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Is my Facebook activity fucking my finances?

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Re: Is my Facebook activity fucking my finances?

#51

Post by Spooky23 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #25

> In those cases your credit score could be based on just about anything. What you post on social media, whether you recently visited a doctor, or whether or not you live in a wealthy neighbourhood. Suddenly, your most recent Google search history, or your latest post on TikTok could influence whether you can get that loan. It's strange to see Facebook and Google being invoked in these hypothetical examples when neit…

They don’t need to sell anything. They aggregate and collect data, and sell value added services.

Facebook in particular always states they do not sell data. There are plenty of documented examples about how various datasets are used to target people in different ways. Google was contracted to deliver anti-extremist messaging, data from insurance claims, insurance background checking and web behavior has been used for opioid diversion.

Re: Is my Facebook activity fucking my finances?

#52

Post by loeg »

throwawayboise wrote: post #48
loeg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe just don't commit tax fraud.

That's not how it's supposed to work here. You are presumed innocent, and the government can't go trolling through your "papers" e.g. bank account records without a warrant.

Without taking a stance on the "how it's supposed to work" claim, the US banking system is already regularly surveilling you for tax purposes without a warrant or any suspicion of a crime -- 1099s, SAR reports.

The IRS thinks it loses $600 billion in revenue annually from owed, but unpaid, taxes ("tax gap"). The Biden admin thinks they can recoup about $46 billion a year in owed, but unpaid, taxes just by adding this reporting measure -- without increasing tax rates at all[1]. This represents something like an additional 2.5% in tax revenue from individuals (which is about ~$1.7T annually).

If you don't illegally evade taxes, (1) this reporting is no threat to you, and (2) you should be mad at your underpaying neighbors who would pay more because of this surveillance program. And if you do illegally evade taxes, you should stop doing so.

[1]: https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/the-case-for...

Re: Is my Facebook activity fucking my finances?

#53

Post by oceanghost »

loeg wrote: post #44
oceanghost wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how it worked 20 years ago at least. I built up ridiculously good credit (by accident), when one of my first employers who didn't have a functional purchasing department. My boss and I would take turns maxing out our credit cards (mine were rather meager having just graduated) to purchase equipment for the company and then being reimbursed. However, credit score isn't really a measure of how likely you are to…

> However, credit score isn't really a measure of how likely you are to pay back a loan, but rather how profitable you will be doing so. That isn't true. It's purely a measure of how likely you are to repay a loan on time. > My understanding is, the ideal customer always pays his bill in the end, but may take some time doing so to rack up extra interest charges. This is true, for credit card customers in particular.…

All fair points, thank you!

Re: Is my Facebook activity fucking my finances?

#54

Post by cratering »

gerdesj wrote: post #16
ve55 wrote: post #3

There's many terrible data brokers involved in many terrible things (especially in the US - they generally get zero headlines because they are b2b and rather secretive), so it's strange to have this headline be about Facebook, when they're the only company being discussed that doesn't sell your data (even if they do many other things with it that we may not like!). I know it's very fun to use them as the worst possib…

"so it's strange to have this headline be about Facebook, when they're the only company being discussed that doesn't sell your data" Are we talking about the same Facebook? The mob with some bloke called Zuck are hell bent on selling ads. They absolutely use you.

Facebook "doesn't sell your data" but I would argue they rent it out to the highest bidder.

Re: Is my Facebook activity fucking my finances?

#56

Post by rootusrootus »

adrr wrote: post #41
rootusrootus wrote: post #29

Data brokers should all be required to register with the gov't and be regulated like a credit bureau. E.g. one free report a year on everything they have on you. Methods for correcting or removing inaccurate data, etc.

If they do business in California, they are required to register with the state and you can look them up and delete your data.

I hope other states decide to follow California's lead on this.

Re: Is my Facebook activity fucking my finances?

#57

Post by floatingatoll »

User23 wrote: post #50
floatingatoll wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As of when I posted this comment, there's a formatting error in your statement — there's a whitespace character after your second opening parentheses that was meant to precede it. That typo indicates that the component of your credit score that is derived from your HN participation should be scored lower than those whose HN comments do not include any typos, because if you're more likely to overlook a single-characte…

I'd be interested to know what the YCombinator "credit score" for founders looks like.

I wouldn't, but sadly, some enterprising person will no doubt take use this idea to name and shame people, which will have a silencing effect on future founders.
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