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Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

theguardian.com

361–370 of 487 posts

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think most people will see the absolutely dismal lack of technical understanding by Congress You really think most people have more technical understanding than these senators?

That's not necessary to realize that these senators do not. Also yes, based on their questions and age, I do think most people have a better understanding. Just the expressions of the other audience members and staff in the room shows the frustration.

I doubt the hearing audience represents the general population, and I have yet to meet anyone not involved in software development who understands anything about how it works outside of niche, semi-related circles.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#362

Some months ago I saw an job search website ad. I clicked "Why are you seeing this ad?", and it said it was targeted towards users between 24 and 37. How is this not enabling age discrimination? Connecting people can be a good thing, but connecting people through discrimination is a completely different thing.

Some people have reported seeing real estate apps targeting a specific race, and noticed this using the "Why are you seeing this ad?" functionality as well.

There's legislation that prohibits this kind of discrimination.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#363
post #111

Ted Cruz clearly showing that he's a partisan hack. Didn't give a crap about users' privacy or the issues at hand, he had to make it about 'liberal Silicon Valley' and 'conservative persecution'. What a joke.

His line of questioning was designed to expose discrepancies in stated policies versus actual implementation, with the goal of eroding trust of Facebook in that half of electorate. Eroding trust was the whole point that the hearing was called, and in that regard Cruz probably had the best questions. His questions were met with denials rather than "I'll get back to you on that".

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#364
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's so many "I need to get back to you on that".

It's a good strategy, all the media coverage is about his actual testimony today, whereas when he sends an update to the committee next week, it will not make as big of a splash as this one.

Especially since you can be sure that update will be reviewed and probably reworded by legal first.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#365
post #24

Live from the testimony, emphasis mine: > MZ: "There will always be a version of Facebook that is free. Coming soon, Facebook Pro(TM)! Literally putting a price on your privacy.

It's a pretty sensible solution no?

Facebook isn't useful to customers without wide adoption.

Facebook can't have wide adoption if it's paid.

Facebook needs revenue.

People want to guard privacy.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't make any sense. If you're receiving questions that weren't published prior to the interview it's perfectly understandable that not all questions can be answered immediately. In fact, I'd be more suspicious if he answered everything without needing to follow up. If however you're the one raising a question, I think it's your responsibility to ensure that you or someone on your team someone does some basic…

> If you're receiving questions that weren't published prior to the interview it's perfectly understandable that not all questions can be answered immediately. In fact, I'd be more suspicious if he answered everything without needing to follow up. Right so I'm not expecting him to answer _every_ question without referring to his staff. There were, however, key controversial questions which he did not answer by claimi…

> There were, however, key controversial questions which he did not answer

Can you give some examples please? Having not watched much of this live, nor read the paraphrased feed, I'm interested to know what controversial areas you think were dodged.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#367
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you previously had Facebook or Messenger installed on the phone it's possible they saved some user info on the device or in the cloud linked to your device ID.

AFAIK device uuid has been unique to device+app for at least 2 years now (iOS).

device + app having a unique UUID has been going on longer than that.

3 years ago uber got popped for this:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/23/15399438/apple-uber-app-s...

I can tell you that fingerprinting is still possible today.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the risk of stepping on a landmine given the thread above, consider using 'transgender' or 'trans' instead of 'transgenedered'. The two are subtly different, but that difference is important to some trans people. Transgendered implies something happened to someone, rather than transgender, which is an attribute someone has. Many trans people consider the transgendered offensive, e.g. "No one/No thing transgendered…

> Many trans people consider the transgendered offensive You are creating insanity everywhere you go with this line. Anyone who takes offense at such a trifle can only be out to pick a fight. And if someone is egging for a fight, shall we engage rather than wilt away? And isn't THAT the landmine you're stepping on here? Are you picking a fight? If so, where do you get off?

When someone says, "Hey, I prefer X for myself", I generally make an token effort to acknowledge and accommodate that preference because it seems like the sort of thing a decent human being does.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#369

US senators demonstrating they are embarrassingly out of touch with the current age. Also sad to see a senator resorting to dramatic effects like taking off his glasses before making a grand statement. These people are running your country?

He wasn't just near sighted?

Re: Mark Zuckerberg testifies before Congress

#370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The scenario is this: say my wife is a first generation Italian and I am the CEO of a really great new car company. If someone says, "This is a great car, I could never say, seeing an ITALIAN making such a car!" I would be embarrassed for the person saying this, as they don't know my family history (maybe I don't look Italian, I look like a viking, if one was to guess - which you shouldn't), and to be perfectly hones…

The senator didn't mention any specific country. Just said, "Only in America..." I think you're reading a bit much into that.

Here's the part of the transcript that's relevant:

    SULLIVAN:

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Zuckerberg, quite a story, right? 
	Dorm room to the global behemoth that you guys are. Only in America, 
	would you agree with that?
    ZUCKERBERG:

    Senator, mostly in America.
    SULLIVAN:

    You couldn't -- you couldn't do this in China, right? 
	Or, what you did in 10 years.
    ZUCKERBERG:

    Well -- well, Senator, there are -- there are some very 
	strong Chinese internet companies.
    SULLIVAN:

    Right but -- you're supposed to answer 
	"yes" to this question.

    (LAUGHTER)

    OK, come on, I'm trying to help you, right?
That was pretty awkward to even listen to. He tried to get Zuckerberg on his side, and it kinda blew up in his face.

I'm fine with people disagreeing with me, but IMHO, that was one of the most cringe-worthy parts of a junkshow hearing.

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