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Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

propublica.org

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Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#31

Post by wmccullough »

caconym_ wrote: post #12

> Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them I've been saying this for years. It's pretty clear that if Facebook told regular users just how much they knew, those users would be seriously creeped out (though, these days, probably not creeped out enough to do anything about it). I expect that another example of this would be the ability of their facial recognition system and the breadth of the d…

I'm starting to wonder if we the people need to begin creating a sousveilance system to track public officials and corporate heads.

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#32

Post by wallacoloo »

caconym_ wrote: post #12

> Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them I've been saying this for years. It's pretty clear that if Facebook told regular users just how much they knew, those users would be seriously creeped out (though, these days, probably not creeped out enough to do anything about it). I expect that another example of this would be the ability of their facial recognition system and the breadth of the d…

When you download the archive of personal data Facebook shares with you, it includes some facial recognition data. Specifically, it gives 3 "Threshold" decimal values. Does anyone know what these numbers mean?

I read up on "eigenfaces", and it sounds like Facebook is most likely subtracting my face from the mean and then projecting it onto N different face-like and orthogonal images to obtain numbers like this, and so these numbers would represent the weights used to reconstruct an approximation of my face from a linear combination of basis images. But N=3 is way too small for this method to be useful. It seems silly to share these values with a user but not tell them what it means.

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#33

Post by lathiat »

pwnna wrote: post #28

Speaking of which, perhaps someone can shed some light on the suggested friends feature. Many people suspected it uses GPS/Wifi to perform location based friend suggestions, as well as contact book uploading. However, it doesn't really explain my own case: I recently encountered a friend suggestion for someone that I only know online (IRC and later, Google Hangout). I don't really know who they are other than a name…

they could have uploaded their contacts with you in it (e.g. by e-mail address) it's also conceivable to me they could be doing it using cookie tracking somehow.

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#34

Post by user5994461 »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #29
kminehart wrote: post #3

That might explain a pretty creepy thing Facebook did the other day to me. I just created a new Facebook account after maybe 4 years of radio silence. Two years ago, I had a job doing IT contracting; often I would go to businesses and repair laptops or run cable to a COM room. We had very very few residential clients since they weren't worth our time; the few that we did have were really just courtesy for doing busin…

I suspect they do this if that client has your email address (even a previous one using the same first / last name) and gave Facebook access to their address book. LinkedIn did this. Registered, also after years of silence on any kind of social media website other than email: "Would you like to connect with your ex-girlfriend who only emailed you one time at a different address?"

I can confirm with 100% certainty that the Facebook android app will scan all your contacts. If you got a guy's number (and maybe that guy got yours), he'll be suggested.

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#36

Post by caconym_ »

wmccullough wrote: post #31
caconym_ wrote: post #12

> Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them I've been saying this for years. It's pretty clear that if Facebook told regular users just how much they knew, those users would be seriously creeped out (though, these days, probably not creeped out enough to do anything about it). I expect that another example of this would be the ability of their facial recognition system and the breadth of the d…

I'm starting to wonder if we the people need to begin creating a sousveilance system to track public officials and corporate heads.

I really think what we need is to be willing to pay for the things we use so that we aren't aggressively productized for the benefit of the entities who cover that cost "for us".

I stopped using Facebook not because I was worried about privacy (although that did help) but because it was just a waste of time. It wasn't doing anything positive for me. All the features that I had once enjoyed had been removed or drowned under a torrent of advertising and aggressively "curated" (calculatedly manipulative) content.

Like, how about this: I pay $1 per month and I get a product that's actually built with me in mind, for my benefit, that I enjoy using. I recently switched to Fastmail (while I don't hate Gmail, it's not been great recently) and guess what: Fastmail is better, clearly more interested in catering to me, and it's dirt cheap. A product built for me... imagine that! Crazy talk, really, in today's ad-subsidized world.

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#37

Post by rhinojosa »

soared wrote: post #10
confounded wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tangential question: Do you know if it's possible to identify financial institutions which don't sell this kind of data? Credit unions?

Small credit unions would be your best bet, but I'm not aware of any specifics unfortunately.

The problem is small credit unions still use co-branded cards with Visa/MC, etc who sell your data. I believe AMEX is your best bet for privacy, because you are already paying a premium to them, or good ol' cash money.

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#38

Post by maglavaitss »

soared wrote: post #2

You can replace "Facebook" with thousands of other companies. Everyone is doing this because the cost is low, its easy, and the return is massive. The sole service my roommate's company does is match your customer with data about them from countless other sources. If you want a peek into a small section of this type of data, go build a facebook ad. You can see all the targeting options. You can upload a list of email…

"Everyone is doing it" sounds wrong on so many levels.

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#39

Post by ForrestN »

There must be many HNers who work at Facebook. Anyone willing to make a throwaway account and tell us how it feels from the inside for Facebook to be one the wrong side of so many ethical issues? It just seems like in so many dimensions they've been caught saying wrong things or appearing to outright lie, and I'm curious how developers who work for them think about aiding a company that seems to be so compromised at the moment. Now that it's fairly clear that the service doesn't serve any unique, unambiguously positive purpose, what world-changing mission can you possibly decide that Facebook is achieving these days?

Re: Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

#40

Post by politician »

owly wrote: post #35

1. Of course! 2. It's not too late to delete your account. Go for it! 3. Block it all! https://github.com/jmdugan/blocklists/blob/master/corporatio...

Unfortunately, one should not believe that deleting your account removes the underlying data. The actual operation is probably more like, "set a bit that prevents anyone from logging in to this profile."
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