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Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

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31–40 of 119 posts

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#31

I think that the US gov has not yet realized the full potential danger of data exposure. The best thing is to plan for these disaster scenarios like you would pandemics, wars, and natural disasters. There should be strong regulations, a set of protocols, a way to mitigate these situations. Understandably, the government is way behind on this issue, still seeing the digital information (especially on social media) as…

I think the people have not yet realized the full potential danger of the US gov abusing our data.

The danger is basically a nonrepudiation problem.

Look at all the finger pointing after Trump was elected. It was Hillary's fault. It was Bernie's fault. It was the Dem's fault. Trump was what people wanted. It was the Russians. It was Facebook. It was the MSM. All this is just for an election.

Assume someone does use the massive data stores of Google or FB to do something bad. How can you even identify that that happened? How can you identify malicious actors and the incompetent ones?

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#32
post #8

I'm not particularly worried, Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data. The amount of convenience I get from Facebook and Google outweigh the risk I'm exposed to in my opinion. If Governments want to create data protection regulations I'll save my opinion until I see whatever regulation is proposed but I think it'll be difficult…

I'm not particularly worried, Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data. NSA begs to differ, on both counts https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/the-nsa-files CIA too https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/

Yes, but if you reside in the US and NSA or CIA want to get your data, they are going to get it. Even if you have the best security team and program in the world.

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#33
post #8

I'm not particularly worried, Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data. The amount of convenience I get from Facebook and Google outweigh the risk I'm exposed to in my opinion. If Governments want to create data protection regulations I'll save my opinion until I see whatever regulation is proposed but I think it'll be difficult…

>Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data

Are you serious? Wasn't Google found to be sending data between their data centers in plain text?

https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/30/5046958/nsa-secretly-tap...

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#34
post #21
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> unless compelled to do so by law That's a pretty significant hedge. Also, how effective are Google's processes against dishonest employees? It would not be hard for, say, the Chinese government to plant a mole in Google's security team. (Actually, the real nightmare scenario is a Chinese mole in Intel or Apple's hardware team.)

Google fights against subpoenas and warrants all the time but sometimes they lose. At that point they have to comply or be held in contempt and I can't really blame Google for complying in that situation. With many thousands of engineers it is totally possible for bad actors to have infiltrated Google. It's one of the reasons why there are such strict protocols for accessing customer data or production hardware. The…

Do they fight against all subpoenas equally or do they make calls about which to fight and which to comply with? If they choose to comply with some, how do they make that call?

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#37
post #25

I think what we're seeing are the same sorts of things that led to building codes, fire codes, licensing of architects and civil engineers. After so many building collapses, bridge collapses, or disastrous fires, people finally demanded that "build whatever you want, however you want" is not OK if you are making something for use by the general public. I think ultimately we're going to see legislation requiring licen…

It should be coming, but we can't make any assumptions. This kind of standard won't happen on it's own. People need to fight for this standard to make it happen. The worrying thing is that Facebook and Google have an unprecedented amount of power to resist external restrictions on what they can build and how they can use it. Simply attempting to pass legislation may not be enough.

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#38
post #8

I'm not particularly worried, Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data. The amount of convenience I get from Facebook and Google outweigh the risk I'm exposed to in my opinion. If Governments want to create data protection regulations I'll save my opinion until I see whatever regulation is proposed but I think it'll be difficult…

>Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data Are you serious? Wasn't Google found to be sending data between their data centers in plain text? https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/30/5046958/nsa-secretly-tap...

I think one can excuse them from not securing themselves against their own government physically tapping their internal network.

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#39
post #19
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have the "pay grade" to be able to make this assertion credibly? One cannot, in general, see the forest for the trees. This adage is not merely a put-down.

If you're asking whether I was the director of my agency or the CEO of Google then the answer is no. I have also not worked for the Government in about 6 years or Google in 4 years so maybe everything changed the moment I left. However, I was an Assistant Director (which is a senior tech / middle management kind of level) at first an intelligence agency, and then at a similar grade in a law enforcement organization a…

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but there used be ample variability of compliance in Google's transparency report across the globe. Outsiders assumed that in the US the percentage was higher because Google was in bed with the FBI and co.

In reality, the explanation was even simpler: in the US, authorities either didn't bother asking, as you said, or put the effort in crafting a proper request.

Elsewhere, they assumed they could obtain anything (or remove anything about a local figure), just because they had a badge. In some cases, the requests were so ridiculous that they had to be educated about how the law worked in their own country. Over time, compliance increased in those countries as well.

Re: Forget Equifax. Facebook and Google Have the Data That Should Worry You

#40
post #8

I'm not particularly worried, Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data. The amount of convenience I get from Facebook and Google outweigh the risk I'm exposed to in my opinion. If Governments want to create data protection regulations I'll save my opinion until I see whatever regulation is proposed but I think it'll be difficult…

I'm not particularly worried, Google and Facebook have two of the best security teams in the world and spend an amazing amount of money to protect customer data. NSA begs to differ, on both counts https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/the-nsa-files CIA too https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/

They most likely have access on their own -- seems a bit suspicious why so many open AWS ops reqs require a security clearance.
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