Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
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Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#2This is the result of open APIs. It shows why web sites like Facebook have to close them down. They are not worth it, they are a liability.
Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#3I'm no Facebook fan but the reasons behind the lawsuit are bad and could set a bad precedent.
Cambridge Analytica used the Facebook API to ask users to share data about them & their friends. Stupid users agreed to that.
The argument here isn't that Facebook is playing fast and loose with tracking & user data (which would be a legitimate argument), it's that Facebook is allowing people to grant access to their data to third-parties and Facebook should somehow be faulted for that. Facebook is a neutral carrier here, and they acted on behalf of the user - he decided that Cambridge Analytica should have had access to his data. Facebook should not be forced to somehow be the arbiter of this.
This lawsuit will give even more reasons to platforms to restrict API access which would impact legitimate usage much more than nefarious abuse (stupid people will always find a way to screw up, API or not - if the API is gone they'd happily enter their Facebook credentials directly instead).
Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#4This is the result of open APIs. It shows why web sites like Facebook have to close them down. They are not worth it, they are a liability.
Disagreed - this is the result of stupid users. If the APIs are gone they will just be entering their Facebook credentials directly (which would leak way more data than what relatively limited API access allows).
Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#5This is the result of open APIs. It shows why web sites like Facebook have to close them down. They are not worth it, they are a liability.
Disagreed - this is the result of stupid users. If the APIs are gone they will just be entering their Facebook credentials directly (which would leak way more data than what relatively limited API access allows).
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Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#6This is the result of open APIs. It shows why web sites like Facebook have to close them down. They are not worth it, they are a liability.
Disagreed - this is the result of stupid users. If the APIs are gone they will just be entering their Facebook credentials directly (which would leak way more data than what relatively limited API access allows).
I think its a bit harsh to call users stupid. When we move away from HN, we realize how teach naive a layman can be. We haven't seen something of this sort happen at this scale happen many times before. A lot of efforts are going into privacy now, way more than before.
Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#7This is the result of open APIs. It shows why web sites like Facebook have to close them down. They are not worth it, they are a liability.
Disagreed - this is the result of stupid users. If the APIs are gone they will just be entering their Facebook credentials directly (which would leak way more data than what relatively limited API access allows).
Obviously it’s the result of stupid users, but you can get rid of the APIs, you can’t get rid of the stupid users.
Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#8This is the result of open APIs. It shows why web sites like Facebook have to close them down. They are not worth it, they are a liability.
Disagreed - this is the result of stupid users. If the APIs are gone they will just be entering their Facebook credentials directly (which would leak way more data than what relatively limited API access allows).
I may be mistaken, but I understood that "stupid users" allowed access to their friends/contacts as well.
I guess I'm stupid too if I have a stupid friend or relative.
Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#9I'm no Facebook fan but the reasons behind the lawsuit are bad and could set a bad precedent. Cambridge Analytica used the Facebook API to ask users to share data about them & their friends. Stupid users agreed to that. The argument here isn't that Facebook is playing fast and loose with tracking & user data (which would be a legitimate argument), it's that Facebook is allowing people to grant access to their data to…
> Facebook is allowing people to grant access to their data to third-parties and Facebook should somehow be faulted for that.
It's not clear to me that they shouldn't be faulted. How many people read terms and conditions? How many people lack the technological literacy to understand what it means to share their facebook data with third-parties?
It seems to me like we should make our systems robust to the average user, especially systems as big as Facebook.
> Facebook should not be forced to somehow be the arbiter of this.
I kind of agree, but at the same time Facebook has some moral responsibility as the holder of the data. Perhaps it's not on Facebook to implement regulatory mechanisms, but if these mechanisms are implemented (e.g. by the "State") then it should probably be on Facebook's dime.
Re: Facebook sued for ‘losing control’ of users’ data
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Disagreed - this is the result of stupid users. If the APIs are gone they will just be entering their Facebook credentials directly (which would leak way more data than what relatively limited API access allows).
I may be mistaken, but I understood that "stupid users" allowed access to their friends/contacts as well. I guess I'm stupid too if I have a stupid friend or relative.
If your friend has view access to your profile, why shouldn’t he be able to extract that information via an API as well?