We changed the url from https://uploadvr.com/facebook-ads-vr/ to an article that links to the relevant announcement.
If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
111–120 of 194 posts
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#112FB ads engineer here. Every time I read these threads, I'm 1. Flattered by how sophisticated HN thinks our systems are (they're not. and we're not that smart. FB's A-team stopped working on ads a long time ago) 2. Entertained by how HN thinks ad targeting works (we don't want to know everything about YOU. we want to know basic info about all of our users.) Hypertargeting doesn't work. Targeting small audiences doesn'…
Please. Ads are Facebook's core business. I don't have any reason to believe you're not telling the truth about basic facts, but the "aw shucks" part is a bit insulting to my intelligence.
If the A-Team isn't working on ads, that actually concerns me. When I think of mediocre performers, I think of people who respond most strongly to short-term incentives, not people making nuanced ethical decisions involving a lot of foresight.
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#113FB ads engineer here. Every time I read these threads, I'm 1. Flattered by how sophisticated HN thinks our systems are (they're not. and we're not that smart. FB's A-team stopped working on ads a long time ago) 2. Entertained by how HN thinks ad targeting works (we don't want to know everything about YOU. we want to know basic info about all of our users.) Hypertargeting doesn't work. Targeting small audiences doesn'…
I appreciate you posting this as it flies in the face of the generally accepted opinion among HN regulars and privacy-oriented technologists (both groups i am included in). The value of HN for me is, in part, getting critical views from multiples sides of an issue and your comment is more earnest and believable than hours of Zuck's congressional hearings.
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't care My $500 device should not be exploiting me Full stop
Let me play Devil's Advocate here. Without these Ads plans, your device would probably cost $1000, as the Valve Index shows us. My 2 cents.
> Without these Ads plans, your device would probably cost $1000, as the Valve Index shows us.
Good. Let me decide if the full cost without ads is worth buying the device. Hint: if it doesn't send my data then it might be. Double-dipping is egregiously wrong.
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your systems are sophisticated enough to make people believe their phones are listening to them in the background even when that's not the case. So even if you think they are primitive, a lot of people thinks they're more than sophisticated enough to be creepy.
Facebook's not helping this conspiracy theory with their "why did I see this ad?" dialog. I'll see a clearly hyper-targeted ad (for example, a psoriasis medication) and click that button and it'll say "they wanted to reach people in the United States between 18-65!" I know I was targeted by that ad. I know they're just showing me the most general bit of the targeting info that was used to put that ad in front of me.…
>I know I was targeted by that ad. I know they're just showing me the most general bit of the targeting info that was used to put that ad in front of me.
How do you know this? I get ads for male pattern baldness all the time but I'm not even genetically at risk. Half my ads on hulu are for tampons, and no woman lives in my house. Ads really aren't that good. Facebook might've just gotten lucky...
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
With regards your last paragraph, is there any evidence of this? Any place Facebook says "we do not, and will not, use information X for ad targeting"?
Not sure if there's a public document as granular as "information X", but that $5b FTC settlement came with a bunch of policies. Also, the "clear history" feature should be rolling out (or maybe it already rolled out in your country) that lets you dissociate any 3rd party info from your profile.
BTW I was wondering about that, I have a recurring reminder to check it every week and months after it was "launched" it still says I'm not eligible (I live in the USA). Do you know when it is actually going live?
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
Facebook is well known for such claims, about Instagram, WhatsApp and other things. Data inference may very well be done locally.
So you think they are lying in a legally-binding document? If that's the case, they would be doing this already and this change would be irrelevant.
The VR data is local but the fact that you own the device gets sent so ads can be displayed targetting VR owners.
So they are not breaking any laws while still targetting you for owning the unit.
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Facebook's not helping this conspiracy theory with their "why did I see this ad?" dialog. I'll see a clearly hyper-targeted ad (for example, a psoriasis medication) and click that button and it'll say "they wanted to reach people in the United States between 18-65!" I know I was targeted by that ad. I know they're just showing me the most general bit of the targeting info that was used to put that ad in front of me.…
>I know I was targeted by that ad. I know they're just showing me the most general bit of the targeting info that was used to put that ad in front of me. How do you know this? I get ads for male pattern baldness all the time but I'm not even genetically at risk. Half my ads on hulu are for tampons, and no woman lives in my house. Ads really aren't that good. Facebook might've just gotten lucky...
> How do you know this?
Because if I head to https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/, they have a wide variety of bits of info on me that permit this exact sort of targeting, and it'd be really dumb of them not to use them.
If I head to Facebook's ads manager and create a custom audience, typing "psoriasis" in the box gets me "psoriasis awareness", which consists of 19,402,670 "People who have expressed an interest in or like Pages related to Psoriasis Awareness". Chances are good I'm one of them.
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
With regards your last paragraph, is there any evidence of this? Any place Facebook says "we do not, and will not, use information X for ad targeting"?
They claimed they would never use 2FA phone numbers for ad targeting (which I didn't believe to begin with)... and guess what, at some point they started using them for ads and when things blew up they issued a fake apology and continued as usual.
They're the boy who cried wolf. Nobody believes them anymore, even if it's true.
Re: If Logged into Facebook, Oculus VR Data Will Now Be Used for Ads
#120FB ads engineer here. Every time I read these threads, I'm 1. Flattered by how sophisticated HN thinks our systems are (they're not. and we're not that smart. FB's A-team stopped working on ads a long time ago) 2. Entertained by how HN thinks ad targeting works (we don't want to know everything about YOU. we want to know basic info about all of our users.) Hypertargeting doesn't work. Targeting small audiences doesn'…
I mean sure, that is why Computer Vision research at Facebook doesn’t have multiple papers on scene segmentation and understanding, where they take kitchen scenes for illustration. Your all in one home appliance spying device surely wouldn’t be used in such a way. Of course. Not to mention that in all likelyhood both the microphone and camera are hot while using WhatsApp or Facebook.
Instagram activates the camera on Windows 10 laptops when the app isn't even open, if the app is given camera access. Anecdotal evidence, sure, but that's valid because this isn't a statistic.