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Tim Berners-Lee: “This is a serious moment for the web’s future.” (twitter.com/timberners_lee)
33 points by mxfh on March 22, 2018 | hide | past | favorite | 5 comments


Tim Berners-Lee: This is a serious moment for the web’s future. But I want us to remain hopeful. The problems we see today are bugs in the system. Bugs can cause damage, but bugs are created by people, and can be fixed by people.

I can imagine Mark Zuckerberg is devastated that his creation has been abused and misused. (Some days I have the same feeling #justsaying)

I would say to him: You can fix it. It won’t be easy but if companies work with governments, activists, academics and web users we can make sure platforms serve humanity.

General rules for us all: Any data about me, wherever it is, is mine and mine alone to control. If you are given the right to use data for one purpose, use it for that purpose alone.

If you have access to data for research purposes, it is REALLY IMPORTANT that you ONLY uses it for research purposes. So much important science and medicine depends on that data.

My message to all web users today is this: I may have invented the web, but you make it what it is. And it’s up to all of us to build a web that reflects our hopes & fulfils our dreams more than it magnifies our fears & deepens our divisions.

What can web users do? Get involved. Care about your data. It belongs to you. If we each take a little of the time we spend using the web to fight for the web, I think we’ll be ok. Tell companies and your government representatives that your data and the web matter.

And to every digital rights organisation large and small, to every journalist investigating the impact of data and the web on our world - thank you. Keep fighting for the web we want. The web will not realise its potential without you. #oneweb #foreveryone

For more of my thoughts on how we get everyone connected, and make sure they have a web worth connecting to, check out the @webfoundation blog:

https://webfoundation.org/2018/03/web-birthday-29/


> If you have access to data for research purposes, it is REALLY IMPORTANT that you ONLY uses it for research purposes.

What precisely is "research"?

Demographic research?

Opposition research?

Economic research?

Political research?

Human behavior research?

Business viability research?

Sociology research?

Market research?

While it's pretty clear Aleksandr Koga violated Facebook policy (and is guilty breach of contract, etc.), let's not pretend there is some universal standard for good and bad use of the kind of data Facebook collects. Or be surprised that the data is inevitably used for -- gasp -- profit.


thank you


hope it's clear, that this is a quote of TBL (sans the twitter-threading-fluff), not mine.


"Misused" my ass. Facebook was and is, business as usual. He seems more worried about another conpanies business model and their bottom line.




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