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Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

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Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#41

Post by otherotherchris »

thedeadfish wrote: post #26
otherotherchris wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Here's 100PiB of unlabeled neural net weights. Knock yourselves out."

Google manually adjusts its results for censorship reasons. This is probably why google has gotten so much worse, they don't want information to be freely accessible, they only want things they approve of to be seen.

I reckon you're right, but I doubt that it's manual or under Google's control. Google is too important a tool of control to be left in the hands of Silly Valley idealists.

I've always wondered why Sergey Brin and Larry Page retired when they did, it coincides almost exactly with the beginning of the SERP quality decline. Wonder what sort of conversation they had with intelligence to quietly walk to the door, cash out, and say nothing about the company since.

Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#42

Post by ethbr0 »

dmitriid wrote: post #32
ethbr0 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Large online platforms like Facebook will have to make the working of their recommender algorithms (e.g. used for sorting content on the News Feed or suggesting TV shows on Netflix) transparent to users. Users should also be offered a recommender system “not based on profiling.”" Both of those seem like good ideas and progress. The non-profiled recommender system option especially! It's also really bothered me th…

> We'll see how willing the EU is to levy fines for breaches. It has been very slow with GDPR, I expect it to be even slower here.

https://www.privacyaffairs.com/gdpr-fines/

Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#45

Post by FollowingTheDao »

arnvald wrote: post #39

> The greater the size, the greater the responsibilities of online platforms > as a rule, cancelling subscriptions should be as easy as signing up for them Overall I like these principles, but we'll see in a few years how they're enforced in practice. It's been 4-5 years since we've had GDPR and I still see sites that require tens of clicks to disable all advertising cookies (and the most I've seen was 300+ clicks).…

> as a rule, cancelling subscriptions should be as easy as signing up for them

Before I sign out for any service this is the first thing I check.

Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#46

Post by lin83 »

tjbiddle wrote: post #25

> “Dark patterns” — confusing or deceptive user interfaces designed to steer users into making certain choices — will be prohibited. The EU says that, as a rule, cancelling subscriptions should be as easy as signing up for them. This is an excellent addition.

Amazon's attempts to get users to unwittingly sign up to Prime is one of the most egregious examples I encounter on a regular basis. As a European I cannot wait to see it gone.

Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#47

Post by pessimizer »

lin83 wrote: post #46
tjbiddle wrote: post #25

> “Dark patterns” — confusing or deceptive user interfaces designed to steer users into making certain choices — will be prohibited. The EU says that, as a rule, cancelling subscriptions should be as easy as signing up for them. This is an excellent addition.

Amazon's attempts to get users to unwittingly sign up to Prime is one of the most egregious examples I encounter on a regular basis. As a European I cannot wait to see it gone.

I feel like I remember it being pretty easy to cancel Prime, though. Have things changed?

Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#48

Post by bgro »

tjbiddle wrote: post #25

> “Dark patterns” — confusing or deceptive user interfaces designed to steer users into making certain choices — will be prohibited. The EU says that, as a rule, cancelling subscriptions should be as easy as signing up for them. This is an excellent addition.

Remember when Xbox let you sign up for Live online, but you had to do a 3 hour interrogation on the phone to cancel? And calls would cost like 25 cents a minute or something crazy.

Or the auto renewing subscriptions that either cancel your service immediately the second you turn off auto renew, even if you paid for the current time allotment, or they just prevent or ignore your request to not renew.

I feel like reverse charging didn’t exist back then.

There’s also entitled devs that say your email domain or VOIP number isn’t good enough when signing up for their service. There’s no reason for anybody to use an email from their perfect in test whitelist of gmail or Microsoft domains… And why would anybody ever have a voip number unless they were a terrorist?

Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#49

Post by pessimizer »

somewhereoutth wrote: post #34

A good start. However let's go further, simply ban personal tracking and personalized algorithmic feeds. This would combat the echo chamber effect and social media can become a broad community experience, like TV and newspapers. It would also cripple tech advertising revenues, thus redressing the balance with traditional media.

I don't think people should be forced into the public square by law. If you want to live in an echo chamber, you should be able to. We don't forcibly close convents. If I want to choose the "Smart Feed™, although I can choose not to, that should be my choice to make.

I don't know TikTok, but people seem to like its choices.

Re: Google, Meta, others will have to explain algorithms under new EU legislation

#50

Post by [deleted] »

pessimizer wrote: post #47
lin83 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon's attempts to get users to unwittingly sign up to Prime is one of the most egregious examples I encounter on a regular basis. As a European I cannot wait to see it gone.

I feel like I remember it being pretty easy to cancel Prime, though. Have things changed?

[deleted]
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