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Social Cooling – How big data is increasing pressure to conform

socialcooling.com

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Re: Social Cooling – How big data is increasing pressure to conform

#2

Post by dredmorbius »

A related question: can privacy be quantified? And if so, how? On what bases?

Thoughts I've had:

Total quantity of data available?

Ability to define boundaries?

Ability to enforce those boundaries?

Knowledge of what boundaries to even define?

Who knows what about a person?

How many agents know what?

How aware is the subject of actual knowlesdgee?

How rapidly can that knowledge be further transferred?

Does the surveillor know more of the subject than the subject?

Can the subject access that knowledge?

Can others?

What level of benefit (or harm) can be transacted on the basis of surveillance? Does this accrue to the subject or others?

Re: Social Cooling – How big data is increasing pressure to conform

#3

Post by bicubic »

I was going to write at length about my concerns on this topic, and then I decided not to. Because it's entirely possible that one day many years from now, a prospective employer/insurer/whatever finds such a comment and flags me for it.

That's the cooling effect in a nutshell.

Re: Social Cooling – How big data is increasing pressure to conform

#5

Post by Fuxy »

And this is why Facebook has become my go to place for contacting old friends I haven't talked to in years and relatives I speak too even less.

If it's people I interact with all the time there's other ways of contact that are less data mined like a good old text message or phone call.

Oh yeah and my last Facebook post is well over a year ago. There's no way in hell I will post random pictures it that will show me in bad light. It's basically a slightly less official business profile.

Re: Social Cooling – How big data is increasing pressure to conform

#6

Post by fibbidd »

I am not saying there is nothing to this, but this is just a catchy concept with a convincing narrative. The sources are news articles and YouTube videos, not scientific papers specifically addressing the issues mentioned, for example showing a link between self-censorship and online monitoring or quantifying that effect.

Re: Social Cooling – How big data is increasing pressure to conform

#8

Post by doktrin »

fibbidd wrote: post #6

I am not saying there is nothing to this, but this is just a catchy concept with a convincing narrative. The sources are news articles and YouTube videos, not scientific papers specifically addressing the issues mentioned, for example showing a link between self-censorship and online monitoring or quantifying that effect.

Catchy concepts and convincing narratives sometimes precede more rigorous studies. As you yourself cautiously indicated, there might be something to this.

I can't satisfy anyone's need for a thorough scientific paper offhand, but I can certainly add anecdotal evidence : I regularly self censor online precisely because I know I'm being tracked in some fashion (and probably in ways I haven't even thought of : retroactive big data analysis 20 years from now is likely to be more sophisticated than it is today). I doubt I'm the only one.

Re: Social Cooling – How big data is increasing pressure to conform

#9

Post by aerique »

f_allwein wrote: post #4

of course, "social credit systems" to rate citizens are already being tested in China: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21711902-worrying-imp...

Everyone is generally playing catch up with China in these matters so I expect this will show up all over the world in five to ten years as well.

And with "show up" I mean as blatantly as in China. I'm actually fully expecting these things to happen below the water already.

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