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Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
11–20 of 31 posts
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#12I'm surprised that people keep setting up this kind of projects in the US, where US companies enjoy strong legal protection.
How about hosting it in Russia? You can be pretty much sure that the legal system will protect you as much as possible, if nothing else then purely to rain on Facebook's parade.
And for the data it doesn't really matter where you store it, as long as you can convince US users to install your collection utility.
In fact, now that I think about it, I would be more surprised if other countries did not have data sets on the US election and its ads.
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#13"Facebook claims its motive for threatening Ad Observer is that browser plugins and extensions, like Ad Observer, could violate Facebook users' privacy." Yes, but so can Facebook itself. And it has, many times. Facebook lacks credibility here. It is possible this research may even uncover further violations of users' privacy as it may reveal levels of targeting not believed possible based on the types of user data Fa…
> Perhaps some lawyers would offer to assist in representing NYU pro bono should Facebook file a complaint.
Look at the list of signatories. Mozilla Foundation, EFF, etc....there is no shortage of lawyers involved in this.
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#14I'm surprised that people keep setting up this kind of projects in the US, where US companies enjoy strong legal protection. How about hosting it in Russia? You can be pretty much sure that the legal system will protect you as much as possible, if nothing else then purely to rain on Facebook's parade. And for the data it doesn't really matter where you store it, as long as you can convince US users to install your co…
People set up projects in the US because that's where the users are. And for that matter, where the people setting up the projects are.
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#15A lot of comments I've seen draw the line between NYU's extension and Cambridge Analytica because the latter was using a native platform. But that feels like a distinction without a difference, if the net effect is still that "something I shared with my friend ended up in a third party's possession". Ultimately, if something has been shared with me, should I be able to save it or reshare it with others? The mechanism by which that save or reshare happens feels like an implementation detail.
Fundamentally speaking, who has what rights to shared data (like contact info or posts) feels like an unresolved question that has important implications.
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#16I'm surprised that people keep setting up this kind of projects in the US, where US companies enjoy strong legal protection. How about hosting it in Russia? You can be pretty much sure that the legal system will protect you as much as possible, if nothing else then purely to rain on Facebook's parade. And for the data it doesn't really matter where you store it, as long as you can convince US users to install your co…
People set up projects in the US because that's where the users are. And for that matter, where the people setting up the projects are.
I believe the pirate bay has mostly US users, but it's located far outside the US.
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#17A lot of comments I've seen draw the line between NYU's extension and Cambridge Analytica because the latter was using a native platform. But that feels like a distinction without a difference, if the net effect is still that "something I shared with my friend ended up in a third party's possession". Ultimately, if something has been shared with me, should I be able to save it or reshare it with others? The mechanism…
What about that question is unresolved? If you tell me your name, I have the right to tell others your name unless I have specifically contracted that right away. Same if you tell me your age or your address or that you If I see you in class, I have the right to tell anybody that I saw you in class. If you give me a note to pass to Pat, I have the right to disclose that unless I have contracted that right away or fall under specific regulation.
But I'm sure there is some interesting territory for discussion here. Where do you see "fundamental" unresolved questions about data? Within the USA, what considerations do you think trump the first amendment?
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
People set up projects in the US because that's where the users are. And for that matter, where the people setting up the projects are.
I believe the pirate bay has mostly US users, but it's located far outside the US.
It was also created by non-US residents, I think, right?
There are definitely reasons why some projects might want to deliberately seek out hosting outside of 5eyes countries, no doubt. But the original question was why, and I think most people create their projects wherever they're living at the time, or where they think they'll get the most users.
I'm not sure whether US residents hosting projects on Russian servers would be much less susceptible to US "charms," come to think of it.
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#19"Facebook claims its motive for threatening Ad Observer is that browser plugins and extensions, like Ad Observer, could violate Facebook users' privacy." Yes, but so can Facebook itself. And it has, many times. Facebook lacks credibility here. It is possible this research may even uncover further violations of users' privacy as it may reveal levels of targeting not believed possible based on the types of user data Fa…
> Perhaps some lawyers would offer to assist in representing NYU pro bono should Facebook file a complaint. Look at the list of signatories. Mozilla Foundation, EFF, etc....there is no shortage of lawyers involved in this.
Wouldn't Facebook have to claim exclusive ownership of user data to have any standing in a legal action within the USA? That seems highly unlikely to me.
In the unlikely event that Facebook did push its luck, NYU has perfectly qualified lawyers of its own.
This isn't about poor helpless NYU. It is clearly a PR move to make loud public noise about Facebook misbehavior, mostly about questionable ad practices. The cease and desist action just provides the moment for Facebook critics.
Re: Dear Facebook: Withdraw Your Cease and Desist to NYU
#20A lot of comments I've seen draw the line between NYU's extension and Cambridge Analytica because the latter was using a native platform. But that feels like a distinction without a difference, if the net effect is still that "something I shared with my friend ended up in a third party's possession". Ultimately, if something has been shared with me, should I be able to save it or reshare it with others? The mechanism…
What about that question is unresolved? If you tell me your name, I have the right to tell others your name unless I have specifically contracted that right away. Same if you tell me your age or your address or that you If I see you in class, I have the right to tell anybody that I saw you in class. If you give me a note to pass to Pat, I have the right to disclose that unless I have contracted that right away or fal…
Do you also agree that FB was unfairly raked through the coals in the Cambridge Analytica (CA) case and that they (FB) weren't actually at fault?
I do, but at least I am consistent. If the what happened in the CA incident is wrong, the NYU incident is wrong too (ethically. I am not a lawyer and can't comment on legality). If CA was not wrong, this isn't wrong either.
Since at least in the court of public opinion, CA was wrong and FB was a terrible company for letting CA happen, then well FB is doing the right thing by asking NYU to stop.