The old saw that "if you're not paying for the product, you're the product" is flat out wrong. A more correct version is, "If a company doesn't have legal or competitive barriers to selling you, they will."
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Google sells you by spying on you, monetizing your sensitive info. Apple sells you by locking you in, picking your pocket. Google doesn't need to lock you in because they spy on you wherever you are. Apple doesn't need to spy on you because their lockin is so comprehensive.
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Facebook is the worst. They spy on you wherever you are and they try to lock you in.
Which is why it's so alarming that Facebook is going to buy Giphy for $400m.
theverge.com/2020/5/15/2126…
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Which is why it's so alarming that Facebook is going to buy Giphy for $400m.
theverge.com/2020/5/15/2126…
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Giphy isn't just a repository for cute gifs. They're the service that inserts cute gifs when you use Twitter, Tinder, Slack and Imessage. That means that an acquisition of Giphy is a means for Facebook to spy on you while you use all those rival products.
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Thankfully, we're headed into a new age of reinvigorated antitrust enforcement, and this is exactly the kind of thing that was commonplace last year and this year is Exhibit A for why these companies can't be trusted.
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Elizabeth Warren has already signalled that she'll take steps to block this acquisition, and Amy Klobuchar's onboard, too.
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