The new phones look good. I'm not a fan of foldable phones, but I think the Z Flip 4 is the most fun phone we have ever seen. There is one thing that I don't like about either of them, and that is the new partnership with Meta.
You probably don't know, but at the end of the Unpacked event, there was a slide showing the partners of the company. Every phone company releases a new product and we see that a lot. It was surprising that I saw Meta there.
We reached out to both Meta and SAMSUNG to confirm that there is a new partnership between the two with the launch of the GALAXY Z flip 4 and GALAXY Z fold 4 It's a way to use the Flex cam mode on the consumer side, where you fold the phone in a way that acts as a kickstand to use the cameras.
The consumer side is not what makes me worry. It's cool that you can do this from day one with Meta's apps, but it also means that Meta could have access to more of your data than it normally would because it's one of those partners that SAMSUNG can share data with
The key word is could. There is no way of knowing what sort of data is being shared with Meta, or if it is more than the company already collects. The last thing Meta needs is more data from every foldable, which is why it's worrying.
Data sharing and partnerships are concerns. Some companies have a good track record when it comes to using our data, even though they can make money with it. The company that is one of those is SAMSUNG.
You are asked to agree with a couple different policies when you first set up a phone from the company. Some of your data will be collected by the company, but it will take good care of it, according to the company. Some of your data can be shared with partners that it trusts, and it can use this data to make its services better.
I trust the same thing that I trust Apple, Microsoft, and even Google to the same extent. The companies that collect data only use it in ways that we agree with.
Meta's violations of public trust are both legendary and too many to mention. The company allowed others to interfere with the U.S. elections. You have to agree with me that Facebook has no business being involved in politics. Our data was used to do it.
As far as we know, any tech company can give the impression that it trusts Meta. The company knows that there is a chance that Meta will abuse our data, but having it as a partner implies that trust.
Meta applications that are pre-installed in the operating system give them a higher level of access. The important bits that are baked in to the OS remain even if you uninstall them.
To a lot of people, I sound like a cranky old man who should be wearing a tinfoil hat and hiding. The collection and abuse of our private data is a terrible problem and I know this is a time when I am right. Allow others to care for you.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy a Flip 4 or a Fold 4 because they are both great phones. Meta has shown us many times that it shouldn't be trusted with our data.
We won't see scandal after scandal when it comes to privacy as the company tries to right itself. We can change our trust levels if that's the case. Meta can't abuse our data so hopefully the concerns are unwarranted.
Please be aware of what you are getting yourself into.
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