After the Cambridge Analytica data scandal broke in 2018, things got bad enough for Meta (then Facebook) that Mark Zuckerberg had to face Congress to try to explain what had happened. The focus on how much data Facebook had on everyone, including âshadow profilesâ for non-Facebook users, was enough to shake financial markets and, eventually, prompt a public apology tour from Mark Zuckerberg.
Now weâve learned from a slide presented today at FTC v. Meta during former COO Sheryl Sandbergâs testimony that the companyâs board of directors considered offering ad-free Facebook subscriptions as part of its response to the backlash. With users realizing that the companyâs âfreeâ services were paid for by their own data, maybe offering a way to pay for more privacy could change the narrative.
The Proposed Product and Goal bullet points:
Instead of launching the subscription, the company outlined plans to reduce the amount of data it made available to outside developers. Meta eventually launched an ad-free subscription option in 2023, but only in the European Union. The âpay or consentâ model has still drawn criticism from regulators over Metaâs implementation, and last November, it cut the price of the subscription by 40 percent.
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