ProtonMail CEO: Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘Metaverse’ Is Still All About Sucking Up Your Personal Data

Andy Yen, the CEO and founder of the encrypted email service ProtonMail recently warned against the privacy issues relating to Mark Zuckerberg’s digital “metaverse.” Yen didn’t hold back, saying: “Facebook talks about privacy because it’s a PR issue for them. At the end of the day, their business model revolves on taking your data and monetizing it. So there is fundamentally always going to be a conflict between what they say and what they actually have to do to make money.”

Newsweek reports that Andy Yen, the CEO and founder of the encrypted email service ProtonMail, recently warned against trusting Mark Zuckerberg’s new “metaverse.” Zuckerberg has previously stated that “Privacy and safety need to be built into the metaverse from day one,” but Yen is skeptical.

Speaking to Newsweek at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Yen stated: “Facebook talks about privacy because it’s a PR issue for them. At the end of the day, their business model revolves on taking your data and monetizing it. So there is fundamentally always going to be a conflict between what they say and what they actually have to do to make money.” Yen added: “There’s no way to ever get around their conflict unless they change their business model, and they’re not going to do that.”

Speaking about the metaverse, Yen stated that he thinks the idea is “worthy of mockery in some aspects,” but warned that the privacy issues relating to the platform should be taken seriously. “But it’s also insidious in many ways. What is Facebook actually doing? What is the purpose? Facebook’s issue today is they don’t control their destiny,” Yen said.- READ MORE