BERLIN, June 6 — Angela Merkel has an opinion about Facebook. She likes it. But not more than she likes other conveniences in life, such as home appliances.
The German chancellor weighed in on data privacy at a Lutheran church convention yesterday, contrasting Germans’ willingness to share on social media with their reluctance to having the government store data for use in fighting crimes.
Citizens seem to have few quibbles about giving data about shopping and eating habits to “every company in the world,” Merkel said in a speech in the southern city of Stuttgart.
“But if the state, when it wants to the protect the lives of 80 million people, also needs information that it can use — and only then when something doesn’t look right, in the case of a terrorist or somebody who wants to endanger safety — then people say: ‘I won’t give this to the state!’” Merkel observed.
After the applause subsided, a moderator read out a question from a convention-goer interested in more mundane matters.
Eleven-year-old Tobias, as he was identified, wanted to know: “Do you think it’s good that there’s Facebook?”
Merkel considered her response.
“A lot of people think it’s terrific,” she said. “But it’s not as if Facebook will make you happy in life.”
“It’s nice to have it,” the chancellor continued, drawing more applause. “It’s also nice to have a car, or a well-functioning washing machine.” — Bloomberg
