4 ms·

Facebook handing over a teen's messaging history to law enforcement so they could prosecute her for seeking an abortion is more likely to end Facebook.

wand3r 4y ago
While I personally am appalled by this, I would guess that there will be virtually no repercussions
- themoonisachees 4y ago
  My guess is that making obeying a legal (I don't agree that it should have been, but it was) subpoena by a us judge punishable in the EU is setting incredibly bad precedent.
  - drcongo 4y ago
    Nobody suggested anything of the sort. I'm just hopeful that enough people now see Facebook (and everything Meta) for the spyware that it is, that they'll delete it.
gaius_baltar 4y ago
It should end, but people are to use to just eat every piece of crap that Meta drop on them. Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp... neither of these services are the best of their class (some aren't even minimally usable when you know the alternatives), but social inertia and peer pressure is a big issue and non-technical people just give up.
- tri2820 4y ago
  What are the alternatives that you recommend?
  - fsflover 4y ago
    Telegram/Matrix, PixelFed, Mastodon.
- gaius_baltar 4y ago
  > but people are to use to just eat * but people are too used to just eat Sorry, I typed this quicker than I should ...
WhyNotHugo 4y ago
I hate Facebook MUCH MORE than the average HN user, but I don't think Facebook can be blamed for this specific instance. If law enforcement asks for data, you have to comply or find yourself in a very tight situation. However, if this situation can teach us anything, is how important e2e encryption is so important. If a company cannot read your messages, they cannot share them with third parties like in this case. Of course, I've been saying this for years, but people claim it's fine since they have nothing to hide. You don't have anything to hide, until abortion, contraception, or fornication becomes a crime. Before your religion is banned, or any other similar situation. Can we please start learning for repeating the same mistakes over and over for decades?

wand3r 4y ago

While I personally am appalled by this, I would guess that there will be virtually no repercussions

themoonisachees 4y ago
My guess is that making obeying a legal (I don't agree that it should have been, but it was) subpoena by a us judge punishable in the EU is setting incredibly bad precedent.
- drcongo 4y ago
  Nobody suggested anything of the sort. I'm just hopeful that enough people now see Facebook (and everything Meta) for the spyware that it is, that they'll delete it.

gaius_baltar 4y ago

It should end, but people are to use to just eat every piece of crap that Meta drop on them. Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp... neither of these services are the best of their class (some aren't even minimally usable when you know the alternatives), but social inertia and peer pressure is a big issue and non-technical people just give up.

tri2820 4y ago
What are the alternatives that you recommend?
- fsflover 4y ago
  Telegram/Matrix, PixelFed, Mastodon.
gaius_baltar 4y ago
> but people are to use to just eat * but people are too used to just eat Sorry, I typed this quicker than I should ...

WhyNotHugo 4y ago

I hate Facebook MUCH MORE than the average HN user, but I don't think Facebook can be blamed for this specific instance. If law enforcement asks for data, you have to comply or find yourself in a very tight situation. However, if this situation can teach us anything, is how important e2e encryption is so important. If a company cannot read your messages, they cannot share them with third parties like in this case. Of course, I've been saying this for years, but people claim it's fine since they have nothing to hide. You don't have anything to hide, until abortion, contraception, or fornication becomes a crime. Before your religion is banned, or any other similar situation. Can we please start learning for repeating the same mistakes over and over for decades?