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Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

mobile.nytimes.com

61–70 of 142 posts

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#61

Why is it surprising or even remotely controversial that an app that people explicitly authorized to access their messages (informed consent) then proceeded to access their messages? The app didn't have access to friends' messages, so I don't see what the issue is here, other than yet another clickbait headline.

Why is it even possible for an app to request your Facebook messages though?

There are a lot of valid uses. Why would it be better for your data to be locked up and unexportable?

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#62

Why is it surprising or even remotely controversial that an app that people explicitly authorized to access their messages (informed consent) then proceeded to access their messages? The app didn't have access to friends' messages, so I don't see what the issue is here, other than yet another clickbait headline.

For people I've discussed with, the surprising part is that they can do anything with it. You and I know that (currently) if someone has the data, they'll scrape/manipulate it at will.

I believe, a reasonable person, would expect the limits of the access grant to end with the purpose of the app (a quiz) and not extend any further.

Most contracts/agreements have limits and this one is implicit in the working of the app. It is in no way clear that the app is earning it's money by selling/manipulating the data you're giving access to.

Additionally, it's disingenuous to ignore that a subversive app will make up/add features in no way benefiting the end user but for the sole purpose of scraping messages.

Intent is important, for some of these apps it is clear the only intent was to harvest data en masse.

Yes the user agreed to grant some permissions so a quiz could be taken. It cannot and should not be ignored that the app developer purposefully did not disclose the true nature of the app. This wasn't an accident. They didn't trip and fall into the data. They made something appear benign when it was really cancerous.

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#63
post #11

What's scary is that Cambridge Analytica is probably only one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of companies that had access to this type of data from Facebook. This is just the one we know about.

Cambridge Analytica didn't pay to access this data. They got users to give it to them for free though Facebook's developer platform.

Actually Cambridge Analytica licensed the data from GSR, according to their press release from earlier this week [1].

> A research company (GSR) licensed the data to us, which they legally obtained via a tool provided by Facebook. Hundreds of data firms have utilized Facebook data in a similar fashion.

[1] https://ca-commercial.com/news/time-facts-not-conjecture-say...

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#64

Why is it surprising or even remotely controversial that an app that people explicitly authorized to access their messages (informed consent) then proceeded to access their messages? The app didn't have access to friends' messages, so I don't see what the issue is here, other than yet another clickbait headline.

Because it takes a real piece of shit to ask a total retard:

  "Hey, buddy, can I stab you in the back?"
...and then blame the retard for bleeding out.

As if a total fucking retard would ever say no.

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#65
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By granting access to your messages, they are also implicitly gaining access to your friend's messages with you. All people should have an expectation of privacy that when they send a private message to someone, that someone does not have the right to disclose the conversation.

That expectation has never existed. If you share something private with someone else, it belongs to them now, and they can forward it to whoever they want regardless of the sharing medium. The system is based on trust, not some arbitrary security measures.

The Canadian Supreme Court disagrees with you (5-2):

> "The court here has taken hold, embraced the challenge of the technology and caused the law to catch up with the technology, in line with Canadians' values," Lonsdale said. "Canadians can expect that their private, one-on-one communications with each other remain ones that they have a reasonable expectation of privacy."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/supreme-court-texting-privac...

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#66

Why is it surprising or even remotely controversial that an app that people explicitly authorized to access their messages (informed consent) then proceeded to access their messages? The app didn't have access to friends' messages, so I don't see what the issue is here, other than yet another clickbait headline.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#67
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we have a private conversation, you shouldn't have the right to reproduce the contents of my contributions to the conversation.

You are the one who put it in their phone/inbox in the first place. You can argue about copyright laws or NDAs, but otherwise "private conversation" means nothing.

One-party recordings are illegal in many states. Just because I unicast some information something does not always give you the right to retain a record of it.

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By granting access to your messages, they are also implicitly gaining access to your friend's messages with you. All people should have an expectation of privacy that when they send a private message to someone, that someone does not have the right to disclose the conversation.

So you would also like to impose a ban on email forwarding then right? Because that means the person who received your message took it, and exposed it to others that you didn't authorize. I can tell you that at least in the US, legally, your position doesn't hold water. We're getting a little ridiculous here. There are valid complaints against Facebook in all of this - this just doesn't happen to be one of them.

> So you would also like to impose a ban on email forwarding then right?

The difference is that email forwarding is part of the RFCs and IETF standards that define email, e.g.:

https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5322.txt

https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5598

http://arc-spec.org/

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#69

Why is it surprising or even remotely controversial that an app that people explicitly authorized to access their messages (informed consent) then proceeded to access their messages? The app didn't have access to friends' messages, so I don't see what the issue is here, other than yet another clickbait headline.

Why is it even possible for an app to request your Facebook messages though?

It isn't...today. Remember, this app was deployed many years ago, prior to the 2014 API neutering.

Re: Facebook Data Collected by Quiz App Included Private Messages

#70
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why? Why would anyone set up an API access to PRIVATE messages. That's crazy :o

On one hand it's actually a fairly reasonable API. Imagine using third-party AIM clients a decade or more ago. Same kind of thing.

They never provided ability to send messages. This is a useless thing for AIM clients.
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