gained access to the data of at least 87 million Facebook users without their permission in connection with its work for Trump’s campaign.”
A pay-to-see-no-ads is not the same as pay-for-privacy.
They do point out they won’t use your personal info in ads if you pay, by choosing the free option you consent for personalized ads
Doesn’t mean they won’t collect your info anyways. What has Meta done to prove that they are worthy of our trust? Nothing.
It pretty much makes it clear that they are absolutely going to continue collecting your data – they just won’t use it for ads. They wouldn’t have needed to specify that otherwise.
That $10 won’t give you any real privacy. They will still collect every bit they can about you.
The $10 will just not give you targeted ads. Most likely, they will still select things for you based on your profile and also sell information from that profile to the real customers.
No! It’s actually free: Simply stop using Facebook!
