Helen Annette Njau, Esq. knew nothing of how an update Apple will make to its mobile operating system might affect her small business until she heard about it directly from a Facebook representative back in November.
“I got a message from a Facebook person saying, ‘Do you want to chat for a second?’” said Njau, co-founder of House of Takura, which makes bags from vibrantly printed fabrics sourced in Kenya and Tanzania.
By December, Njau was convinced the changes would be detrimental to her business. A former lawyer, she complained to the Federal Trade Commission’s Technology Enforcement division and also suggested to members of the Leaders Network, a private Facebook group for small business owners with 1,300 members,
Every day, billions of dollars change hands, and countless decisions are made, on the basis of our likes and dislikes, our friends and families, our relationships and conversations. Our wishes and fears, our hopes and dreams, Cook said. These scraps of data, each one harmless enough on its own, are carefully assembled, synthesized, traded and sold.
Although Cook didn t call out Facebook by name, it was clear Mark Zuckerberg s company was one of the targets. Facebook built an empire by hoovering up the data of its users to inform its targeted ad system. Its revenue topped $20 billion last quarter, and nearly 99% of it comes from advertising.