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App\Entity\Article {#1094
  -id: 4117
  -title: "Facebook Has Got Your Personal Life, Now They Want Your Personal Finances"
  -slug: "facebook-has-got-your-personal-life-now-they-want-your-personal-finances"
  -introtext: "<p><span style="color: #000000;">The world’s biggest social network knows your life story, now they want to know how you spend your money. It may be based on blockchain, but Facebook’s digital coin has very little in common with&nbsp;Bitcoin.</span></p>\r\n"
  -content: """
    \r\n
    <figure id="9981" class="graf graf--figure graf-after--h4" style="text-align: center;">\r\n
    <div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">\r\n
    <div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill">&nbsp;</div>\r\n
    <div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded" data-image-id="1*xXwD7MicmghI-JfFmZd-Bg.png" data-width="1024" data-height="680" data-is-featured="true" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*xXwD7MicmghI-JfFmZd-Bg.png" data-scroll="native"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas" width="75" height="48"></canvas><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*xXwD7MicmghI-JfFmZd-Bg.png" alt="" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*xXwD7MicmghI-JfFmZd-Bg.png" /></div>\r\n
    </div>\r\n
    <figcaption class="imageCaption"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong><br />There’s more than just a few disclaimers that go with your user experience. (Image by&nbsp;Simon Steinbergerfrom&nbsp;Pixabay)<br /><br /></strong></span></figcaption></figure>\r\n
    <p id="3346" class="graf graf--p graf--hasDropCapModel graf--hasDropCap graf-after--figure"><span class="graf-dropCap">B</span>ritney McKenzie had difficulty swallowing. The metallic taste in her mouth was starting to recur more often, a common symptom experienced by many mothers in their first trimester.</p>\r\n
    <p id="d671" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But far from the glow of her pregnancy, McKenzie, a senior in high school, was dreading having the eventual and unavoidable conversation with her staunch Lutheran parents about her unplanned pregnancy.</p>\r\n
    <p id="e47c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">As she sat in her bedroom wondering what to do, a knock came at the door, it was McKenzie’s father, a software engineer working out of Austin, Texas.</p>\r\n
    <p id="b2e2" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p">“Come in.”</p>\r\n
    <p id="8d0d" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p">“Brit, is there something you want to tell me.”</p>\r\n
    <p id="9906" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p">“What about Dad?”</p>\r\n
    <p id="de76" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p">“I was using the computer in the hall and I noticed that I was being targeted with a whole bunch of ads for diapers and maternity clothing and since I&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">know</em>that your Mom isn’t pregnant….then I noticed that you hadn’t logged out of your Facebook account.”</p>\r\n
    <p id="37ae" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p">“Dad, that’s private!”</p>\r\n
    <p id="2a78" class="graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote graf-after--p">“Don’t worry, I didn’t look. Look, whatever it is, I just want you to know that your Mom and I love you no matter what and whatever it is you&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">may</em>&nbsp;or may not be going through right now, you don’t have to do it alone. Just know that we’re here.”</p>\r\n
    <p id="ef44" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The softness and gentleness of her father’s tone caught Britney by surprise and she broke down in tears, hugging him.</p>\r\n
    <p id="2b31" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And while this story may have had a happy ending, across the world, the cookies left behind by logging into websites using our Facebook or Google accounts have left digital trails and clues as to our offline lives\u{200A}—\u{200A}oftentimes with unintended consequences.</p>\r\n
    <h2 id="3e1f" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Big Brother is Watching&nbsp;You</h2>\r\n
    <p id="e3a2" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Whether it’s being targeted with propaganda or ads, the data that we bleed into the internet is hoovered up by technology giants like Google, Facebook and Amazon to sell us more stuff that we don’t need, or get us to vote in ways we don’t necessarily understand.</p>\r\n
    <p id="9e72" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And while the platforms themselves are not entirely to blame\u{200A}—\u{200A}presumably guns don’t kill people, people kill people (but that’s an entirely different discussion)\u{200A}—\u{200A}these pervasive technologies must certainly shoulder a substantial responsibility by allowing their platforms to be (mis)used.</p>\r\n
    <p id="5e1e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Which is why the recent announcement that Facebook will be launching its very own cryptocurrency, backed by the U.S. dollar, must be viewed with some degree of skepticism and suspicion at best.</p>\r\n
    <h2 id="4b10" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Breaking the Blockchain Code</h2>\r\n
    <p id="86fc" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">To be sure, whilst I cannot profess to discern the psyche of Satoshi Nakamoto, the eponymous creator of Bitcoin and the open source blockchain upon which it was built, a plain reading of the Bitcoin whitepaper will leave the reader in no doubt that this (Facebook’s cryptocurrency) was never what he, she or they intended with the invention of Bitcoin.</p>\r\n
    <p id="b439" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Be that as it may, Facebook, with its substantial war chest is plodding along undeterred, recruiting dozens of financial firms and online merchants to help launch its crypotcurrency-based payments system on the back of its 1.5 billion or so users.&nbsp;</p>\r\n
    <figure id="f734" class="graf graf--figure graf-after--p" style="text-align: center;">\r\n
    <div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">\r\n
    <div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded" data-image-id="1*fFas0e3O3R__vAEHNi8ZoQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="855" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*fFas0e3O3R__vAEHNi8ZoQ.jpeg" data-scroll="native"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas" width="75" height="32"></canvas>\r\n
    <div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded" data-image-id="1*fFas0e3O3R__vAEHNi8ZoQ.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="855" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*fFas0e3O3R__vAEHNi8ZoQ.jpeg" data-scroll="native"><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*fFas0e3O3R__vAEHNi8ZoQ.jpeg" alt="" width="1044" height="465" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*fFas0e3O3R__vAEHNi8ZoQ.jpeg" /></div>\r\n
    </div>\r\n
    </div>\r\n
    <figcaption class="imageCaption"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong><br />This is not what decentralization looks like. (Image by&nbsp;Gerd Altmann&nbsp;from&nbsp;Pixabay)<br /><br /></strong></span></figcaption></figure>\r\n
    <p id="ca06" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">The effort by the social media giant has a real chance of succeeding, upending the traditional and lucrative plumbing of e-commerce and monopolizing even more power and influence over our daily lives.</p>\r\n
    <p id="2269" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Unlike the Facebook platform itself, which has seen user growth in developed markets stalling, Facebook’s other properties\u{200A}—\u{200A}Instagram and Whatsapp\u{200A}—\u{200A}have been growing their user base.</p>\r\n
    <p id="02d8" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Ironically, Facebook’s secretive cryptocurrency project, code-named “Project Libra”\u{200A}—\u{200A}the symbol of justice, balance and harmony (none of the qualities which social media is known for) has many qualities similar to initial coin offerings (ICOs).</p>\r\n
    <p id="3688" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">To the uninitiated, the value proposition of ICOs was that digital tokens could be used for purchasing goods or services on their platforms.</p>\r\n
    <p id="1bc9" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">These tokens, when purchased by early adopters, could be had at a discount and as the spiel went, would appreciate in value as the value of the goods and services that were on offer by the ICO rose.</p>\r\n
    <p id="093b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Presumably, as the value of the goods and services offered by an ICO appreciated, so too, would the value of its digital tokens.</p>\r\n
    <p id="38fe" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Fast forward and post-ICO bubble, many of these aspirations (misrepresentations) proved misguided at best and patently false in many cases.</p>\r\n
    <p id="480e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But in the case of Facebook, it’s digital token, backed by an equivalent in U.S. dollars no less, would be another thing altogether.</p>\r\n
    <h2 id="688f" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">The Mother Of All&nbsp;ICOs</h2>\r\n
    <p id="f3f0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">In the case of ICOs, which were building a platform where tokens would&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">eventually</em>&nbsp;be spent, Facebook already owns and manages a massive platform where their tokens can&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">immediately&nbsp;</em>be spent.</p>\r\n
    <p id="73fe" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">To put the numbers in perspective, one third of the world’s population logs on monthly to Facebook and that’s not including all the people who also log on to Whatsapp and Instagram.</p>\r\n
    <p id="ed83" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Given that so many websites allow users to login using their Facebook accounts, it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination for Facebook to pressure them into accepting Facebook’s digital token as well\u{200A}—\u{200A}the power of the network effect\u{200A}—\u{200A}where the costs of non-participation far outweigh the costs of participation.</p>\r\n
    <p id="3062" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">As if it hasn’t already, Facebook intends to burrow even more deeply into the lives of its users.</p>\r\n
    <p id="57d0" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">With websites including&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Wall Street Journal</em>, allowing users to login using their Facebook profile, Facebook envisions allowing those same credentials to be selected as a payment method when users buy goods online as well.</p>\r\n
    <p id="771c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But where Facebook’s cryptocurrency starts to really resemble other ICOs is the potential of paying users fractions of a coin whenever they view ads, interact with content, or shop on Facebook or one of its platforms.</p>\r\n
    <figure id="3935" class="graf graf--figure graf-after--p" style="text-align: center;">\r\n
    <div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">\r\n
    <div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded" data-image-id="1*laUQg9b2RCD9z-0YunE28Q.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1440" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*laUQg9b2RCD9z-0YunE28Q.jpeg" data-scroll="native"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas" width="75" height="56"></canvas>\r\n
    <div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded" data-image-id="1*laUQg9b2RCD9z-0YunE28Q.jpeg" data-width="1920" data-height="1440" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*laUQg9b2RCD9z-0YunE28Q.jpeg" data-scroll="native"><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*laUQg9b2RCD9z-0YunE28Q.jpeg" alt="" width="1002" height="752" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*laUQg9b2RCD9z-0YunE28Q.jpeg" /></div>\r\n
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    <figcaption class="imageCaption"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong><br />The troll factory was at full steam. (Image by&nbsp;Pete Linforth&nbsp;from&nbsp;Pixabay)<br /><br /></strong></span></figcaption></figure>\r\n
    <p id="6129" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">And presumably when Facebook’s users receive these coins, they can then use them to pay for goods or services offered by the advertisers themselves\u{200A}—\u{200A}who would then use the&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">same coins</em>&nbsp;to purchase more advertising\u{200A}—\u{200A}creating a hermetically-sealed value transfer ecosystem\u{200A}—\u{200A}one completely centered around Facebook and its interests.</p>\r\n
    <p id="d14b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But given the social media giant’s susceptibility to bots and other online trolls, would-be advertisers should view any such development in this direction with some degree of circumcision.</p>\r\n
    <p id="024a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Furthermore, because such a value transfer ecosystem would be completely walled off, Facebook would alone act as the issuer, backer and arbiter of all manner of financial transactions.</p>\r\n
    <p id="c855" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Think of Facebook as assuming the roles of the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange all in one swoop and it becomes immediately more apparent what the stakes are.</p>\r\n
    <p id="37a6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And while there are some who suggest that creating a “stablecoin” backed by fiat currency\u{200A}—\u{200A}namely the dollar\u{200A}—\u{200A}will strengthen Facebook’s cryptocurrency value proposition, by providing a “legitimate payment method,” as opposed to a speculative bet, say on Bitcoin, such a view misses out the main thrust and parry of the entire ecosystem that Facebook envisions\u{200A}—\u{200A}which is even more dominance over the lives of its users.</p>\r\n
    <h2 id="0a42" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">Some Are Created More Equal Than&nbsp;Others</h2>\r\n
    <p id="5502" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">Just because a Facebook cryptocurrency is pegged to a dollar doesn’t mean that it’s worth is equivalent to a dollar.</p>\r\n
    <p id="460f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">A clear example is of course Tether, a cryptocurrency (allegedly) backed by dollars as well.</p>\r\n
    <p id="99f8" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Despite it’s “tether” to the dollar, Tether has traded at various times in its history, at a premium or a discount to the dollar, straddling parity for the most part, but offering some degree of volatility in pegging its value.</p>\r\n
    <p id="3f19" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">If we consider that for a Facebook-issued cryptocurrency, one of its biggest use cases is for purchasing advertising on Facebook and its other platforms itself, something which no other stablecoin promises or is capable of delivering, then it is reasonable to suggest that parity of value for Facebook’s cryptocurrency to the dollar is far from a given.<br /><br /></p>\r\n
    <figure id="8980" class="graf graf--figure graf-after--p" style="text-align: center;">\r\n
    <div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">\r\n
    <div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder-fill">&nbsp;<img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*0i_gUF6kpW-rgnPerpLNKA.jpeg" alt="" width="998" height="665" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*0i_gUF6kpW-rgnPerpLNKA.jpeg" /></div>\r\n
    </div>\r\n
    <figcaption class="imageCaption"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong><br />She’s blindfolded cause she’d rather not see what you’re doing. (Image by&nbsp;Sang Hyun Cho&nbsp;from&nbsp;Pixabay)<br /><br /></strong></span></figcaption></figure>\r\n
    <p id="a141" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Say for example a holder of Facebook cryptocurrency receives a discount for ad spend when they use the coin instead of a credit card\u{200A}—\u{200A}in that case, there may be parity of&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">denomination</em>, but arguably, there is no parity of&nbsp;<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">value</em>.</p>\r\n
    <p id="c302" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The same way a dollar buys different things in different parts of the world (the very same dollar bill), by creating a dual-class system, Facebook’s cryptocurrency, particularly given its global reach, will have far more wide-reaching implications and influence than an ordinary greenback.</p>\r\n
    <p id="c9ec" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Furthermore, the same way that the United States can impose punishing sanctions on countries as it deems fit (with oftentimes disastrous economic consequences for the countries that incur Washington’s wrath), Facebook, with its own cryptocurrency has the freedom and potential to impose its diktat on its economic rivals.</p>\r\n
    <h2 id="09c2" class="graf graf--h4 graf-after--p">It’s Not All&nbsp;Bad</h2>\r\n
    <p id="d34e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4">To be sure, there are some benefits to be had from a Facebook cryptocurrency.</p>\r\n
    <p id="fd69" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">With an estimated US$38 billion remitted by foreign workers annually and with remittance fees as high as 10% in some cases, Facebook has the potential to use its&nbsp;Whatsapp messaging service for money transfers, particularly for overseas remittances.</p>\r\n
    <p id="b130" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And it could also provide a payment gateway for many small business owners who either cannot afford to rent a credit card terminal or would prefer not to pay the transaction fees involved\u{200A}—\u{200A}a common situation across the developing world.</p>\r\n
    <p id="ce26" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Facebook envisions eliminating swipe and other credit card processing fees that merchants pay on transactions, which are typically around 2% to 3% and are collected by banks, payment processors and networks such as Visa and MasterCard.</p>\r\n
    <p id="7212" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And with many of Facebook’s users coming from developing countries, where social media sites including messenger services such as Whatsapp serve as the backbone of internet commerce, Facebook’s cryptocurrency could break the card networks’ dominance over global payments.</p>\r\n
    <p id="1e60" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But Facebook wouldn’t be breaking their dominance for a decentralized egalitarian world of value transfer, it would simply be replacing one hegemony with another.</p>\r\n
    <p id="c8ac" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And therein lies the rub of Facebook’s push towards issuing its own cryptocurrency.</p>\r\n
    <p id="a316" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Following the financial crisis of 2008, regulators’ focus was on the dominance of banks and other financial institutions and trying to figure out how to ensure that what had happened would never happen again.</p>\r\n
    <p id="f03a" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">But while governments and regulators were scrutinizing financial institutions, technology had overtaken the financial industry as a whole, concentrating more power than the financial industry could have even dreamed of.</p>\r\n
    <figure id="25d3" class="graf graf--figure graf-after--p" style="text-align: center;">\r\n
    <div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">\r\n
    <div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded" data-image-id="1*Zsr_ysZ5bNXXnzdC0LHY6w.jpeg" data-width="4139" data-height="2759" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*Zsr_ysZ5bNXXnzdC0LHY6w.jpeg" data-scroll="native"><canvas class="progressiveMedia-canvas js-progressiveMedia-canvas" width="75" height="48"></canvas>\r\n
    <div class="progressiveMedia js-progressiveMedia graf-image is-canvasLoaded is-imageLoaded" data-image-id="1*Zsr_ysZ5bNXXnzdC0LHY6w.jpeg" data-width="4139" data-height="2759" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*Zsr_ysZ5bNXXnzdC0LHY6w.jpeg" data-scroll="native"><img class="progressiveMedia-image js-progressiveMedia-image" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*Zsr_ysZ5bNXXnzdC0LHY6w.jpeg" alt="" width="1076" height="717" data-src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*Zsr_ysZ5bNXXnzdC0LHY6w.jpeg" /></div>\r\n
    </div>\r\n
    </div>\r\n
    <figcaption class="imageCaption"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong><br />The minute that Michael realized he could no longer tell a date he forgot to bring his wallet. (Photo by&nbsp;Jonas Leupe&nbsp;on&nbsp;Unsplash)<br /><br /></strong></span></figcaption></figure>\r\n
    <p id="295c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--figure">Today, companies like Alibaba and Tencent in China, with their ubiquitous AliPay and WeChat Pay are arguably more powerful than Chinese banks or credit card companies.</p>\r\n
    <p id="ba2d" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">In the West, financial institutions such as banks continue to hold sway, but for how much longer?</p>\r\n
    <p id="e575" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">That Facebook has pushed forward with developing its own cryptocurrency should not come as a surprise.</p>\r\n
    <p id="1ce1" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg has long looked to the East to understand where technology will one day be. Despite Facebook being banned in China, Zuckerberg has visited the Middle Kingdom more often than any other major tech company CEO in the past decade alone.</p>\r\n
    <p id="1136" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">To understand the impact of technology on the payments landscape, one need only visit China to understand how technology, particularly mobile payments, has dramatically rolled back the significance and influence of banks and credit card companies.</p>\r\n
    <p id="6040" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">And it is against this backdrop that Zuckerberg’s push into cryptocurrencies must be viewed.</p>\r\n
    <p id="4874" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">If Facebook as a platform can (allegedly) sway the outcome of elections in some of the world’s biggest and most important democracies, how much would it be able to influence our economic lives if we allow it to?</p>\r\n
    <p id="b30b" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">Whilst there are no doubt benefits with adapting, adopting and using Facebook’s cryptocurrency, particularly one that is backed by the dollar\u{200A}—\u{200A}the benefit of decentralization, the raison d’être of the blockchain, would be lost by doing so.</p>\r\n
    <p id="957e" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p">The reason that the United States and other major democracies have separation of powers is to ensure that power in and of itself is not concentrated and therefore, less likely to be subject to abuse.</p>\r\n
    <p id="3b69" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">Facebook already influences so many aspects of our personal lives, to allow it inroads into our pecuniary lives I would argue is a step too far.</p>
    """
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  -metadesc: "The world’s biggest social network knows your life story, now they want to know how you spend your money. It may be based on blockchain, but Facebook’s digital coin has very little in common with\u{A0}Bitcoin."
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