Tim Berners Lee is building a new internet where you control your own data, says the BBC. 

Surely any platform that says “we have put safeguards in place so we cannot be weaponized by a hostile foreign power, come advertise with us” must be a good thing.

So will it catch on?

On current evidence you would have to conclude the answer is no.

When Facebook were revealed last year to have handed over user data to Cambridge Analytica the hashtag “De-install Facebook” did not trend.

Consumers may talk a bit game but at the end of the day they want to share their fabulous life with their friends on their Instagram feeds. We should not expect too much from them.

But what about advertisers? P&G, Unilever and Ford would love to come out against Facebook and stop advertising but they cannot disarm unilaterally. If they were to announced in their earnings that their e-commerce sales had slowed because they refused to advertise on Facebook, they would be commended for taking a stand and their stock price would drop dramatically.

This is what happens when two companies control two thirds of all digital marketing in the US – you end up in a situation where monopoly abuse runs rampant.

If Facebook Inc was broken up into Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, perhaps one of them would see a margin in protecting users data.

But right now,  no one is making Facebook do the right thing.

So God speed Tim Berners-Lee and good luck.

 

 

Posted in: Infographic of the day