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Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

nytimes.com

241–248 of 248 posts

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering they are accused of broad criminal activity, your statement should be considered a valid expression of public opinion on the matter, and should not be downvoted.

First, the post is sensationalist populism that only serves to pull the conversation down and cause shouting matches. Second, Facebook is not currently "accused of broad criminal activity". They are being investigated for breach of a consent decree, which may lead to criminal charges, which in turn may be broad.

Excuse me for being short, but common sense analysis by a technically inclined person results in the nearly undeniable conclusion that fb exceeded reasonable monopolistic boundaries long ago, and presumed itself to be, under Zuck’s leadership, to be so important as to be responsible, e.g. for “maintaining integrity of elections”. It’s no exaggeration that he fancies himself the leader of a sovereign nation, backed by an army of lawyers and special interest connections private and government.

In public testimony, imo Zuck came across as a smug mob boss intent on accumulating power without bound. The recent pivoting, conspiracy theory rumors that shall remain nameless accusing Zuck of rogue cia cooperation, news releases about criminal shenanigans surrounding data sharing coinciding with the excessive global downtime yesterday, and now his consligere departing, all look suspicious.

At the least, it’s an obvious monopoly controlling a significant cultural aspect of a global social graph. Now they are moving to undo the messaging unification. Last week they wanted gossipers to have more privacy so they can gossip and get away with it better.

I admit to being biased, but given my direct research on how data moves around the Facebook world whether a member or not, whether you have blacklisted any fb domains using little snitch etc, disable all remote js, doesn’t matter, they keep tabs on you somehow. they are essentially their own intelligence community with unchecked power and reach

The accusation from Voldemort is they had or have secret deals with telcom etc which if true is beyond insidious. Ianal but common sense wise if that’s true, they should be broken up and not simply by undoing messaging unification.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#242
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? That's literally how the law works. What "bad things" we prohibit people from doing is determined by law. We don't have laws regulating the gathering and trade of data on populations or individuals.

Did you read the article? > Privacy advocates said the partnerships seemed to violate a 2011 consent agreement between Facebook and the F.T.C., stemming from allegations that the company had shared data in ways that deceived consumers. That (among other things) is what's landing Facebook in legal trouble. The 2011 FTC consent agreement itself does carry the force of law, which means that if Facebook breaks the terms,…

I failed to add a qualifier (as in "good" laws, "robust" laws, etc.), but the comment I was responding to was a broad generalization and not specific to this case.

I was aiming at the notion that "this isn't how the law works".

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In your fantasy, why does a “seat” cost orders of magnitude more than a first class round trip to Australia in an actual seat? On that note, in the same way that I prefer a more expensive seat on a plane that was designed in accordance with professional and legal standards, yes I’d do the same for software. Maybe there would even be less cruft and bloatware when externalities were accounted for.

The seat is a reference to a software license. Airlines are economies of scale, this is a small run of software that would meet your expectations to run and be verified to do so. Are you aware how much it costs to develop an airplane? It's more than the cost of a single ticket.

Make your software to the same fine degree as one makes an airplane and maybe you’d even deserve the prices you quoted.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

wprq: So which phone does a concerned person buy?

wprq, tfdim ?

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#245

IANAL. But this: "reports last June and December that Facebook had given business partners — including makers of smartphones, tablets and other devices — deep access to users’ personal information, letting some companies effectively override users’ privacy settings." suggests breach-of-contract. Just by creating those privacy settings, the company is 'saying' to (promising) the customer who elects to use them that it…

Referring to Facebook users as customers is quaint.

I could call them what Zuckerberg did, but some people here might take umbrage.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#246

> 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…

> but even greater would be to put Facebook's exces behind bars. What is with this place wanting to throw everyone in prison? Is there some thrill you get from seeing executives in an orange jumper? Fines can be far more beneficial to society. Make them pay in a way that actually helps other people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiyfwZVAzGw

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#247
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL either, but two things stand out. First, breach of contract is not a criminal wrong, only a civil one. Second, it would be a big stretch to say that the relationship between users and Facebook (or any nominally free service) is a contract, as valid contracts must follow certain requirements like consideration or a meeting of the minds. This is partly why things like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act that e.g. Aa…

Read the article. This discusses violations of an agreement between Facebook and the FTC. Not an agreement or ToS between users and Facebook.

Did you read OP? In context, the idea is clearly that Facebook violated some sort of contract with its users.

Re: Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation

#248

> 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…

> but even greater would be to put Facebook's exces behind bars. What is with this place wanting to throw everyone in prison? Is there some thrill you get from seeing executives in an orange jumper? Fines can be far more beneficial to society. Make them pay in a way that actually helps other people.

>Fines can be far more beneficial to society. Make them pay in a way that actually helps other people.

How exactly?

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