Let the privacy blowups commence again. What does WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange think of Facebook? He interviewed with Russia Today, saying that Mark Zuckerberg’s creation is “the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented.”
Assange believes that it is “…the world’s most comprehensive database about people, their relationships, their names, their addresses, their locations, their communications with each other, their relatives…all accessible to U.S. intelligence.”
Essentially, he believes that when you are adding that random guy who bought you a drink, you are basically doing free work by building out a database that is accessible to intelligence agencies.
He goes on to chastise other major players, citing Google and Yahoo. “These major U.S. organizations have built-in interfaces for U.S. intelligence. It’s not a matter of serving a subpoena; they have an interface they have developed for U.S. intelligence to use.”
Assange goes on to never explicitly say that CIA operatives are perusing your Facebook profile at this very second, but that U.S. intelligence can “bring… legal and political pressure to them.” Which, of course, makes sense since these companies operate under U.S. jurisdiction.
So now that Assange has said it, let the conspiracy theories begin. And while you’re at it, let’s add some fuel to the fire about Osama’s body being buried at sea. It was him! It wasn’t him!
More on TIME.com:
Will The New York Times Set Up Its Own WikiLeaks Portal?
Twitter, Wikileaks and the Broken Market for Consumer Privacy