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Woz wants you to get off Facebook right now

The Apple co-founder believes the privacy tradeoff just isn't worth it.
Written by Chris Matyszczyk, Contributing Writer
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Crusading against Facebook.

Screenshot by ZDNet

You know you should do it.

Or perhaps you merely fear you should do it.

Somehow, though, you're worried your friends and family members will be hurt if you suddenly disappear from Facebook's hallowed pages.

As far as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is concerned, you should show them the way.

Captured by one of TMZ's persistent airport guards, Woz was asked whether he worries our devices are listening to us.

"I'm worried about everything," Woz began.

So we can start to change the world and help privacy reign again?

"I don't think we can stop it, though," Woz continued.

Ah, we're done for. We're stuck with being surveilled for the rest of our lives.

Woz painted a dark picture of devices automatically being able to measure our heartbeats, never mind listening to our conversations.

He added that he didn't know whether his cellphone was listening to him at that very moment. Your iPhone, Woz? Surely not. Tim Cook would never allow it.

But isn't there anything we can do?

Woz has an idea: "Why don't they give me a choice? Let me pay a certain amount and you'll keep my data more secure and private."

He's tired that every time he "likes" something on social media, his preference is being relayed to advertisers.

Oh, Woz. Those advertisers just want you to be happy. And their products, which seem to correlate with your preferences, are specifically created to do that. Why can't you be grateful?

Of course, at the very heart of world snoopiness is Facebook. Is the only option for people to delete it from their lives?

"There are many different kinds of people," said Woz. "For some, the benefits of Facebook are worth the loss of privacy."

Who are these people? What are these benefits? The sheer psychological joy of getting a "like"? I fear Woz himself might be moved by getting those.

But he's made of sturdier stuff. He's already left Facebook. So he explained: "To many, like myself, my recommendation is -- to most people -- is you should figure out a way to get off Facebook."

Naturally, I asked Facebook what it thought of Woz's draconian thoughts and will update, should I hear.

Still, even former Facebook employees are worried what Facebook is doing to humanity. Why, former president Sean Parker is now concerned what it's done to children's brains. (Not just children's, Sean.)

In the last two years, the social media site appears to have lost 15 million US users. Yet what would it really take for a mass exodus to occur?

Well, here's a hopeful thought. One recent analysis suggests that, in the next 50 years, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook.

No one wants to hang around a cemetery for too long, do they?

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