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Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

thehill.com

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Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#101

Post by godelski »

resters wrote: post #97
godelski wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

COMPAS is only used for those already suspected of/have committed crimes. A social credit system affects ALL citizens. Yes, there's controversy with COMPAS and I think you'll find that those that don't want social credit systems likely don't like COMPAS. But bringing up COMPAS is off topic . Especially when you compare it to China. Let's reiterate and make this easy: Does dictate if you and use an airplane? Does it a…

Maybe the average social credit score in the US is higher than the average in China. Being added to the no fly list could be the result of an equivalently low score under both regimes.

Please do not take this conversation off topic. It is against the rules.

We are distinguishing "social credit scores" from "credit scores". If you would like to argue why they are in fact the same, then that is on topic. But if you are going to assert that they are different and continue off on a tangent then you are going off topic. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are not trolling, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that you are.

Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#102

Post by godelski »

novok wrote: post #87
godelski wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we stop making this comparison? At best it is naive at worst you're purposefully misrepresenting the argument. When people say "social credit score" they distinctly mean something different than "credit score" (you may get this hint by the extra word, "social"). A social credit system not only includes your finances, but as well as much about your behavior. Such as "do you buy cigarettes? How often?" FICO doesn't…

I think in the past, credit reporting agencies did want to make things equivalent to social credit, or make social credit type things apply to your financial credit score, but were stopped by legislation.

Do you have evidence? Or is this just speculation?

Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#104

Post by Barrin92 »

benatkin wrote: post #82
jakelazaroff wrote: post #5

To those unsure as to why this is particularly relevant: the Patriot Act is notable for drastically expanding the surveillance powers of the US government [1]. I wonder what this lawyer will do at Facebook? [1] https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/privacy-and-su...

It isn't relevant, though. The PATRIOT Act had pretty broad support. Just because she helped write it doesn't mean that she supports it more than other lawyers – just that she's a talented enough lawyer to be working on such major projects. It's the same as complaining about individual multi-millionaires who optimize their taxes.

I think you can deduce some things from the projects people are willing to work on. If I was a lawyer say, I wouldn't have worked on it (and I categorically reject work on privacy violating systems as a software engineer), because it would feel to me like doing my part in enabling a surveillance system that is very, very, objectionable. So at least what we can say I guess is that she doesn't mind doing that.

And I think the same goes for multi-millionaires. I would not hire a tax-dodging rich individual (optimization is a nice euphemism), and particularly not when I run a business where that is in conflict with the alleged values of the business.

Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#106

Post by resters »

godelski wrote: post #101
resters wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe the average social credit score in the US is higher than the average in China. Being added to the no fly list could be the result of an equivalently low score under both regimes.

Please do not take this conversation off topic. It is against the rules. We are distinguishing "social credit scores" from "credit scores". If you would like to argue why they are in fact the same, then that is on topic. But if you are going to assert that they are different and continue off on a tangent then you are going off topic. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you are not trolling, but there's plent…

I was certainly not trolling, I was responding to your comment about no fly lists. Sadly you have no response and are resorting to name calling and righteous indignation.

I agree with you that FICO scores are not what Facebook is up to, though a person’s FICO score is likely part of his or her social credit score.

Nonetheless I thought your litmus test sounded overly simplistic.

Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#107

Post by newscracker »

iscrewyou wrote: post #2

Someone tell these yahoos that optics is a thing. I expect the next statement to be about transparency and connecting communities. Just like the last one. And the one before.

Optics don't seem to matter as much in some cases. There was a big hue and cry in 2014 when Condoleeza Rice was appointed to the board of directors of Dropbox. She's still around on the board. [1] All the protests with #DropDropbox, the threats to ditch the service and actions by many to ditch it didn't achieve much.

I doubt if many people understand the deep implications of The Patriot Act as much as they may understand water boarding and other tactics.

[1]: https://www.dropbox.com/about

Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#108

Post by newscracker »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #10
malloreon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for facebook optics is not a thing. they know they have a stranglehold on people addicted to their products, and advertisers who pay through the nose to sell things to those addicts. Honestly, why bother with optics? No one's going to like the company ever again except their employees, but no business or politician or organization is going to not take facebook's call.

Why bother with optics? Well, for one thing, presumably they still need to recruit people once in a while (including people with lots and lots of options).

IMO, the kind of people who work for and who would join Facebook are the ones who're self-selected to not care about morals or the ill effects of their work on billions of people. So optics doesn't come into the equation for Facebook to recruit people. Those who do care about optics would never even dream of working at Facebook.

Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#109

Post by whytaka »

benatkin wrote: post #82
jakelazaroff wrote: post #5

To those unsure as to why this is particularly relevant: the Patriot Act is notable for drastically expanding the surveillance powers of the US government [1]. I wonder what this lawyer will do at Facebook? [1] https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/privacy-and-su...

It isn't relevant, though. The PATRIOT Act had pretty broad support. Just because she helped write it doesn't mean that she supports it more than other lawyers – just that she's a talented enough lawyer to be working on such major projects. It's the same as complaining about individual multi-millionaires who optimize their taxes.

> The PATRIOT Act had pretty broad support.

By whom? Congress, constitutional lawyers, or the people?

Re: Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel

#110

Post by resters »

longerthoughts wrote: post #69
Dangeranger wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We already have a social credit score. It's called FICO and it's been doing a great job of making life difficult for people who don't fit the mold for over sixty years.

What alternative would you propose?

For what goal?
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