Whether one considers Facebook a force for good or evil it is everywhere. In the first quarter of 2015, the social media site had 1.44 billion monthly active users. Now the company's "Connectivity Lab" is building infrared lasers, Earth-orbiting satellites, and a fleet of solar-powered, radio-contnrolled drones to deliver the internet to the most remote places on earth, Wired reports. Facebook wants to connect the two-thirds of the world’s population not yet online. “We realized there wasn’t one technology that could connect everyone,” said Yael Maguire, a former MIT quantum computing researcher. “We needed a set of technologies.” The company wants to get more people to use Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, so they can see more ads. In Europe, meanwhile, activist Max Schrems is heading up a Europe-wide lawsuit against Facebook, according to Ars Technica. The Belgian Privacy Commission told Reuters, "Facebook tramples on European and Belgian privacy laws. Facebook has shown itself particularly miserly in giving precise answers." The Commission suggests users employ privacy software when using Facebook, to stop it from tracking web site usage, sometimes even on computers where Facebook isn't even open. Facebook, it is said in the lawsuit, is guilty of:
• Invalid privacy policies
• Illegal collection and forwarding of user data
• Surveillance of users via “like buttons” or “apps”
• Participation in the NSA “PRISM” program
Stay tuned for the court ruling.