I’m certain I’m not alone in my disdain for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. I’m certain that the bulk of said disdain is rooted in jealousy, and my distaste of gingers. The remaining dislike can probably be split between his iconic wannbe Steve Jobs hoodie, his portrayal by Jesse Eisenberg as a snide know-it-all, and the fact that he and his company don’t have a lot of time to respect privacy. Or rather, Facebook has categorically, over time, eroded the idea of privacy and lowered the bar on what one can expect to keep to themselves while providing the means by which thousands of people are voluntarily giving away their privacy rights thinking that one drunk, angry, ill-conceived post might somehow disappear years down the road.
Zuckerberg’s New Film: Terms and Conditions May Apply.
Recently, filmmaker (I use that loosely as he sounds like just another hipster type with a camera) Cullen Hoback approached the Facebook founder outside his home for his documentary Terms and Conditions May Apply.
He asked Zuckerberg, “Do you still think privacy is dead? What are your real thoughts on privacy?”
Zuckerberg asked Hoback to stop filming, and Hoback immediately lowered his camera and turned it off, causing Zuckerberg to lower his guard and suggest the filmmaker would be well served by contacting the PR department of his company.
Hoback said his main motivation was to turn the experience on to Zuckerberg. “I just wanted him to say, ‘Look, I don’t want you to record me,’ and I wanted to say, ‘Look, I don’t want you to record us!'”
He also knew that he was still recording the Facebook founder with spy glasses.
The scene is part of Terms and Conditions, which is a reference to the agreements online users accept when using services and apps like Facebook. Hoback’s thesis questions the amount of data requested and stored by tech companies like Google and Facebook.
Hoback said, “I think the craziest thing about this whole experience is that I didn’t realize I was making a horror film. That’s where I really started disliking this guy and almost felt bad for the Grand Hoodie.”
The statistics Hoback has found are worrying—it would take the typical internet user 180 hours to read all the terms and conditions attached to their favorite websites.
I like statistics on occasion but where those numbers come from is anyone’s guess.
Violating someone’s privacy to show what a violation of privacy feels like? Hmm.
