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Facebook is terrifying

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Re: Facebook is terrifying

#61

Post by AnthonyMouse »

lutusp wrote: post #59
pmoriarty wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a little more on this subject: Good luck proving you're not one of the targeted groups to someone in power who's not interested in your proof.

The problem isn't a system in which Jews or Muslims or Armenians are targeted for discrimination. The problem is a system with the power and legal authority to target any group whatsoever.

What you're missing is what security people call defense in depth.

The primary goal is to prevent a system that can target anyone, but it is a historical fact that we have not always been able to achieve that goal. What happens then?

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#62

Post by mason55 »

Sir_Substance wrote: post #44
aianus wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The lifetime cost of your mortgage could be $20,000 higher than it need be due to your use of Facebook. Or it could be $20,000 cheaper if you're actually low-risk and their algorithms are better than the status quo... > Maybe you got passed over for that job that would have been in the perfect place for raising your new child, due to your posting. How would you know? If you didn't have Facebook, how would you know…

>Or it could be $20,000 cheaper if you're actually low-risk and their algorithms are better than the status quo... I'm sorry, are we now living on bizarro-earth where companies work with each other to develop new, exciting opportunities to make less money?

Yes, it's one of the tenets of capitalism. Competition results in lower prices.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#63

Post by thinkloop »

aeturnum wrote: post #60

I agree with the jitbit that we should consider the impacts of the growing global facial recognition system, but I find the focus on Facebook puzzling. Facebook is one of the companies that seems like the best keepers of this data. They are committed to keeping their data private - because that's how they make money. They make much more though building accurate profiles and selling ads to demographics than giving awa…

There aren't many companies that have the capability of doing this. You not only need billions of images (which not many companies have access to), but the accurate and active tagging of those images - of which Facebook is one of an extreme few.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#64

Post by conistonwater »

kafkaesq wrote: post #42
BigChiefSmokem wrote: post #8

I've been using Facebook since college (circa 2005). Never "hidden" my profile from anyone or the public. Never deactivated anything or deleted a post. Recruiters and acquaintances look up my profile all the time. Still, I have never had the data I've given them come back to haunt me. I still trust Facebook leadership very much in this regard. Maybe it's because I trust myself and how I utilize the technology. Or may…

In fact, I would wish Facebook to contract with and take over identity management systems (ie. social security, drivers license) away from local and federal government - not to dictate policy but just to dictate infrastructure. Is it "fear-mongering" to bring up this episode again? Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard Zuck: Just ask Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS [Reda…

Is there a newer interview with Zuckerberg where he expresses his views at length? Given how big Facebook is now as a company, it's possible that that "policy" was supplanted by a later more reasonable policy. What is their current view, have they explained it in any detail?

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#65

Post by jdormit »

pmoriarty wrote: post #37
jdhzzz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of this particular article is that you don't even need to be on Facebook. Your image is bound to be captured, perhaps only in the background in a public space, by someone who is. Your face will be recognized and it will become part of your "public record". No amount of opting out will prevent this. Perhaps going full Amish will, but even that simply pushes back the timeline.

On Facebook and other social media websites, people regularly volunteer to identify their friends in photos. That does not happen with ordinary street surveillance footage, as far as I know. So you might have pictures of you taken by street surveillance cameras as you walk around in big cities, but your face isn't ordinarily going to be recognized by anyone.

These days, I'd be willing to bet that "ordinary street surveillance" uses facial recognition algorithms. It wouldn't be as effective as FB's, because FB has an enormous stream of training data coming in all the time. However, that could change if law enforcement got access to FB's data - hence this article.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#66

Post by mrtksn »

hacker_9 wrote: post #18
wellpast wrote: post #6

Anyone know this technology well enough to know if sunglasses and a scarf of some sort would prevent my being recognized if not making me look somewhat silly or suspicious.

You may be interested in the movement against facial recognition [1]. [1] https://cvdazzle.com/

My iPhone camera face detection was able to detect some of the camouflaged examples instantly.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#67

Post by jitbit »

mmjaa wrote: post #35

Its not just faces .. me and a friend had a little jam session recently and posted a picture of our cool little setup, consisting of a few pocket-sized machines (synthesizers and controllers) on our table in front of us. Just an innocent little picture of our jam setup. Within seconds of posting this picture of the machines, my friend was getting targeted ads from the manufacturers of those devices - within seconds!…

I had a similar moment (and ironically I'm a musician too).

I went to a bar, where a band was playing on stage... After a while I realized I know the drummer. I played with him before, in another band, years ago. We had a beer, chatted a bit and went home.

Now, we hadn't posted any pictures, nor statuses, we have no mutual friends on facebook, no connection at all... Heck, Facebook DIDN'T EVEN EXIST when I last saw him.

The second I got home the app suggested him as a friend

Gosh this was scary.

(OP here)

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#68

Post by Rainymood »

jitbit wrote: post #67
mmjaa wrote: post #35

Its not just faces .. me and a friend had a little jam session recently and posted a picture of our cool little setup, consisting of a few pocket-sized machines (synthesizers and controllers) on our table in front of us. Just an innocent little picture of our jam setup. Within seconds of posting this picture of the machines, my friend was getting targeted ads from the manufacturers of those devices - within seconds!…

I had a similar moment (and ironically I'm a musician too). I went to a bar, where a band was playing on stage... After a while I realized I know the drummer. I played with him before, in another band, years ago. We had a beer, chatted a bit and went home. Now, we hadn't posted any pictures, nor statuses, we have no mutual friends on facebook, no connection at all... Heck, Facebook DIDN'T EVEN EXIST when I last saw h…

Isnt this just location based matching?

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#69

Post by lisper »

Sir_Substance wrote: post #14
BigChiefSmokem wrote: post #8

I've been using Facebook since college (circa 2005). Never "hidden" my profile from anyone or the public. Never deactivated anything or deleted a post. Recruiters and acquaintances look up my profile all the time. Still, I have never had the data I've given them come back to haunt me. I still trust Facebook leadership very much in this regard. Maybe it's because I trust myself and how I utilize the technology. Or may…

>Still, I have never had the data I've given them come back to haunt me. Are you sure? Facebook has a patent on lowering your credit score based on who is in your friends list[1]. They also feed data to credit score companies who directly examine your posts and use it to tweak your credit score yet further[2]. It's totally possible that your use of Facebook has affected your ability to buy a car or house, or get a jo…

> It's totally possible that your use of Facebook has affected

The really scary possibility is that your non-use of Facebook has negatively impacted your credit score.

My (mostly) non-use of LinkedIn (which is even worse than FB IMHO) has almost certainly had a negative impact on my career.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#70

Post by Kiro »

ardit33 wrote: post #47
Kiro wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP but even if the next Hitler would get all my Facebook data I still don't care personally. Am I naive? I do understand why people have a problem with it though.

You probably never lived under communism. Often people got in trouble not because they were dissenting, but merely being associated with somebody that was a political dissenter. The usual term of accusation was called: "Agitation and propaganda" for the imperialist/capitalist regimes. So, why you might have been squeak clean, if your friend, or your cousin was not, then you were considered a problem just by associati…

If I start living in a dictatorship all of a sudden I feel my Facebook data will the least of my problems. It's such a minor issue in my mind that it's like worrying about whether the earth will be hit by a meteor.
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