WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton wants everyone to delete Facebook
What's the story
In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion, which increased the net worth of one of the co-founders of the chat app, Brian Acton, to $6.5 billion. Now Acton, who left Facebook in September 2017 due to issues over commoditization of personal data, is asking everyone to delete Facebook, thereby joining the #DeleteFacebook campaign. Here are the details.
Twitter Post
This is what Acton tweeted
It is time. #deletefacebook
— Brian Acton (@brianacton) March 20, 2018
Context
Is the tweet related to Facebook's recent data breach scandal?
Currently, Facebook is facing criticism over failing to provide data security and privacy to its users. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's net worth fell $6 billion in one day after it came to light that data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica obtained user data of 50 million people from Facebook without their permission. Zuckerberg is being questioned by US and UK governments over the same.
Acton's Loyalties
Because Acton doesn't support technology that commoditizes personal data
After leaving Facebook, Acton recently invested $50 million in encrypted instant messaging app Signal. The app is known for providing encrypted communication services as it does not access or store any of its users' data. With the help of the funding, the company has launched a non-profit organization called the 'Signal Foundation' to boost the next generation of open-source privacy technology.
Information
Why did Acton leave WhatsApp?
Acton's departure from WhatsApp came just when the latter was about to monetize the platform for the first time with the launch of WhatsApp Business. According to reports, Acton was not on-board with Facebook wanting to monetize the app.