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Facebook is terrifying

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Re: Facebook is terrifying

#131
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

He's saying that if you live in a dictatorship, your Facebook data may literally lead to your death.

Yes, and the day I end up in a dictatorship I may just as well kill myself anyway. What I'm saying is that the small risk of whatever bad things happening due to Facebook is still not worth my energy. I can fight the fight for other people though.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#133

What is the proposed recourse? Ban Facebook from analyzing data that users give it? I use Facebook's automatic tagging because I find it useful. Should it be illegal for me to use this feature because someone might unintentionally be identified in a photo that I took? Is the argument that Facebook--or any other company--should never be allowed to develop software that could process data that could identify folks, eve…

Facebook can of course do whatever it wants, and users as well. But bystanders should be able preserve their privacy if they so wish. The only way to do this is active obfuscation.

Here's hoping 2017 is the year it gets scaled up, because it would sure be profitable, with the right implementation.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#134
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even when I paint the worst possible scenario in my mind (I get killed because of my Facebook data) it's still not something I can be bothered about. I could just as well be hit by a car tomorrow but I don't worry about that.

I could just as well be hit by a car tomorrow but I don't worry about that. I don't "worry" about getting hit by a car every day, either. But still I always look both ways before crossing a street. Even one-way streets.

Of course. The problem is that look both ways in this case basically means stop using Facebook. It's not something I'm willing to do, regardless of risks. It's an important part of my life.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#135
post #39
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!…

For the sake of discussion, why is that scary rather than kind of nice? Unless you take the AdBlock route, aren't well targeted ads better than irrelevant ones?

>aren't well targeted ads better than irrelevant ones?

Depends on whether you're a fan other other people making your choices for you, I guess.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#136
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.

Then you surely have no problem in giving me all your data now. Bank accounts access included, pics of your mom and all conversations you ever had online say for the last 5 years. I'll take care of it, also you can trust me, i'm a cool guy and no intentions of becoming a leader or govern any country ;)

We're talking about Facebook, not privacy in general. I don't want random people to get my Facebook data, but I won't take any extreme measures to prevent that small risk.

Also, I don't understand comments like yours. It seems like a fallacy. Just because you "have nothing to hide" doesn't mean you want everyone to get your whole file just for the sake of it.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#137
post #5

"If you're not paying, you are the product" It used to be that the law couldn't catch up with the fast change in technology, now it's us the people that can't keep up. All my friends using Facebook don't comprehend what is going on, it's just pictures right? The idea that FB is creating highly detailed profiles of every user, and selling them to anyone who will pay, is just dismissed as a joke. What good can come fro…

> "If you're not paying, you are the product"

Even if you are paying, you are still the product. More-so if the company is a startup waiting for a buyout.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the sheer number of people involved in Facebook's decision-making, I would believe it if they told me there was an internal consensus that differed from Zuckerberg's earlier college-age views. So I want to know if there is such a consensus, because if there is, then to my mind it would override that chat snapshot. Also, yes, you can generally trust people to tell you what their real policies are. They might not…

But there are very few people in the world who make it their business to lie and cheat every day. Actually there are quite a lot of them.

Strongly disagree, though I'm not completely certain: people use all their powers of rational thinking to convince themselves (if nobody else) that what they're doing is quite alright. So if you spot somebody lying, chances are it will show up in their reasoning if you question them about it at length—and they'll tell you about it, directly, because they've convinced themselves they're right. I think that's one way to explain why you should believe things people say about their own beliefs in interviews (while being skeptical about whether it's actually right).

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#139
post #73

Yo, how do you guys survive with all of these things being terrifying and scary? Do you live in a world with a perpetual fear response and adrenalin running all the time? Like, you walk down the street and there's a security camera and you're terrified? I can't imagine someone lying in bed terrified at the thought that someone somewhere took a selfie with them in the background. That doesn't sound normal at all.

You're right; it's not normal. That's the problem.

Re: Facebook is terrifying

#140

I deleted my Facebook account in 2010 after appearing in the Times regarding technology addiction. It was my most time consuming social media application at the time. For the article, they had me install an application tracker to see how much time I spent in focus on a particular app. I was alarmed at how often I checked Facebook chat. Today, after much investigation, I've come to a hypothesis that technology's purpo…

Nice post, thank you.

I closed my account yesterday for these reasons and also because, I can honestly say, it's just a boring distraction and waste of my time.

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