Its simple - FB is not transparent about the value exchange. Why?
We represent top 1% most aware users here.. most users do not understand they are exchanging their data / attention for a social networking service.
Go Ahead, Sell My Data
41–50 of 114 posts
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#42Is this really a problem or are people just reacting to hype? It seems to me that our data has been monitored for years both online and offline. That data is used to target businesses marketing messages but its nothing new. For example, insurance companies collect data on people and re-sell it to marketing companies. They then use that information to send you custom messages in the mail or offers based on your demographics. Data on customers will always be sold to advertisers and frankly, we should encourage this evolution. Instead of watching advertisements for motorized wheelchairs during "Murder she wrote" (I cant help it, I love that show) It would be more enjoyable if I saw advertisements for something like Motorized Dirt Bikes. People will always have to see advertisements so isn't it better to see things that interest you? If the product is free, you are the product and I prefer to be sold to what intrigues me.
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#43> There is certain information (address, account numbers, ss #, etc.) that if obtained by a third party, could result in some real world problems that will negatively impact my life. But information social networks sell to advertisers doesn't fall into this category.
That's both wrong and incredibly short-sighted.
First, Facebook collects way more data than necessary. In fact, they try to collect data of people which aren't Facebook users. And what's more, in some cases (facial recognition), there's nothing you can do against it. But wait, you can! Guess how? By registering on Facebook, to remove tags. I don't know what to call this, but it feels awfully similar to extortion.
Second, the unnecessary data that Facebook collects is dangerous by virtue of existing. Yes, that data might be safe now. We cannot guarantee this to be true tomorrow, next month or in five years, actually, we cannot even be sure if it is safe right now (which is a matter of transparency again). Besides, I don't see how a detailed (which might be an understatement) biography of my life is necessary to sell targeted ads.
Third, as rwolf pointed out in another comment, it's not like targeted ads are the only option. Yes, it might be the best alternative in terms of making profit, but we cannot ignore the side effects.
Besides, I seriously ask myself when in the hell "profit" became an argument to infringe on basic rights and liberties (of which privacy and control over your own data is - or at least should always be - part of). To present a hyperbole: slavery was very profitable as well. I don't see people arguing that we should allow slavery again.
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
One major concern that remains relevant is the prospect of abuse. You can't steal, misappropriate, or abuse what doesn't exist in the first place. You can't subpoena or execute a warrant to retrieve data that was never stored. Privacy laws and rules provide some projection, but that only goes as far as they are enforced. Nonexistence of data cannot be subverted and is a much more robust protection against the data fa…
I think the concern over data coming back to bite you in a legal setting is more valid than others, but is still only relevant in very specific cases. Who else falls into the category of the "wrong hands" and what harm could they really do with a list of my interests, preferences and other information I make available on whatever social networking site I am on?
Say you're into poker and a bank buys your data. You're now tagged as a gambler and considered a liability, so you will have a harder time getting a loan. A future employer could buy it and decide they don't like some certain thing about you. Etc.
Maybe they will never sell your data, but maybe they will. There's unlimited potential for abuse from the corporate sector. What the FBI knows about me doesn't worry me much.
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Absolutely. A class-action lawsuit against a mobile analytics company I own a chunk of was thrown out of court recently for exactly that - failure by the plaintiffs to establish actual injury or harm. If there's no injury, there's no standing, and therefore there's no case.
I refer you to the Beacon advertising adventure. Where Facebook was "just using the data we make available on their network," and users fought back and won. You last sentence starts with "If there's no injury," which seems to be the topic of discussion here.
Users won, did they? How much were they individually compensated? (No need to look up the answer - users received nothing.)
Facebook settled that particular lawsuit, so no judge had an opportunity to determine whether there was an actual injury or not. Facebook itself admitted no wrongdoing - settling this sort of thing usually means you've done a cost-benefit analysis and it's cheaper and easier to just pay off the lawyers.
As for the independent privacy foundation that Facebook was required to fund - anyone here heard from it lately? (Anyone here heard of it at all?)
And as for Beacon itself being closed - well, it certainly doesn't look like it slowed down Facebook much, did it?
The Beacon lawsuit did nothing for anybody, aside from the plaintiffs' lawyers. Arguing that 'users won' is delusional.
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#46I will give you one example. Somebody uploads my picture to Facebook and tags me in it. Facebook now matches my face to my name - forever. I can't ask them to forget that they know me, I can't ask them to delete that data, and I can't get a new face (although sometimes I would like to).
Facebook now has that information forever and I played no part in them obtaining it. They could launch a feature tomorrow where you can take a picture of a stranger at a bar and be given their 'closeness' to you, or their name. Or that data could be stolen, or misappropriated.
This is about companies over-reaching and then either the data accidentally leaking or intentionally being used without user permission. Most people don't have a problem with it, until something goes wrong.
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#47This is addressing the wrong problem, at least in my view. I don't really care about what Facebook does with the data I consciously give them. And ads are just an side-effect. My main problem is that they actively try to get their hands on data I don't want to give them. Like, my constantly actualized GPS coordinates, or my browsing history. And that they store it. And process it. And store me into some kind of box.…
> The day Facebook, or Google, or anyone actually decides to do something evil, it will look ugly. Will they ? Don't know.
Even if they don't they can get hacked (c.f. psn). This is the worst problem IMO.
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#48Damn right, I don't understand why people are going all up in arms for privacy on the Internet, this is _Internet_, you know, the place where everything is public. If you want to show your life on the Internet, you have to expect some people taking interest in it, whatever the intention. What I can't understand is how we are all upset about Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft and our privacy when we have NEVER given a…
> this is _Internet_, you know, the place where everything is public.
what is the username and password to your online banking account?
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#49I guess the problem isn't targeted advertising per se. It's that you don't know what your personal information will be used for in the future. Maybe it will give you better, more targeted advertising. Maybe it will be used to deny you an insurance policy or be sold to a recruiting firm that will reject your job application. I guess Facebooks terms don't allow that, but those terms can change at any time. Maybe not ne…
I do understand concerns over what happens to your data moving forward (changing laws, organizational/management changes etc.). But again, I can't think of any of the information on a social networking site being all that damning. The information that I share on say Facebook or Google+ (at least for me) never really consists of ultra-private information. And I think your example is a bit extreme.
> But again, I can't think of any of the information on a social networking site being all that damning.
Then you don't understand the concerns. What is perfectly routine today may be damning tomorrow. Yes, Nazi Germany was an extreme event, but it happened, and there's no reason something like it couldn't happen again. It might not even be anything you posted, maybe you are friends with a lot of people that have radical political ideas. Maybe something you posted could be taken out of context. If you think that all people would be able to get out of this data is "lol, had eggs for breakfast today", then you are seriously underestimating the value of this data.
Re: Go Ahead, Sell My Data
#50Damn right, I don't understand why people are going all up in arms for privacy on the Internet, this is _Internet_, you know, the place where everything is public. If you want to show your life on the Internet, you have to expect some people taking interest in it, whatever the intention. What I can't understand is how we are all upset about Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft and our privacy when we have NEVER given a…
I actually find it a bit funny when people put up personal data for the sake of sharing it with others over a public network, then go on complaining about privacy.
These users want to be able to share their information easily with a restricted set of people they know.
I don't see what's funny about them complaining about privacy when their information is shared with people they did not intend it to be shared with.
(I'm a heavy social network user, but I mark everything public and don't trust or expect facebook or google to keep anything private)