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Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

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Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#131

Post by 50656E6973 »

rahuldottech wrote: post #11

1. How can one find out about their shadow profiles that have been created by FB? 2. How can they delete the data associated with the above? 3. Info on how they group personal data from WhatsApp, FB and Instagram 4. Who do they share such data with? 5. Who within FB is responsible for privacy policies, etc.?

>1. How can one find out about their shadow profiles that have been created by FB?

Funny how this question always seems to generate distracting and misdirecting responses.

The simple fact that detractors seem unwilling to address is that FB and countless other internet advertisers are stalking billions of unaware people on a micro level using all sorts of shady and opaque techniques and compiling the most detailed psychological profiles on the most number of people in history.

The public has only just begun to contemplate the massive national security and mental health problems that this mass stalking and manipulation creates.

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#132

Post by tjpnz »

Not really privacy related but I would ask them why they allowed a fucking lunatic to livestream a mass killing spree, why they didn't do anything to shut down the stream despite numerous people alerting them to what was going on, why their systems couldn't detect near duplicates of said content in the days, weeks and months that followed and finally, why they would allow absolutely anyone to start live streaming to audiences of potential tens of thousands to begin with. This was a disaster waiting to happen and I'm betting Facebook knew damn well that their technology, processes and culture were in no way equipped to deal with it. This is a rant but as someone who grew up in Christchurch I can't help but feel that they've learned nothing and done even less.

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#133

Post by cjaybo »

ryanlol wrote: post #108
mehrdadn wrote: post #60

Ask them why the exposed moderators who now live in constant fear for their lives in their own countries were not offered serious compensation that could last them a significant chunk of their lifetimes (which would be on the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars). [1] Facebook will most likely respond that their threat assessments didn't warrant it. To which you'd ideally respond by asking them why a reasonable…

I really don’t think this is as credible of a threat as you paint it to be. Terrorists don’t go around killing people for banning them from forums.

This is such a strange response. First of all, Facebook's inability to keep their moderators' identities private is an issue regardless of how the terrorists respond.

> Terrorists don't go around killing people for banning them from forums.

It seems incredibly arrogant to assume that you know what terrorists will and will not do (especially when used as a rebuttal to someone expressing concern for real people who have been put in this situation).

I don't have any experience interacting with terrorists, but growing up in a poor education system in the southeastern U.S., I've witnessed my fair share of gang activity. I have seen incredible confrontation/violence erupt as a consequence of amazingly trivial actions.

It does not seem far fetched to me that an extremist group would possess the potential to respond dispraportionately to a perceived act of disrespect or aggression. Given the circumstances, it's hard to find a charitable interpretation of why you would suggest otherwise.

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#134

Post by WA »

rock_hard wrote: post #87
WA wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some data, this might be true. But, for example, where is my browsing history stored, which is undoubtedly collected by FB through their social sharing buttons even if I don't have an account? Or any other drive-by data that is collected through third-party apps, websites or whatever and send back to FB. It wouldn't make any sense to store my browsing history somewhere else than in a shadow profile.

No, it actually doesn’t make sense to store it in any kind of profile. You are right that some fly by data might end up in a server log somewhere but those aren’t kept around for long...if they are kept at all at Facebook scales Storing and computing data is very expensive and risky at FB scale so they will only keep around what they actually need for as long as they need it. Meaning that data gets send to the server…

I have my doubts that storing compressed plaintext is expensive for a company that makes, what, 13 billion a year in profit or something like that? Their business is data. The more data they have, the more profit they can generate. The browsing history reveals a lot about humans. Storing it makes sense imho.

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#135

Post by C14L »

mehrdadn wrote: post #60

Ask them why the exposed moderators who now live in constant fear for their lives in their own countries were not offered serious compensation that could last them a significant chunk of their lifetimes (which would be on the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars). [1] Facebook will most likely respond that their threat assessments didn't warrant it. To which you'd ideally respond by asking them why a reasonable…

He worked in an anti-terrorism unit at Facebook under his real-name Facebook account?

Well, I don't know what to say...

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#136

Post by calimac »

Q1: Are the outages related to cleaning up the code that was written in 2017 to silence and censor fb's political opponents?

Q2: How long can you claim to be a platform when you control the flow and volume of traffic based on content under the guise of "user experience"? Regardless of rationale, you are acting as a publisher by controlling flow of traffic.

Q3: Was any technology transferred from LifeLog fo Facebook in the early days of facebook?

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#137

Post by calimac »

C14L wrote: post #135
mehrdadn wrote: post #60

Ask them why the exposed moderators who now live in constant fear for their lives in their own countries were not offered serious compensation that could last them a significant chunk of their lifetimes (which would be on the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars). [1] Facebook will most likely respond that their threat assessments didn't warrant it. To which you'd ideally respond by asking them why a reasonable…

He worked in an anti-terrorism unit at Facebook under his real-name Facebook account? Well, I don't know what to say...

does facebook allow aliases? lol

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#138

Post by novok »

tjpnz wrote: post #132

Not really privacy related but I would ask them why they allowed a fucking lunatic to livestream a mass killing spree, why they didn't do anything to shut down the stream despite numerous people alerting them to what was going on, why their systems couldn't detect near duplicates of said content in the days, weeks and months that followed and finally, why they would allow absolutely anyone to start live streaming to…

Why does the phone company let drug dealers take phone calls on their cellphone!? How could this happen!?!? Why don't they have a ML global on demand censorship system while also being under privacy scandals!? /s

Re: Ask HN: Invited by Facebook for privacy roundtable. What questions should I ask?

#140

Post by DavideNL »

jjmorrison wrote: post #79

> Some people advised me not to go there because it would only do harm to my name and brand, but I think I should We need more people who are willing to try and solve problems, not just be critical. Thanks for being willing to have a conversation with them. You're making the right call whether you are able to have an impact or not.

> You're making the right call whether you are able to have an impact or not

What if he makes a negative impact?

Perhaps Facebook is not looking for solutions to privacy problems, and this is just a marketing strategy/theater/smokescreen; Creating news events where FB is linked to people in the privacy scene.

If you realistically look at recent news events, i believe this is the most likely scenario.

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