Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has accused Facebook of being a surveillance company that collects and sells the data of its users.
Taking to Twitter, he maintained that “Businesses that make money by collecting and selling detailed records of private lives were once plainly described as ‘surveillance companies. Their rebranding as ‘social media’ is the most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense.”
His statement came after the social media giant suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that worked for US President Donald Trump’s campaign, over accusations that it harvested personal information of more than 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge.
"In light of new reports that the data was not destroyed, we are suspending these three parties from Facebook, pending further information," the company said. "We will take whatever steps are required to see that the data in question is deleted once and for all — and take action against all offending parties."
However; Snowden says that Facebook should be held responsible for the data breach.
“Facebook makes their money by exploiting and selling intimate details about the private lives of millions, far beyond the scant details you voluntarily post. They are not victims. They are accomplices,” he wrote on Twitter.
Christopher Wylie, who helped found the data firm Cambridge Analytica and worked there until 2014, has described the company as an “arsenal of weapons” in a culture war.
Cambridge Analytica harvested personal information from a huge swath of the electorate to develop techniques that were later used in the Trump campaign.
Meanhwile, Cambridge Analytica has refused to do any wrongdoing saying that it had complied by the policy of Facebook.
