Why new social network Voice might not be a better answer to Facebook
By: Paul Walsh
Tags: Facebook, Eos, Privacy, Social Media, Blockchain

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”

A proclamation by the pigs who control the government in the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell. The sentence is a comment on the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but give power and privileges to a small elite.

Block.one — the multibillion-dollar company behind EOS, now has aspirations to build a new social network called Voice. The time is right for an alternative to Facebook, but are these the right people to build it.

This entire post can be summarized by this single question: Why must you be located in certain jurisdictions to have specific rights to your data and how it’s used?

According to voice.com

We think social networking is due for a major rework. From the bot mobs, to the data tracking, to the shady algorithms behind our feeds, social media has not been a good friend to us.

I am exceptionally concerned by the words they chose to use in their privacy policy. There is a lot I don’t like about it, but I will highlight just one aspect because it is the foundation upon which their entire business will be built.

I’m concerned with their approach to treating users differently based on their jurisdiction. Unless you live in a country that has strong privacy laws to protect you, Voice won’t be any better than Facebook.

Here’s the section I’m most concerned about

Individuals in certain jurisdictions — Your rights If you are located in certain jurisdictions, you may have the following rights:

Why must you be located in certain jurisdictions to have specific rights? If I could only ask the team one question, this would be it.

Why can’t Voice (Block.one) allow everyone, everywhere, to have the same rights? Isn’t blockchain about democratizing the internet and the people who use it? Why are they restricting who receives what benefits based on where they live?

My proposed change to this text:

Your rights, no matter where you live

You have the following rights no matter where you live, because we believe everyone should be treated equally.

A right of access to the personal information that we hold about you, and to some related information, under applicable data protection law.

Why must we be protected by applicable data protection law? This means that individuals who live in a country where there is little to no protection, will suffer — just like they do on Facebook — how is Voice any different?

My proposed change to the text:

A right of access to the personal information that we hold about you, and all related information, irrespective of the law that protects you.

A right to require any inaccurate personal information that we hold about you to be corrected or deleted. A right to object to our use of your personal information for direct marketing purposes at any time and you may have the right to object to our processing of some or all of your personal information (and require them to be deleted) in some other circumstances.

I’m concerned with the words “may” and “some”.

My proposed text:

A right to require any inaccurate personal information that we hold about you to be corrected or deleted.

A right to object to our use of your personal information for direct marketing purposes at any time and you have the right to object to our processing of some or all of your personal information (and require them to be deleted) in all other circumstances.

A right to data portability, which means the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format if: the processing of your personal information is based on your consent or required for the performance of a contract or; the processing is carried out by automated means.

Everyone in the world has a right to data portability. It shouldn’t be restricted to people who live in a country that demand it by law.

My proposed text:

We will make it very easy for you to port your data at any time.

Your right to data portability means the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used and human-readable and machine-readable format if: the processing of your personal information is based on your consent or required for the performance of a contract or; the processing is carried out by automated means.

(The words “we will make it easy” are extremely important because Facebook supports data portability — but it’s difficult to do, and what you get is anything but easy to reuse).

To learn more about these rights (including if they apply to you) and/or if you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us as set out below.

Wow. I’m going to repeat this to bring it home… To learn more about these rights including IF they apply to you…

To summarize…

I’m very unhappy that the people behind a new social network aren’t more caring of everyone’s right to privacy — they shouldn’t do the bare minimum.

Complying with the law is necessary, but they should aim for a higher standard for everyone in society.

☞ Paul eventually reads every response on Medium, and you can chat him up on Twitter or send him an email.