Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed. • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#11

Post by terhechte » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 10:57 AM UTC

Peroni wrote: post #6

phpnode wrote: post #4

Here's my guess at how it's done: Redditor has facebook app installed on their smartphone (or just uses the website), sets status to "OMG wife is going into labour, at the hospital now". Facebook now knows roughly where redditor was at the specified time based on the ip, they can narrow this down further by looking at keywords in the status message and check it against a list of addresses in the local area and select…

The logic doesn't hold up. I uploaded a bunch of photos taken in Christchurch, New Zealand. The pics were over two years old and I now live in the UK and uploaded them from here. The photos were also taken on a cheap, point & shoot camera, not a smartphone.

It doesn't need to be taken on a smartphone. It's sufficient to open facebook on a smartphone only once (app or web) in roughly the same timeframe that the picture was taken. It can then look where one has been in the timeframe when the picture was taken by comparing the picture timestamp with the list of checkin ip addresses, and do a geolookup of the ip address against a location database.

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#12

Post by ErrantX » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 10:58 AM UTC

phpnode wrote: post #4

Here's my guess at how it's done: Redditor has facebook app installed on their smartphone (or just uses the website), sets status to "OMG wife is going into labour, at the hospital now". Facebook now knows roughly where redditor was at the specified time based on the ip, they can narrow this down further by looking at keywords in the status message and check it against a list of addresses in the local area and select…

I reckon they use image recognition too. I have a gash digital camera that gets a lot of use; no exif data beyond camera make/model.

Anyway; in 2005 I went on a skiing trip to Chamonix. Pics were uploaded about a month later, no Facebook activity at the time (or while I was there). The other day FB asked me if they had been taken in Chamonix. So... something else used there at the very least.

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#13

Post by phpnode » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 10:59 AM UTC

Peroni wrote: post #10

phpnode wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but did you use facebook at all when you were in new zealand?

Indeed but when I posted the pics it was 2 years later from a totally different continent and no reference to the location on the photos.

right, but assuming the timestamp is on the photos, facebook still knows where you were at the time they were taken. The time you upload them is immaterial

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#14

Post by richardburton » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 10:59 AM UTC

Eventually someone evil will do something truly monstrous on Facebook and it will make this WTF look like a drop in the ocean. I fear for my friends who are still Facehooked.

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#15

Post by ErrantX » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 10:59 AM UTC

I first got these notices about... oh, best part of 2 months ago. I assumed it was everywhere but perhaps not!

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#16

Post by Peroni » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:00 AM UTC

terhechte wrote: post #11

Peroni wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The logic doesn't hold up. I uploaded a bunch of photos taken in Christchurch, New Zealand. The pics were over two years old and I now live in the UK and uploaded them from here. The photos were also taken on a cheap, point & shoot camera, not a smartphone.

It doesn't need to be taken on a smartphone. It's sufficient to open facebook on a smartphone only once (app or web) in roughly the same timeframe that the picture was taken. It can then look where one has been in the timeframe when the picture was taken by comparing the picture timestamp with the list of checkin ip addresses, and do a geolookup of the ip address against a location database.

Again, that doesn't align with my experience. The first smartphone I owned was when I arrived in the UK. In NZ, I was restricted to an old Nokia work phone.

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#17

Post by loopdoend » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:00 AM UTC

freedompeace wrote: post #2

How could Facebook do this (technologically)? According to a redditor, " - It's not IP address . Facebook successfully identified a number of specific locations (bars, theaters, etc) even though I had uploaded the photos from my home - It's not geo-tagging . All of my photos were taken with a camera that does not geo-tag (Nikon d700). - It's not contextual tagging . There were no people tagged in the photos, no comme…

Purely speculation but perhaps he is carrying his phone with him and it is correlating his location with the timestamps on the images, or perhaps he marked himself as attending an event which is at the venue.

From an image recognition standpoint, if anyone else was at the event and took similar sets of photos which they then tagged, that could also be used.

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#18

Post by nodata » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:02 AM UTC

I vote cell tower info.

I have a Nokia phone with no GPS. Many programs uses the cell tower info added by the phone to determine where the photo was taken.

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#19

Post by JonnieCache » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:04 AM UTC

The important thing to take away from this:

If they can make guesses this accurate about your photos, imagine they guesses they're making behind the scenes about your life, your personality and your innermost thoughts.

If there was a page on fb where it showed all the inferences they had made about you, sexuality, income, religion, philosophical viewpoints, mental health, etc. then people would run screaming. Of course, a lot of people have already told fb that info voluntarily, and that's why its possible to guess it for everyone else.

Also potentially terrifying: a facebook fortune telling engine. I bet they can predict your future with frightening accuracy, or they will be able to after another decade or so of data anyway.

Re: Facebook machine learning technology improves; Redditors alaramed.

#20

Post by phpnode » Wed, Dec 21, 2011, 11:04 AM UTC

Peroni wrote: post #6

phpnode wrote: post #4

Here's my guess at how it's done: Redditor has facebook app installed on their smartphone (or just uses the website), sets status to "OMG wife is going into labour, at the hospital now". Facebook now knows roughly where redditor was at the specified time based on the ip, they can narrow this down further by looking at keywords in the status message and check it against a list of addresses in the local area and select…

The logic doesn't hold up. I uploaded a bunch of photos taken in Christchurch, New Zealand. The pics were over two years old and I now live in the UK and uploaded them from here. The photos were also taken on a cheap, point & shoot camera, not a smartphone.

Also, does the location info purely say "Christchurch, New Zealand" or is it more granular? I'm guessing that when facebook only has sparse information about your location, as in your case, it "zooms out" to the city, state, country etc, but the more information it can collate, the more accurate the suggestion it gives is.