Data Merchants and the Book of Face

[fragger]

In case you haven't heard, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (among others) is currently copping some concentrated flak over a furore revolving around a UK data-harvesting firm called Cambridge Analytica and their machinations involving the hijacking of about 50 million FB users' data via an online "quiz" in order to use the gathered data to subtly sway those peoples' voting preferences towards the Trump campaign in the lead-up to the last US presidential election.

This sort of data-harvesting is not anything especially new for FB, and FB has, in the past, expressly forbidden any data so gathered to be sold (in other words, they're still a party to it). CA sold it anyway.

Billions have been wiped off FB stock since the revelations and there are now calls to either shut it down, prosecute it, or boycott it.

It's ironic how there has been all this fuss over possible Russian interference in the US election process when it may be that other meddlers are a lot closer to home. It's believed that the effect on the election result was actually pretty negligible, but that is beside the point, which is that not only did respondents to the FB quiz have their data harvested for political purposes, but that of all their "friends" as well, without those friends' knowledge.

It took almost a week (for some reason ) but Zuckerberg has come out all hand-wringy and apologetic about the data sale and acting all gobsmacked and contrite. The thing is, FB has known about this sort of thing for two years, and is only just now admitting that they "made a mistake".

Well, Zuckie can just go and - er, cry me a river. I can't believe that he didn't know what was going on - he's the CEO. And if he genuinely didn't know what was going on, then he has no business being the CEO. He's playing the "I'm sorry" card, but frankly I'm sick to flipping death of hearing people saying they're sorry and that they "made a mistake" after the fact - or after they've been caught out, as the case may be. I might remind you that back in 2004 when FB was founded, Zuckerberg referred to its users as "dumb fucks" for trusting him with their data. He is not exactly Mr. Nice Guy (more like Mr. Snide Guy) and as far as I'm concerned, he knows what he can do with his fracking apology.

Anyway, I'm glad I never got into FB. There are no safe places on the net, and if people are silly enough to go answering quizzes on FB (let alone detailing the minutiae of their lives on it) they shouldn't be too shocked when it ends up in the wrong hands. If you don't want people in high places knowing about your political leanings or your belief that shape-shifting lizard-people are infiltrating the government, don't go posting about it to your "friends" on Farcebook. In fact, my advice is to stay as far away from it as possible - but if you absolutely must use it, be very careful. The venal grubs who run it will sell you in a heartbeat.

[PZ]

He is a liar - he lives by the mantra "it is better to beg forgiveness than ask permission".

I have a fb account, but am using Opera so I never see any targeted advertisements. I have completely fabricated personal data, including my name. For example, as education, I have listed "The school O' hard knocks" 

It is foolish to enter any accurate personal date on any social network, and not wise to respond to advertisements of any kind, especially in your email. We have entered an era where you cannot respond to anything without being subject to hacking of some kind. The only way to be absolutely safe is to stay off your computer and throw away your cell phone.

[Art Blade]

Camebridge Analytica, Steve Bannon was their boss in 2016. Between 2014 and 2016, republicans paid a total of US$16m to CA.

[BinnZ]

Yes it's a shame, a damn shame. I don't have Facebook or twitter. I only have OWG

Nice new signature PZ!

[PZ]

  

[Art Blade]

yes, nice signature indeed

[fragger]

I've never been on Facebook - nor Twitter, nor Instagram, nor any of those things. My interactions here with you blokes constitutes the entirety of my online social networking I rarely even email anyone unless it's in an official capacity. If I want to talk to my friends or relatives, I pick up the phone.

My sister is on FB, but she's as circumspect as she can be. She's heavily involved with international dog welfare and almost all of her FB activity revolves around that, with other like-minded people. She's too bright to take part in any online quizzes asking for personal details like they did in the US via CA, but she's well aware that contact with some of her American FB friends could conceivably have led to her data being harvested as well. She has checked in with them and none of them took part in the app quiz, but still, there are their "friends" to worry about - the 270,000 or so original responders to the app quiz ballooned into 50 million users being data-mined via "friends". My sister's FB friends might not have taken part in the quiz themselves, but some of their "friends" might have. I'm unclear on whether the data-harvest was able to extend beyond a single layer of "friends", i.e. if it could then get to "friends of friends" (I suspect it couldn't since the original responders had to - foolishly - give consent to their friends being targeted), but since my sis is neither an American nor an American voter, I don't think she has to worry too much about her data being abused if it was mined (not in the US, anyway). Even so, I'd be uneasy if it was me. You never know who might be "friends" with who, nor who else might later gain access to the data. I don't believe for a second that it all starts and stops with CA, and I'm willing to bet there are those in high places in this country who are keen for a crack at any data they can get on Aussie voters.

Anyway, after this, there is no way I would ever be part of FB, on principle as much as anything else.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I never liked Zuckyboid for some reason, he just looks too smug or something all the time. Even before I knew who he was, I had no interest in FB at all. The only other social media account I have is twitter and it's under my pseudonym, not my real name. I haven't put my real name on anything computer related since 1993 or thereabouts.

[Art Blade]

essentially the same here: I have never been on FB nor any other social media and I certainly never gave away my real name or anything related, except for obvious reasons to my internet provider and once because I was part of an "offline" project that later went online. They asked me first, and I agreed, because it was a cool thing. Many, many years ago.

However, I am part of the steam community and I know they check user data, they even publish them. But apart from gaming and PC hardware, there's nothing else. The only thing they can do to me is suggest games to buy "because you played" whatever games.

[fragger]

Yes, there is Steam. Ostensibly I'm part of the community, but apart from a couple of chats with Art I haven't really participated much there. Most of the time I play Steam games offline anyway.

Agreed D_B, there was always something about Zuck that rubbed me the wrong way. "Smug" seems a pretty apt description of it. To be completely shallow about it, I just never liked the look of him. This is very subjective, but he looks a lot like an obnoxious, mouthy kid I knew in school who I don't think anybody liked and was always trying to scam other kids. I'm sure he would have grown up to be a used-car salesman or an insider trader or something

[Art Blade]

what you guys said, thinking about Zuck's face, kind of reminds me of a quite rude line (you drop it if someone smiles) "I've never seen so many teeth in a horse's arse."

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah, that's about it Fragger, I don't like to judge people on what they look like, but there is something about him that just doesn't sit right.