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Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

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Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct me where I'm wrong but did it not used to be the case that facebook apps could access almost as much info about your friends as they could about you? So where is the consent? Fred gives consent to run a personality quiz and its associated data gathering - Fred's 180 friends didn't.

That consent is contained in the TOS that you and all of your friends agreed to when you signed up for Facebook. Further, the access to friend data has always been more limited than you imply here, and more recently, it’s become so limited that using apps for data collection about friends is almost a pointless endeavor.

"Well duh, it says it right there in section 37, paragraph 12, in dense legalese – how could anyone be surprised?"

Perhaps the very best thing that could come out of this is an end to the longstanding legal fig leaf of lengthy, complex legal documents presented as click-through agreements somehow constituting "informed consent."

Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#62
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder... were one to check every story about this posted to HN, what percentage would contain a comment claiming that Obama did the same or worse?

But he did though...and there was no scandal then. Why now?

It looks like there is a lot of trolling on this thread. Just in case there is not, there was no scandal because Obama was not a foreign power intent on destabilizing the US government.

Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct me where I'm wrong but did it not used to be the case that facebook apps could access almost as much info about your friends as they could about you? So where is the consent? Fred gives consent to run a personality quiz and its associated data gathering - Fred's 180 friends didn't.

That consent is contained in the TOS that you and all of your friends agreed to when you signed up for Facebook. Further, the access to friend data has always been more limited than you imply here, and more recently, it’s become so limited that using apps for data collection about friends is almost a pointless endeavor.

This will hopefully be a learning experience for everyone- consent doesn't make something right, nor will it prevent legal investigations and implications. In addition, I'd assume less then 0.1% of users read any TOS.

Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That consent is contained in the TOS that you and all of your friends agreed to when you signed up for Facebook. Further, the access to friend data has always been more limited than you imply here, and more recently, it’s become so limited that using apps for data collection about friends is almost a pointless endeavor.

"Well duh, it says it right there in section 37, paragraph 12, in dense legalese – how could anyone be surprised?" Perhaps the very best thing that could come out of this is an end to the longstanding legal fig leaf of lengthy, complex legal documents presented as click-through agreements somehow constituting "informed consent."

I fully agree with this, there should be laws that enforce TOS length and legibility for those who didn't take the bar exam or had their personal counsel available before clicking I Agree.

Except that the folks who'd write such laws...

Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#67
post #64

So when is everybody going to band together to bury Facebook and all these other insidious tech companies?

Dunno. I just deleted mine, was sort of annoying not being able to find mobile phone numbers or emails for people I'd like to stay in touch with. I think that it'd be good to have a script that scrapes facebook id's, names, mobile numbers etc from your friends list, or some automation to prepare for deleting your account.

Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#68
post #52

I find it remarkable that when Obama did something similar in 2012, it was hailed as a major strength of his campaign and nobody had any problems with FB.

I find it remarkable that people don't understand there's a non-subtle difference between signing up voluntarily on the Obama website using Facebook and consenting to the information collection vs. signing up for a quiz from an unrelated company and having that data used by the Trump campaign. If you don't understand the difference, it is the same difference between having consensual sex with your girlfriend and rapi…

horrible metaphors.

Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#69
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That consent is contained in the TOS that you and all of your friends agreed to when you signed up for Facebook. Further, the access to friend data has always been more limited than you imply here, and more recently, it’s become so limited that using apps for data collection about friends is almost a pointless endeavor.

If you were to ask 30 Facebook users whether or not Fred taking a stupid personality quiz leaked all their info, 29 of them would say no. This is why we need informed consent for data collection.

Who has deep enough pockets to pay off enough politicians to get something like that passed?

Re: Facebook Sued by Investors Over Voter-Profile Harvesting

#70
post #52

I find it remarkable that when Obama did something similar in 2012, it was hailed as a major strength of his campaign and nobody had any problems with FB.

I find it remarkable that people don't understand there's a non-subtle difference between signing up voluntarily on the Obama website using Facebook and consenting to the information collection vs. signing up for a quiz from an unrelated company and having that data used by the Trump campaign. If you don't understand the difference, it is the same difference between having consensual sex with your girlfriend and rapi…

The world would be a much better place if people weren't so utterly ignorant of their personal bias.
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