Finance News Opinons

Facebook Unveils ‘Its Most Invasive And Dangerous Form Of Surveillance Yet’ With Launch of Libra Cryptocurrency

FACEBOOK is launching cryptocurrency next year that will allow people to move money from their smartphone into a digital “wallet”.

The currency is known as Libra, which the social network says it has “no special role” in governing and will manage equally with a group of big companies.

Experts have branded the move a dangerous power grab that marks Facebook’s “most invasive” form of surveillance yet.


So far, Facebook has enlisted 28 firms, including Spotify and Uber, who each had to invest a minimum of £8million to be a founding member of the Libra Association, an independent not-for-profit membership organisation.

Libra is supported by a reserve of the world’s best assets and the world’s most trusted central banks, who gave the cryptocurrency “general cautious support”, according to David Marcus, who started exploring blockchain at Facebook a year ago.


Christian university rebranding DEI to evade Trump order, enroll illegals, Tennessee rep says
Mike Huckabee Threatens to Declare Israel ‘No Longer Welcoming’ to Christian Organizations After ‘Shocking’ Policy Change
Former Voice of America Staffer Charged Over Alleged Death Threats Against Marjorie Taylor Greene
NIH still blaming FOIA delays on the pandemic
New York settles Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment case for nearly $500,000
Americans detained in Venezuela freed and returning home after prisoner exchange
Trump sues Wall Street Journal for libel after Epstein birthday letter story 
Trump vows to make US ‘crypto capital of the planet,’ signs GENIUS Act into law
Illegal pleads guilty to impregnating his own daughter at blue state migrant shelter
Watch: Rare ‘Firenado’ Captured on Video as it Cuts a Swath of Destruction
FBI captures final illegal immigrant inmate who escaped ICE facility in New Jersey
Illegal Alien Claimed She Was Illegally Kidnapped by ICE – Then the Surveillance Footage Was Located
Germany admits Europeans were ‘free riders’ on defense and national security
Border Patrol Hits Jackpot in Raid on California Home Depot
Missing mom’s convicted killer claims boyfriend tainted his trial
See also  Chinese military companies have already spent over $1 million lobbying Congress this year

“Libra holds the potential to provide billions of people around the world with access to a more inclusive, more open financial ecosystem,” he explained.

The social network is hoping that its collaborative approach can ease volatility concerns of existing blockchains and cryptocurrencies.

Users will be able to send money to each other initially, at low to no cost, the social network said.

Eventually, it intends to open the Calibra Wallet up to additional services, so that people can pay bills, buy goods by scanning a code or accessing public transport.

Account information from Calibra will not be shared with Facebook to improve things like ad targeting, except for “limited cases” where this data may be shared “to keep people safe, comply with the law, and provide basic functionality to the people who use Calibra”, the social network added.

Libra is open source, meaning anyone will be able to launch their own digital wallet and include the currency.


Christian university rebranding DEI to evade Trump order, enroll illegals, Tennessee rep says
Mike Huckabee Threatens to Declare Israel ‘No Longer Welcoming’ to Christian Organizations After ‘Shocking’ Policy Change
Former Voice of America Staffer Charged Over Alleged Death Threats Against Marjorie Taylor Greene
NIH still blaming FOIA delays on the pandemic
New York settles Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment case for nearly $500,000
Americans detained in Venezuela freed and returning home after prisoner exchange
Trump sues Wall Street Journal for libel after Epstein birthday letter story 
Trump vows to make US ‘crypto capital of the planet,’ signs GENIUS Act into law
Illegal pleads guilty to impregnating his own daughter at blue state migrant shelter
Watch: Rare ‘Firenado’ Captured on Video as it Cuts a Swath of Destruction
FBI captures final illegal immigrant inmate who escaped ICE facility in New Jersey
Illegal Alien Claimed She Was Illegally Kidnapped by ICE – Then the Surveillance Footage Was Located
Germany admits Europeans were ‘free riders’ on defense and national security
Border Patrol Hits Jackpot in Raid on California Home Depot
Missing mom’s convicted killer claims boyfriend tainted his trial
See also  NIH still blaming FOIA delays on the pandemic

“As a Founding Member of the Libra Network, Vodafone will extend its commitment to digital and financial inclusion by supporting the creation of a new global currency and encouraging a wide range of innovative financial services to be developed through its open-source platform,” said Stefano Parisse, group director of product and services at Vodafone Group.

“This has the potential to be truly transformative and will benefit those who have never used, or are struggling to access, financial services around the world.”

Not everyone was singing the project’s praises.

Phil Chen, Decentralized Chief Officer at HTC, said the move was part of a “dangerous” power grab by Facebook.

“If you’re concerned with Facebook knowing too much or having too much access to your private data or social graph, the GlobalCoin will give Facebook even more direct access to your financial information,” he told The Sun. “It’s not just access to the information of your transactions, it’s direct access to your wealth and capital.

If the top-line question about Facebook and antitrust is about whether to break it up and spin off the likes of WhatsApp and Instagram – well this global coin is the most invasive and dangerous form of surveillance they have devised thus far. This will easily become the most dangerous antitrust case in history.
If this is launched and adopted worldwide, we’re bound to see Facebook as the top 10 biggest companies for the next 100 years that have complete ownership of the customer and their data from their social graph to every transaction recorded through Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
This project is the antithesis of bitcoin and is another step towards total control of data and users.”

Story cited here.

See also  Campaign cash buys Big Crypto allies on Capitol Hill
Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter