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Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

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Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#11

Post by feelin_googley »

Building 8, who is responsible for this project, is under the direction of the same person who wrote the memo about "questionable practices", incidental deaths and "connecting people".

The previous director quit after less than two years. There are videos on YouTube of motivational speeches for Building 8 projects. I watched one; it felt like cult-like.

One of these Building 8 projects, Aloha - a video chat device, was set to launch next month but they have sidelined it, for obvious reasons.

Apparently they took surveys and users did not trust FB; they were worried the device would be used to spy on them.

Then they considered marketing it as "a device for letting the elderly easily communicate with their families." They also considered selling it under a name other than Facebook.

Source:

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-andrew-bosworth-to-...

Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#12

Post by needToSay »

craftyguy wrote: post #8
marcell wrote: post #6

The pile on continues... (1) This is probably a project by a small "research" group at Facebook. The goal of that group is probably to publish papers in a Psych journal or something like that about how they were able to correlate anonymized medical data with Facebook feed updates. Tech companies have these research groups for prestige, they are not central to the company mission. (2) According to the article, the pro…

I dislike/disagree with facebook more than most folks, but even I can smell a dead horse being beaten.

Indeed, but whoever is behind it, for whatever personal benefits, is doing the society in general a favor. Hopefully the horrible company gets destroyed and so does the CEO.

Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#13

Post by blub »

marcell wrote: post #6

The pile on continues... (1) This is probably a project by a small "research" group at Facebook. The goal of that group is probably to publish papers in a Psych journal or something like that about how they were able to correlate anonymized medical data with Facebook feed updates. Tech companies have these research groups for prestige, they are not central to the company mission. (2) According to the article, the pro…

Facebook has been screwing with people's privacy for years, so it's only fair that they are now criticised for years on end.

This has got to be a new Facebook apology meme: the pile-on. Until Facebook and privacy is regulated in the US, like GDPR does it for the EU, the pile-on should continue. Must continue, no matter how uncomfortable it is for the pro-Facebook, pro-ads or pro-spyware people.

Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#14

Post by HenryBemis »

I can envision the many benefits of such feat, but why do I think that suddenly ALL that data would end up on insurance companies' greedy hands?

Would FB actually ask the users if they wish to opt in to this sharing? Does FB ever care about its 'products'? Sorry I meant to write 'users'.

Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#15

Post by rmykhajliw »

If I were a FB owner or in this research data I'll put all my skill to deanonmaze those HIIPA medical data because it's clearly a golden mine for insurance companies and pharmacy. This's really easy to sell those users and their data, because of high demand.

Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#18

Post by soziawa »

marcell wrote: post #6

The pile on continues... (1) This is probably a project by a small "research" group at Facebook. The goal of that group is probably to publish papers in a Psych journal or something like that about how they were able to correlate anonymized medical data with Facebook feed updates. Tech companies have these research groups for prestige, they are not central to the company mission. (2) According to the article, the pro…

(1) Or it could have been just another way to add a little more data to your profile. And even if you are right, I don't think you are but if you were, do you really want a company to do psychological experiments with you without your knowledge?

(2) Yeah, but it wasn't started because of the pile on. You can't give Facebook credit for not starting this.

Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#19

Post by 411mrc »

askl56 wrote: post #4

Surely this passes into the realms of illegality?

I have to sign documents saying who can view my info when I go for a checkup.

I'd find another doctor if Facebook ever showed up on there.

I would think it would be illegal for the medical side to share and for Facebook to use their massive data collection in this manner if it's not buried in their impenetrable privacy statement.

Re: Facebook was in talks with hospitals about a proposal to share data

#20

Post by nealdt »

marcell wrote: post #6

The pile on continues... (1) This is probably a project by a small "research" group at Facebook. The goal of that group is probably to publish papers in a Psych journal or something like that about how they were able to correlate anonymized medical data with Facebook feed updates. Tech companies have these research groups for prestige, they are not central to the company mission. (2) According to the article, the pro…

I think this story could appear harmless - or perhaps not. The potential gold mine of information that insurers and the health industry could get from this kind of data could be staggering, particularly when we think about claims or the price of the insurance policy.

This is what many of us have been suspecting for some time so this confirms our suspicions. I don't think it's a non-story.

I feel that if such research was genuine, I see no reason why medical professionals couldn't get this information in a wholly transparent manner without a middle man selling your data about potentially sensitive issues.

Quite telling that it has been 'put on hold'. That in itself is a story.

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