I started this newsletter more than two years ago after I quit Facebook for the second time.
The first time I quit, in 2018, was because Facebook could not be trusted with privacy and because it was (and remains) such a pernicious force on society (think politics, hate speech, false news.)
Then I rejoined at the start of the pandemic because I was pretty sure the world was ending, and I figured Facebook was going to be the last time I got to interact with my friends before heading off to the afterlife.
Fast forward a couple of years and a few very effective vaccines: I stuck my head out the door, saw the world was still there and walked out of the house. When I got home, I quit Facebook a second time, for good.
Or so I thought.
About a month ago, my homeowners’ association set up a Facebook group for everyone in the association. It is for the usual neighborhoody info: get to know your neighbors, send important updates, chronicle black bear sightings, stuff like that.
So, I reluctantly set up a new Facebook account with the sole purpose of being part of this group. I was not going to friend anyone. I was just going to monitor the group for useful information and maybe sell the occasional used item. (Anyone need a 10-CD changer?)
That was two weeks ago.
Last night, I got an email from Facebook that it (Facebook) has detected “unusual activity” on my account and that they had suspended my account and made it inactive because it looks like someone got into it.
Two. Weeks.
I never friended anyone. I never interacted with anyone. I didn’t post a profile photo of myself or put any personal information on it.
Nothing.
My password looked something like this: X1z!Ba;0n{Wd)0iB{8y
So, how did my account get hacked so quickly?
No idea. But Facebook said I could do any number of things to get it back. One of them was upload my driver’s license so they could ID me. I was reluctant to do so, seeing how quickly Facebook managed to compromise my account.
But I did it. I uploaded my driver’s license.
Two hours later, I got a message that they could not ID me and that I would have to send other stuff, like passports, birth certificates, marriage license, college diploma.
To which I respond:
“Bite me, Facebook!”
I am utterly ashamed that I even sent Facebook my driver’s license, but that’s as far as it goes. I had ZERO information of any value on this new account. I joined Facebook again under protest and now it wants me to turn over one of my kidneys so it can positively match my DNA to its secret database, just so I can get back on its heinous service and compromise yet more of my privacy???
Bite. Me.
And there is absolutely NO way to get someone at Facebook on the phone. It cannot be done.
I think my critical (and totally rookie) mistake was using my actual email address that I have used professionally and personally for the better part of 26 years.
That email has appeared on literally hundreds if not thousands of publicly available press releases that I issued on behalf of clients from 1998 to around 2016. That email address has also made its way onto the dark web because it is so public and because I have used it for countless web accounts, of which more than a few have been hacked (not my accounts personally, but entire company databases.)
What to do in this ever-escalating arms race of privacy/security versus hackers?
In recent years, I have signed up for a couple of services that allow me to create unique, disposable email addresses so as to avoid giving out my actual, now precious email, to anyone or any organization I don’t absolutely have to and/or 100% trust.
The one I use and recommend is Firefox Relay (https://relay.firefox.com). For $50.00/year, I can create unlimited email “masks” that get forwarded to my actual email address.
So, let’s say I want to buy something from “SexyBicycleShorts.com”. Chances are this will be a one-time impulse purchase, and I don’t really know if this site can be trusted, so instead of giving them my actual email, I generate a disposable email mask that looks like this: 9n43b938x@mozmail.com.
That automatically (and invisibly to the vendor) forwards to my real email address.
In addition to shielding my email from companies that will inevitably get hacked, it has the added benefit of me be able to delete it whenever I want, thereby eliminating subsequent marketing emails and the vendor’s ability to sell my info to 10,000 other bicycle accessory web merchants.
Firefox Relay also offers, for an additional charge, a phone mask that enables you to give out a phone number mask that, theoretically, forwards calls and texts to your actual number. I say “theoretically” because it is a work in progress. Not all calls and texts get through.
Another good service is Privacy.com (https://privacy.com/). It has a free tier that allows you to set up virtual credit cards so that when sleezy companies make it nearly impossible for you to quit without waiting on the phone for hours, you can just cancel the credit card and never deal with them again. (This is also a built-in feature that you might already have if you have a Citibank or Capital One credit card.)
Back to the title of this piece.
You should quit Facebook. It’s a company that absolutely cannot be trusted on multiple levels. If you are reluctant to do so, at least clean out all personal information that could give a criminal any insight into your life. And download and then delete from Facebook any photos of you and your family that you want to keep, so that they cannot be held hostage by Facebook or any criminal actors if your account is hacked.
Because, based on my recent experience, it’s only a matter of time before YOUR account gets hacked and if it does, you’d be wise to just say “fuck it” and walk away, as opposed to sending the very company that compromised your privacy in the first place MORE private information in an attempt to unlock it.
Artificial intelligence is only going to make things on social media worse for society and easier for criminals to ruin your life. Why not plan ahead and eliminate at least one totally voluntary and unnecessary attack vector know as Facebook?
Take it from someone who has been living without Facebook for two-plus years: You won’t miss it one bit.