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“We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

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Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#21

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #13
lupire wrote: post #5

Metadata is data. There is no "just" metadata. Metadata is a relative classification of one piece of data compared to another piece of data, not an absolute classification.

So? why is that distinction important to you?

I believe because they are saying the distinction ISN'T important. It's just data, used to make a choice.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#22

Post by lordnacho »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #13
lupire wrote: post #5

Metadata is data. There is no "just" metadata. Metadata is a relative classification of one piece of data compared to another piece of data, not an absolute classification.

So? why is that distinction important to you?

I think he's saying that people are defending the use of data by calling it something that makes it sound less intrusive

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#23

Post by jrogan993 »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #13
lupire wrote: post #5

Metadata is data. There is no "just" metadata. Metadata is a relative classification of one piece of data compared to another piece of data, not an absolute classification.

So? why is that distinction important to you?

Metadata seems less significant a word and trivializes it a bit IMO.

Data on the other hand is a "serious" word that we can make decisions on.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#25

Post by barrysteve »

lupire wrote: post #5

Metadata is data. There is no "just" metadata. Metadata is a relative classification of one piece of data compared to another piece of data, not an absolute classification.

Metadata is structural data that can only exist because apps require non-content data to function. It has an objective meaning.

Relative classification of data and metadata is a separate category of data.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#26

Post by capableweb »

lupire wrote: post #5

Metadata is data. There is no "just" metadata. Metadata is a relative classification of one piece of data compared to another piece of data, not an absolute classification.

It's all data, that's true.

But I think the distinction the various three-letter agencies make is between "metadata" and "content" for most data they process. So in terms of a phone call, an actual voice recording would be "content" while when the call was made and between which two numbers would be "metadata".

With "content" + "metadata" they could verify that the target is actually who they think it is, based on voice. With just "metadata", the chances are higher that it might not actually be who they think it is.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#27

Post by pydry »

lupire wrote: post #5

Metadata is data. There is no "just" metadata. Metadata is a relative classification of one piece of data compared to another piece of data, not an absolute classification.

In this context it usually means "we have the time, date, sender and recipient of the message but not the message itself".

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#28

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #4

Good time to point out that Reality Winner is (edit: was) sitting in prison for less than what Trump appears to be guilty of.

June 2nd 2021 Winner was released from prison and moved to a transition facility. At the time the news was of her family asking for privacy, so it's not clear if she has been released from the transition facility.

Her custodial sentence was for five years and three months on August 23rd 2018, so she should be released in a couple of months.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#29

Post by forgetfulness »

For a while I saw Palantir showing what sounded like remorse in their website, in stating explicitly that they had purposefully taken distance from their days security contractors providing products in service of the War on Terrorism; they provided one that was used precisely for this.

It was a change from the previous branding I saw from them, one where they would whitewash themselves by showcasing their most charismatic employees, showing that they were a friendly tech company for cool people (look, we have a handsome black dude who plays the guitar!), regardless of, you know, the blood money.

Now their website only talks about power and disruption, while showing pictures of heavy industry, infrastructure, and war.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#30

Post by thekiptxt »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #13
lupire wrote: post #5

Metadata is data. There is no "just" metadata. Metadata is a relative classification of one piece of data compared to another piece of data, not an absolute classification.

So? why is that distinction important to you?

I think OP is suggesting that “just metadata” is a sensationalist title, because to a lay person it suggests that decisions predicated on metadata are uninformed compared to decisions predicated on “data,” even though this isn’t necessarily true.

If the title were “We kill people based on data,” then the knee jerk response might be “… obviously.”

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