According to personal data protection specialists, Dr. Larry Sanger, one of Wikipedia’s founders, is inviting the people to stop using any social media platform for up to 48 hours in an attempt to pressure companies to grant control of personal data to users.
Sanger has mentioned that his movement would “reaffirm mass demand, the need to change the way social media platforms manage personal data”. The strike is scheduled for this weekend, on July 4 and 5. Movement participants should avoid using any social media platform during these two days.
“We will bring big changes; by demonstrating in bulk we will require the large and manipulative technology companies to give us back control of our confidential information, which will significantly improve the online privacy experience of users”, says the doctor Sanger.
Personal data protection experts are not yet clear about the actual scope of Sanger’s calling, although the Wikipedia founder believes that this movement will truly show discontent with the tracking, collection and storage activities of data carried out by social media platforms.
This movement demands that social networks be decentralized, becoming an environment that respects freedom of expression, as well as the right to privacy and online security. Finally, the founder of Wikipedia extolled his desire to drive interoperability between platforms: “this is how social media should have been designed since their beginning, rather than simply becoming an environment where it dominated competition between the different platforms,” Sanger added.
Specialists in personal data protection from the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) mention that the call has found some reception on platforms such as Reddit and Twitter, among others. Because it does not have profiles or fanpages on Facebook, Sanger has been unable to actively communicate his message through Mark Zuckerberg’s company. While many still doubt that this movement will have a noticeable impact on the use of social media worldwide, Sange says he will not lower his arms until these platforms modify their practices to empower the user.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
