Live data from Hacker News

Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

nytimes.com

171–180 of 248 posts

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If even a single byte leaked, I guess the charges can include being accessory to identity fraud?

Criminal charges assume intent, and it's very hard to think that facebook as a company had intent of committing identity fraud.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#172
> F.T.C. officials, who spent the past year investigating whether Facebook violated the 2011 agreement, are now weighing the sharing deals as they negotiate a possible multibillion-dollar fine. That would be the largest such penalty ever imposed by the trade regulator.

A multibillion dollar fine? That's great, but even greater would be to put Facebook's exces behind bars. A CEO shouldn't walk away with a stuffed bank account after years of criminal offences, violating the privacy of millions of people all around the world and then not take any personal responsibility for it in front of our jurisdiction. The fine is attributed to Facebook, but there also needs to be a heft penalty for the people who ran Facebook and that is the executive team. Jail terms must be given. In the long term this will set an important precedent and detract possible future offenders!

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know it?

Unless Facebook is mishandling HIPAA data they can do no wrong in the US.

I used to think that as well. I've been monitoring the fallout of several labs that were recently hacked and basically mismanaged patient data for millions of people, most of whom have no idea their data was compromised. I have yet to see any of the labs punished. The most recent that I know of was LabCorp.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#174
Did anybody else catch this?

> Apple was able to hide from Facebook users all indicators that its devices were even asking for data.

I've seen a lot of discourse here seem to favor Apple over the big "G" but... this seems pretty shady. Anyone else know anything about this practice or what specifically they might've been referring to?

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#175

Did anybody else catch this? > Apple was able to hide from Facebook users all indicators that its devices were even asking for data. I've seen a lot of discourse here seem to favor Apple over the big "G" but... this seems pretty shady. Anyone else know anything about this practice or what specifically they might've been referring to?

Apple fights the privacy battles on its users behalf only where it sees a PR benefit, like the high publicity FBI's iPhone encryption dispute a few years ago.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#176

> F.T.C. officials, who spent the past year investigating whether Facebook violated the 2011 agreement, are now weighing the sharing deals as they negotiate a possible multibillion-dollar fine. That would be the largest such penalty ever imposed by the trade regulator. A multibillion dollar fine? That's great, but even greater would be to put Facebook's exces behind bars. A CEO shouldn't walk away with a stuffed bank…

Which Facebook exec(s) would you put behind bars and for how long?

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bank I've long used is constantly reminding me that it shares data with its 'affiliates'. So I give it very little data to share.

This sounds like an absurdity, hiding your information from your bank?

Why not? That is, why does your bank need all that information about you? I give bank my money for safekeeping and the bank provides convenient access to it. Reliable access can be done with different methods using a different degree of anonymity.

At least in the US, banks requiring all sorts of information do it not even as their own business choice -- they do it because government regulators insist that this data is collected because security, because terrorism, because money laundering, etc.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roger Stone?

Okay let me amend that, does anyone except Roger Stone do that? :-) Like I obviously don't mean this 100% literally (obviously someone does this somewhere), but I'm trying to ask whether the statement really carries any weight not.

Nah, snark aside, you're right. "We're cooperating with the investigation" is largely PR speak for "we're doing the absolute minimum that's legally required of us, and we're doing that as slowly as possible".

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#179

There has been a tremendous amount of grassroots lobbying, fundraising, and private investigation in New York over the past two years with respect to Facebook. It’s a serious area I feel Silicon Valley has abdicated its moral obligation to stand up to its own. Hoping we can develop the evidence that comes out of this case into criminal charges for individual engineers and senior officers.

There is a movement starting to put ownership of data back into the hands of the people who created it. https://hu-manity.co/ Feels like the right solution even if the task is monumental.

I'm all for it but this really needs proactive changes from legislation. EU has made a start with GDPR other jurisdictions need to follow suit and take it further.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's for one user then it's a breach of contract, if you do that for 10 million, that's a deliberate act of breaching all contracts and that is usually criminal. scale matters on these issues as well. and if you are doing it as a big utility company (e.g. banks) then you are free to go :)

The bank I've long used is constantly reminding me that it shares data with its 'affiliates'. So I give it very little data to share.

So I work for a bank and constantly have to take compliance training...

One of the courses is over disclosure of information to third parties. This info isn’t part of my personal bau, so I might have it wrong, but:

There are two kinds of data sharing a bank does with affiliates, necessary for business (credit checks, appraisal companies, etc) that you cannot opt out of.

Then there’s everything else which you can.

It’s in legalese, but you can ask someone at your bank how to opt out of as much as possible.

It doesn’t help much, but it’s something I guess(?)

Post reply on HN