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Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

theguardian.com

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Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#101

Post by api »

Are we really that ahead of the curve here? Did the general public not realize that a free service that collects tons of information from you might be gasp using that information to make money?

I know some people who work in SEO and marketing and the stuff CA was doing was a more sophisticated version of what every free Facebook game or 'survey' vendor is doing. This is literally the business model of the free/popular Internet. Of course it's going to be used for political campaigns-- why not? It's used for every other kind of marketing.

I'm not saying it's good. I think it's terrible. It's a plague. I'm just shocked that people are shocked by what's been happening in the open now for years.

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#102

Post by DFHippie »

txcwpalpha wrote: post #34
scottmf wrote: post #4

Oh man this is bad. >the platform operations manager at Facebook responsible for policing data breaches [...] warned senior executives at the company that its lax approach to data protection risked a major breach >One Facebook executive advised him against looking too deeply at how the data was being used, warning him: “Do you really want to see what you’ll find?” >They felt that it was better not to know. I found th…

Lol, "this is bad"? This is normal. I can give you an entire list of F500 companies I've worked at that have the same mindset. I've sat in meetings with F100 CIOs where they were given the same warning and shrugged it off. I've been asked before to turn off security monitoring systems because executives prefer to not know about vulnerabilities rather than know about them and not be able to fix them. The only thing sh…

"Better to ask forgiveness after than ask permission before."

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#103

Post by swyx »

jypepin wrote: post #52

I've been thinking more and more recently of deleting my facebook profile. 1. I barely add stuff on it 2. 99% of my news feed is irrelevant and I really don't care (there maybe 1 post/day from a friend that is interesting to me) 3. Starting to be more and more concerned about all this data But I'm scared for multiple reasons: 1. connections needed from a lot of friends, family etc. that I would not keep contact with…

you dont have to delete it, you can just not be an MAU

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#104

Post by intended »

Does anyone else have the wild speculation that Rupert Murdoch is opening a bottle of champagne today?

The interest in FB and privacy, while gratifying, also seems focused through a particularly yellow lens.

People on HN have also pointed out that it’s very likely that CA’a analytical prowess may well be overstated as part of submarine marketing efforts.

I suppose many people are just surprised that this is taking off now, without any truly new or novel fuel driving it - when the same articles and worse, had no effect earlier.

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#105

Post by txcwpalpha »

scottmf wrote: post #82
txcwpalpha wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, "this is bad"? This is normal. I can give you an entire list of F500 companies I've worked at that have the same mindset. I've sat in meetings with F100 CIOs where they were given the same warning and shrugged it off. I've been asked before to turn off security monitoring systems because executives prefer to not know about vulnerabilities rather than know about them and not be able to fix them. The only thing sh…

Please do share that list.

http://fortune.com/fortune500/list/

There's your list. Seriously.

I obviously can't share with you the list of specific clients I work for, but this attitude is pervasive enough that you should assume that any and all major corporations have this same mindset. All of them.

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#106

Post by deltron3030 »

tmalsburg2 wrote: post #29
meuk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it is extremely naive to think that Facebook does not use all the data they get about you. Then again, most people are very naive about this kind of everyday technology.

That's just your perspective. I live in the Germany where we have very strong data protection laws. Is it natural for people to assume that these laws are broken at such a large scale? And that abuse goes completely unchallenged for years?

Data protection laws are so strong in Germany that they let registration offices sell your data if you don't explicitly opt out. Most people don't even know whats going on and that they have to opt out to avoid that. Or German credit scoring institutions, who are allowed collect data about you even if you don't have any mutual agreement with them.

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#107

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

malikNF wrote: post #3

What's utterly horrifying about this whole thing is how the media is acting as if this is some sort of surprise. Like what did you think was happening at a company collecting data about billions of people? Especially at a company that has a CEO who is famous for calling its own users dumb fu * * s? A company that experimented on at risk teens. Like come on. --edit--- Or lordy, didn't expect this comment to blow up th…

The media likes to get people's eyeballs just as much as FB. They will over react to get views.

If those little radio buttons in privacy settings do literally nothing on the backend, then FB could have a massive legal/financial battle if they knowingly ignored user preferences and sold off unaggregated data for profit.

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#108

Post by karmelapple »

jakelazaroff wrote: post #8

Can we not let this become framed as a "breach"? No systems were compromised. Nothing of Facebook's was accessed that wasn't supposed to be accessed. This was data intentionally exposed by Facebook , just exfiltrated and given to an entity whom Facebook hadn't authorized. This is simply the extent to which we've permitted these Internet giants to collect information about us. It's business as usual. Edit: To clarify,…

Was this a security breach in the sense that the company with the data got “hacked”? No.

Was this a breach in trust to Facebook users? I think undoubtedly yes.

And was there a breach of a the Terms of Service by companies taking all this data and using it for non-academic purposes? Yes there was.

So the type of breach seems to be a worthwhile distinction to make.

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#109

Post by Spooky23 »

relyio wrote: post #36
freyir wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just so the quote [2004] isn't out of context: Zuckerberg: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS [Friend]: What? How'd you manage that one? Zuckerberg: People just submitted it. Zuckerberg: I don't know why. Zuckerberg: They "trust me" Zuckerberg: Dumb fucks

I'm sure you can do a better job at illustrating your point than ressucitating a +10y old quote from Zuck, 19 at the time. Teenagers and college students say a lot of condescending, dumb, immature stuff in group discussions. It's not news and no evidence at all.

It’s a raw quote. Is it inaccurate?

IMO it’s very apropos because it sums up the core attitude of the company. That 19 year grew up to become one of the richest and most powerful men on the planet, with unchecked power.

Re: Ex-Facebook insider says covert data harvesting was routine

#110

Post by scottmf »

peterwwillis wrote: post #63
txcwpalpha wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, "this is bad"? This is normal. I can give you an entire list of F500 companies I've worked at that have the same mindset. I've sat in meetings with F100 CIOs where they were given the same warning and shrugged it off. I've been asked before to turn off security monitoring systems because executives prefer to not know about vulnerabilities rather than know about them and not be able to fix them. The only thing sh…

People love to pretend to be horrified by things they've assumed to be true. "What? A politician is corrupt? Outrage!!" "What? They're tracking me to build profiles on my use of all their advertising driven free services? Outrage!!" I'm sure there's a word for it in German.

Have you ever considered the possibility that many people actually are shocked?

Why do “people love to pretend” that genuine outrage and the sincere desire to stop immoral practices doesn’t exist?

Many people sincerely care about what’s right, even if they fall prey to human flaws and cognitive biases from time to time.

Perhaps those who talk about how “everyone” just “loves to act like” x and “virtue signal” y are merely projecting their own values on to the rest of us?

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