This is troubling. According to this report by Tucker Carlson, “Facebook reportedly sought anonymous records from several U. S. hospitals for unknown research purposes.”

Unknown research purposes? What does that even mean? And, why would Facebook need people’s medical records for research anyway? The reason Facebook exists is to help people connect and stay connected, to communicate in a way that’s a bit more personal from hundreds of miles away, or even across the globe. What sort of research does a social media conglomerate need to do, especially with medical records.

Let’s be clear. Should Facebook obtain these “anonymous” medical records, they will quickly become “un-anonymous.” Facebook itself has admitted that most of its users have had their information stolen, and Beverly Hallberg, president of the District Media Group, says, regarding hospitals interested in cooperating with Facebook, that, “Since they were claiming it was anonymous … that somehow that was allowed. But what medical professionals need to know is that Facebook know how to find out who this person is. They can easily attack any kind of medical record to what they already know about you on Facebook.”

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg insists that Facebook has learned its lesson and will be ever more vigilant in protecting our personal information. That’s all well and good, if Facebook is serious about it. Sometime, in listening to Zuckerberg, I get the impression that Facebook has become something of a creature he can no longer control.

In any case, there are no circumstances that justify a social media forum requesting, much less receiving, any kind of medical information on its users, anonymous or otherwise. They help people connect. That is all. That’s all they need to be about.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.