Hacker group Anonymous has cornered Facebook as their next target. The group plans to “kill” the service on Nov. 5, as in shut it down!

Facebook is a massive social network with over 750 million users, so a threat like this is sure to garner attention for the hacker group, but Anonymous believes their mission will benefit users worldwide. According to the hacktivist group, the attack is based on privacy concerns. The group claims that the information you submit to Facebook is always saved in Facebook’s database and available for Facebook to use, regardless of your privacy settings or if you delete your account. However, according to Facebook, any information that is identifiable to you is deleted when your account is deleted. The group also claims that Facebook is selling user information to government agencies and that the government is using that information to spy on specific individuals.

Anonymous announced their attack in a YouTube video where they asked users to join them. In an excerpt from the press release, which was attached to the YouTube video, they clearly state their plans:

Attention citizens of the world,

We wish to get your attention, hoping you heed the warnings as follows: Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you are a willing hacktivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill facebook for the sake of your own privacy.

The group also hinted about the attack on their Twitter account by posting an altered quote from the blockbuster movie and comic series “V for Vendetta.”

The attack is set to hit on Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates when Fawkes and his team placed explosives under the British House of Lords in 1605. The Guy Fawkes mask, which Anonymous frequently uses to represent itself, rose to popularity because of “V for Vendetta.”

Anonymous was recently banned from Google+ and decided to launch their own social network called AnonPlus which was, ironically, hacked. This makes Facebook a strange target. Why didn’t they go after Google+ instead?

Facebook’s sheer size makes this quite an undertaking for the group and it’s not going to be easy. Since Anonymous announced the attack months in advance, Facebook has plenty of time to prepare. Of course, I’m interested to see if my beloved social network could be brought down, at least for a little while, but I’m not holding my breath.