If you're really betting $100, you'd be losing a lot of money on everything you posted. I'll bet $100 the blog post was a total fail.
Why I don't have a Facebook account
11–20 of 21 posts
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#12This is a brilliant, hard hitting post Zack. And pretty obvious when you think about it. Of course Facebook is going to sell user data to the highest bidder. They already do to a lesser extent with their PPC advertising.
Readers: dismiss these warnings at your own peril.
EDIT: Looks like the crybabies and Facebook stockholders are flagging this. You must have hit a sensitive nerve Zack. Good job.
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for the title correction. Mostly this came about from a thought experiment in guessing what information they can figure out about you based on your profile. Do I honestly think that there is a whole team of engineers sitting around charting out menstrual cycles for 50% of their users? Nope. Is there a nonzero chance that it might be happening or could happen soon? Yeah I think so. My main beef is that facebook…
If you're worried about facebook, have a look at: your google search history, your ISPs mandatory 'data retention', your mobile phone operator and so on. Facebook is but one of a large number of companies that hold private data and use it to their own advantage. In fact, even without a facebook account they'll know about as much about you unless you've blocked their domain/ips on all your devices because those like b…
For you and I, it's enough to say "I don't trust them". For the normal users of Facebook, people like my classmates, friends, and family members, they have no way of knowing what I mean when I say I don't trust Facebook. They cannot imagine what you and I know to be possible, if not highly improbable. The first question they ask after me saying I don't trust them is why? I've had to explain some variant of this many many times lately and so I've written it up as something I can send them.
And yeah, I'm worried about google, my bank, my phone operator(no smartphone though), and my ISPs. Just because all of these other companies do it doesn't mean it's alright for them to do. I hate that there are hundreds of files out there that have data along the lines of "Zack Maril, Male, 21". I'd like to find ways to prevent companies from collecting all of that information about me. (Using DuckDuckGo and cash only would probably be a great start.)
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#14If you're really betting $100, you'd be losing a lot of money on everything you posted. I'll bet $100 the blog post was a total fail.
I'll bet on each tweet I sent out once. I've already got somebody to take me up on Facebook predicting sickness. Send me an email with the bet you want and we can work out the terms of the bet for the tweet you think is a stinker.
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#15Does anyone care if Facebook knows when their menstrual cycle is? Or has a prediction on when you are going to die? Or predicts when I'm going to get a cold?
I don't care.
If you are this paranoid, you should stop using credit cards, phones, and emails, as all that data is similarly being mined and sold or capable of such.
I do think we should have strong disclosure and privacy laws - I don't know detail but I believe the EU does a better job of this than the US. We should be entitled to know what data is gathered about us and what is sold, and much of that should require consent.
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#16You can have an FB account and just be smart about the information you put on it.
You know, just like everything else on the internet.
Also; https://disconnect.me
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#17Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#18This is a brilliant, hard hitting post Zack. And pretty obvious when you think about it. Of course Facebook is going to sell user data to the highest bidder. They already do to a lesser extent with their PPC advertising. Readers: dismiss these warnings at your own peril. EDIT: Looks like the crybabies and Facebook stockholders are flagging this. You must have hit a sensitive nerve Zack. Good job.
Paranoid much? I'm about as anti-facebook as it gets and this post strikes me as way over the top.
Simply install ghostery and adblock, delete your fb account and call it a day.
Facebook will not be selling of the information he suggests they've got on you to insurance companies within 5 years. Not of they want to continue to exist in some form.
You can't tell whether someone is an alcoholic by looking at their pictures, most alcoholics are pretty quiet about it and manage to get away with it for decades right under the noses of friends and family (son of an ex (deceased) alcoholic here).
Facebook won't know you're sick before you and your doctor know about it. Doctors have a hard enough time to figure out what you've got and if you've got something when you're in front of them.
Facebook does not know how many sexual parters you've had, most spouses don't even know how many sexual partners their significant other has had (I'll give you that they might think they know).
They couldn't care less about your menstrual cycle, assuming they could detect that you have one.
In fact, facebook finds it next to impossible to get rid of fake accounts, can't deal with real names, has to accept pseudonyms (thanks .de!) and so on.
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#19If you're really betting $100, you'd be losing a lot of money on everything you posted. I'll bet $100 the blog post was a total fail.
I'll bet on each tweet I sent out once. I've already got somebody to take me up on Facebook predicting sickness. Send me an email with the bet you want and we can work out the terms of the bet for the tweet you think is a stinker.
> I'll bet on each tweet I sent out once.
Why so cautious? If facebook gets caught doing any of this stuff they're going to implode like a balloon you should stick all your savings on put options. The infinite downside should not concern you since you are so sure that they will do all this and presumably more.
Re: Why I don't have a Facebook account
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll bet on each tweet I sent out once. I've already got somebody to take me up on Facebook predicting sickness. Send me an email with the bet you want and we can work out the terms of the bet for the tweet you think is a stinker.
> I'll bet on each tweet I sent out once. Why so cautious? If facebook gets caught doing any of this stuff they're going to implode like a balloon you should stick all your savings on put options. The infinite downside should not concern you since you are so sure that they will do all this and presumably more.
From an earlier comment on here:
>Do I honestly think that there is a whole team of engineers sitting around charting out menstrual cycles for 50% of their users? Nope. Is there a nonzero chance that it might be happening or could happen soon? Yeah I think so.
I'm not so sure that they are doing any of this. I have no proof at all, I don't think anyone outside of Facebook could have proof of anything. The point of the article isn't that I think they are doing this right now, but that they might have reason to do so in the future. Like you've pointed out, they would be fucked if they tried any of this, but it doesn't mean they won't try something similar in terms of data mining and selling your derived personal information to interested 3rd parties.