The encrypted messaging app Signal has exploded in popularity recently. (Photo: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
May 04, 2021
After a coalition of digital rights and other groups launched a campaign on Monday aimed at thwarting Facebook's planned privacy rollback on its popular WhatsApp messaging application, competitor Signal--which does not collect user data--on Tuesday began trolling the social media giant and its ubiquitous data collection in a tongue-in-cheek ad illustrating the intrusiveness of the practice.
"The way most of the internet works today would be considered intolerable if translated into comprehensible real world analogs, but it endures because it is invisible."
--Jun Harada, Signal
Amid a viral messaging campaign that has included the revelation that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "leads by example" by using the encrypted app, Signal created a multi-variant targeted ad that Jun Harada, the company's head of growth and communication, said is "designed to show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to."
Alas, Facebook--which Signal says blocked the ad--"was not that into the idea," Harada wrote in a blog post, adding that the social media titan "is more than willing to sell visibility into people's lives, unless it's to tell people about how their data is being used."
"Being transparent about how ads use people's data is apparently enough to get banned; in Facebook's world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you're doing from your audience," Harada continued. "So, here are some examples of the targeted ads that you'll never see on Instagram. Yours would have been so you."
\u201cSignal made Instagram ads that shows users how much Facebook knew about them.\n\nFacebook banned them.\n\n\u201cBeing transparent about how ads use data is enough to get banned; in Facebook\u2019s world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you\u2019re doing.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/DwAZeD5IWn\u201d— Sebastiaan de With (@Sebastiaan de With) 1620156004
"Companies like Facebook aren't building technology for you, they're building technology for your data," wrote Harada. "They collect everything they can from FB, Instagram, and WhatsApp in order to sell visibility into people and their lives."
"This isn't exactly a secret, but the full picture is hazy to most--dimly concealed within complex, opaquely rendered systems and fine print designed to be scrolled past," he added. "The way most of the internet works today would be considered intolerable if translated into comprehensible real world analogs, but it endures because it is invisible."
Signal's popularity was already soaring before the WhatsApp privacy rollback. According to Business of Apps, the number of Signal users skyrocketed from around half a million at the end of 2019 to about 40 million this January.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
After a coalition of digital rights and other groups launched a campaign on Monday aimed at thwarting Facebook's planned privacy rollback on its popular WhatsApp messaging application, competitor Signal--which does not collect user data--on Tuesday began trolling the social media giant and its ubiquitous data collection in a tongue-in-cheek ad illustrating the intrusiveness of the practice.
"The way most of the internet works today would be considered intolerable if translated into comprehensible real world analogs, but it endures because it is invisible."
--Jun Harada, Signal
Amid a viral messaging campaign that has included the revelation that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "leads by example" by using the encrypted app, Signal created a multi-variant targeted ad that Jun Harada, the company's head of growth and communication, said is "designed to show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to."
Alas, Facebook--which Signal says blocked the ad--"was not that into the idea," Harada wrote in a blog post, adding that the social media titan "is more than willing to sell visibility into people's lives, unless it's to tell people about how their data is being used."
"Being transparent about how ads use people's data is apparently enough to get banned; in Facebook's world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you're doing from your audience," Harada continued. "So, here are some examples of the targeted ads that you'll never see on Instagram. Yours would have been so you."
\u201cSignal made Instagram ads that shows users how much Facebook knew about them.\n\nFacebook banned them.\n\n\u201cBeing transparent about how ads use data is enough to get banned; in Facebook\u2019s world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you\u2019re doing.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/DwAZeD5IWn\u201d— Sebastiaan de With (@Sebastiaan de With) 1620156004
"Companies like Facebook aren't building technology for you, they're building technology for your data," wrote Harada. "They collect everything they can from FB, Instagram, and WhatsApp in order to sell visibility into people and their lives."
"This isn't exactly a secret, but the full picture is hazy to most--dimly concealed within complex, opaquely rendered systems and fine print designed to be scrolled past," he added. "The way most of the internet works today would be considered intolerable if translated into comprehensible real world analogs, but it endures because it is invisible."
Signal's popularity was already soaring before the WhatsApp privacy rollback. According to Business of Apps, the number of Signal users skyrocketed from around half a million at the end of 2019 to about 40 million this January.
From Your Site Articles
After a coalition of digital rights and other groups launched a campaign on Monday aimed at thwarting Facebook's planned privacy rollback on its popular WhatsApp messaging application, competitor Signal--which does not collect user data--on Tuesday began trolling the social media giant and its ubiquitous data collection in a tongue-in-cheek ad illustrating the intrusiveness of the practice.
"The way most of the internet works today would be considered intolerable if translated into comprehensible real world analogs, but it endures because it is invisible."
--Jun Harada, Signal
Amid a viral messaging campaign that has included the revelation that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg "leads by example" by using the encrypted app, Signal created a multi-variant targeted ad that Jun Harada, the company's head of growth and communication, said is "designed to show you the personal data that Facebook collects about you and sells access to."
Alas, Facebook--which Signal says blocked the ad--"was not that into the idea," Harada wrote in a blog post, adding that the social media titan "is more than willing to sell visibility into people's lives, unless it's to tell people about how their data is being used."
"Being transparent about how ads use people's data is apparently enough to get banned; in Facebook's world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you're doing from your audience," Harada continued. "So, here are some examples of the targeted ads that you'll never see on Instagram. Yours would have been so you."
\u201cSignal made Instagram ads that shows users how much Facebook knew about them.\n\nFacebook banned them.\n\n\u201cBeing transparent about how ads use data is enough to get banned; in Facebook\u2019s world, the only acceptable usage is to hide what you\u2019re doing.\u201d\n\nhttps://t.co/DwAZeD5IWn\u201d— Sebastiaan de With (@Sebastiaan de With) 1620156004
"Companies like Facebook aren't building technology for you, they're building technology for your data," wrote Harada. "They collect everything they can from FB, Instagram, and WhatsApp in order to sell visibility into people and their lives."
"This isn't exactly a secret, but the full picture is hazy to most--dimly concealed within complex, opaquely rendered systems and fine print designed to be scrolled past," he added. "The way most of the internet works today would be considered intolerable if translated into comprehensible real world analogs, but it endures because it is invisible."
Signal's popularity was already soaring before the WhatsApp privacy rollback. According to Business of Apps, the number of Signal users skyrocketed from around half a million at the end of 2019 to about 40 million this January.
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.