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Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

nytimes.com

31–40 of 436 posts

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#31
post #5

Only thing I want to know: did he sign an NDA?

There are quite a few ways he may have to get around an NDA: a congressional subpoena requiring testimony superceding NDAs, and so would any testimony in court if this spawns any civil or criminal cases.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#32

Stamos sure knows how to pick stinker companies.

I mean, maybe that's true, but I'm not entirely certain it's a fair assessment. Yahoo and Facebook are arguably some of the largest targets (different eras of course). Being a CISO at both and not getting fired from either are huge achievements, given the CISO is generally a sacrificial role (largely ignored when done right, and beheaded if something goes wrong, regardless of your actions).

So either way, he picks hard jobs. The question is, does he truly step down when he feels he's got no remaining option to protest (which is quite respectable IMHO).. or is he simply outmaneuvering the board when his spidey senses tell him they are about to drop the axe because of recent corporate sins? Either way, style points for both I'd say.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#34
post #14

Stamos had been actively engaging with security researchers on Twitter over the past few days about CA with heated discussions: > I have deleted my Tweets on Cambridge Analytica, not because they were factually incorrect but because I should have done a better job weighing in. https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/975069709140877312 Archive of those deleted tweets: https://twitter.com/aprilaser/status/975078309930311…

I can easily see how FB wants to throw CA under the bus and make it look like data theft while the truth FB wants to draw attention away from is that this is the system working as intended. Or if not technically "intended" then well within the boundaries of what FB is willing to tolerate as long as it's making them money.

Cambridge Analytica took data from a third party app against the terms and conditions and has alleged to have wilfilly lied both to Facebook and congressional committess about what they did with the data.

They absolutely deserve most of the blame.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#35
I’m sorry but show me even 10 voters nationwide who were going to vote for Hillary, and then saw a Russian-created fake news post on Facebook and changed their vote to Trump. This Security Chief was clearly upset that his candidate lost, but blaming Facebook or the Russians is ludicrous. It seems that they attempted to influence the election, but there is zero evidence that they were successful in changing the outcome.

I admire his devotion to his candidate, and for trying to find an explanation for her defeat. But sometimes the correct explanation is the simplest one: she was just unpalatable to many voters. Deal with it, and spend your energy finding a better candidate next time, rather than trying to blame Russia or Facebook for influencing even a single vote, which likely did not happen.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#36

Zuckerberg's and Sandberg's response to all these events has been the weakest and lamest that I have ever seen from any leadership, regarding controversial issues that involve a company of this size...and that's hard to beat when you have the likes of BP and Volkswagen... Do they really think that just ignoring the issue will make the problem go away?

This problem may be both existential and intractable for Facebook to solve, which is why they have been giving it the silent treatment. I believe the operators and investors are just now realizing how damaging the business model was for consumers.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#37
post #17

There's breaking reporting that Facebook just had personnel in the Cambridge Analytica offices before the UK authorities could get there with warrants. https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/975844154361221121 > BREAKING: Facebook WAS inside Cambridge Analytica's office but have now "stood down" following dramatic intervention by UK Information Commissioner's Office.. https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/9758…

I seriously feel like I’m missing something here, why isn’t Facebook fully behind getting to the bottom of this? Going back even further, why was it so difficult for them to even admit they had a problem during the election? I don’t think it’s as simple as “more money,” but maybe as simple as people too close to the problem and too enamored by what they’ve created?

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#38

Stamos had been actively engaging with security researchers on Twitter over the past few days about CA with heated discussions: > I have deleted my Tweets on Cambridge Analytica, not because they were factually incorrect but because I should have done a better job weighing in. https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/975069709140877312 Archive of those deleted tweets: https://twitter.com/aprilaser/status/975078309930311…

I don't understand why he deleted that. It seems a reasonable summary. When I originally saw his tweet about the deletion I thought he may of gone on some crazy rant.

https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/975767154145415168

"I never expected them to disappear, I was hoping to reduce the rate at which people were intentionally misreading them."

Why Facebook employees are doing PR on Twitter, a platform designed for intentional misreading, is the question.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#39
post #17

There's breaking reporting that Facebook just had personnel in the Cambridge Analytica offices before the UK authorities could get there with warrants. https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/975844154361221121 > BREAKING: Facebook WAS inside Cambridge Analytica's office but have now "stood down" following dramatic intervention by UK Information Commissioner's Office.. https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/9758…

I'm no fan of Facebook, but if they have some sort of contract with CA, isn't it within their right to audit them? And if one company wanted to invite another for whatever collaboration, they should be allowed to.

And if the collaboration is doing something illegal, obviously personnel from both companies should be charged. And FB can do whatever investigation it wants (as long it's legal) and the authorities are free to ignore their findings.

Re: Facebook Security Chief Said to Leave After Clashes Over Disinformation

#40
post #32

Stamos sure knows how to pick stinker companies.

I mean, maybe that's true, but I'm not entirely certain it's a fair assessment. Yahoo and Facebook are arguably some of the largest targets (different eras of course). Being a CISO at both and not getting fired from either are huge achievements, given the CISO is generally a sacrificial role (largely ignored when done right, and beheaded if something goes wrong, regardless of your actions). So either way, he picks ha…

I will stop short of calling him Machiavellian, but he sure does have convenient timing. Great points!
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