[Misc] Facebook data mining hits rises to 87m..

[desprateseagull]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43649018 sloppy. Or paid for? Zuckerberg arrested yet?

 

[Foul Play Rocks]

I don’t think he needs arresting. Yes he’s got some questions to answer and undoubtedly some things need to change but I think at the moment he’s the best person to put it right. If anyone is that upset by Facebook then either delete it or just come off it for a while. I remember a time before Facebook and before the internet was invented and we all managed to get by.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

I don’t think he needs arresting. Yes he’s got some questions to answer and undoubtedly some things need to change but I think at the moment he’s the best person to put it right. If anyone is that upset by Facebook then either delete it or just come off it for a while. I remember a time before Facebook and before the internet was invented and we all managed to get by.

You can never come off Facebook once in your doomed forever...................

 

[nicko31]

You can never come off Facebook once in your doomed forever...................

For a lot of people its their only way of communicating.

 

[Brovion]

For a lot of people its their only way of communicating.

If you can type into Facebook you can write a letter or make a phone call (as people used to do before 2004). Your statement is total bollocks.

 

[Superphil]

What data are they able to mine, serious question. I’ve generally got a load of crap photos, descriptions of my BBQs and comments about gigs and football shirts and that’s about it on my Facebook account. No postal address, no phone, and the email address associated with it is a gmail one I use for nothing else.

 

[Gritt23]

Has anyone been harmed by this? We're not talking about scammers getting hold of data that allows people to fraudulently access bank details are we?

Genuine question, as this seems like a classic modern tradition of being angry on behalf of other people. "I haven't been affected, but loads of other people have." But who? Who is the victim of this, does anyone know anybody?

 

[Foul Play Rocks]

What data are they able to mine, serious question. I’ve generally got a load of crap photos, descriptions of my BBQs and comments about gigs and football shirts and that’s about it on my Facebook account. No postal address, no phone, and the email address associated with it is a gmail one I use for nothing else.

I think it’s people who took part in surveys or “fun quizzes” that were mined although there is probably an argument that they gave the information freely even if they didn’t realise what was going to happen to it. Did it make people vote a certain way? Who knows?

 

[Superphil]

Does that suggest that there was something there to ‘mine’? Do some people have bank details or personal contact details on their FB? I’m just not sure I understand what can be mined from a persons FB account. If they took part in a ‘fun’ quiz then the answers given are surely ‘fun’ answers. As posted below my original post, has anyone lost anything or been harmed by this? All seems like it’s being blown up as something that it isn’t, unless there is something valuable that can be mined from peoples FB accounts.

 

[Foul Play Rocks]

Does that suggest that there was something there to ‘mine’? Do some people have bank details or personal contact details on their FB? I’m just not sure I understand what can be mined from a persons FB account. If they took part in a ‘fun’ quiz then the answers given are surely ‘fun’ answers. As posted below my original post, has anyone lost anything or been harmed by this? All seems like it’s being blown up as something that it isn’t, unless there is something valuable that can be mined from peoples FB accounts.

As far as I’m aware it’s not bank details etc or indeed anything that has been stolen. The information has been used by people so they can make profiles of people and then target them with advertising so as to make them think a certain way or buy certain products. It does all seem a bit of a load of bollocks to me unless of course I’ve been profiled and conditioned to think that way

 

[Bakero]

Has anyone been harmed by this? We're not talking about scammers getting hold of data that allows people to fraudulently access bank details are we?

Genuine question, as this seems like a classic modern tradition of being angry on behalf of other people. "I haven't been affected, but loads of other people have." But who? Who is the victim of this, does anyone know anybody?

Donald Trump is president of the USA. That affects us all. I won't mention the other thing.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

What data are they able to mine, serious question. I’ve generally got a load of crap photos, descriptions of my BBQs and comments about gigs and football shirts and that’s about it on my Facebook account. No postal address, no phone, and the email address associated with it is a gmail one I use for nothing else.

This, but I'm sure the cool kids who have come off Facebook or have never used it, will be along any minute to tell us how intelligent they are.
I haven't made my mind up yet, whether the anti social media gang or vegans are the worst for this.

As far as I’m aware it’s not bank details etc or indeed anything that has been stolen. The information has been used by people so they can make profiles of people and then target them with advertising so as to make them think a certain way or buy certain products. It does all seem a bit of a load of bollocks to me unless of course I’ve been profiled and conditioned to think that way

There is a choice on every advert where you click to say less of this, so when I see an advert I don't like, I use the option.

Google probably have as much information on me as Facebook, if not more. It's all boring details, in any case.

 

[KZNSeagull]

The way I see it is that this is not about advertising or gaining your personal data. It is about manipulating those who maybe susceptible into doing something that they would not otherwise do (in this case, vote a certain way) by using the information facebook/google store on you re your likes, preferences, browsing habits etc.

Social Media is becoming more and more catered to each individual and what is dangerous about it is that each individual user may only see stories that the social media platform determines that you may be interested in based on your previous viewing behaviour. You are therefore not getting a balanced view on certain stories/events etc. For some people social media is the only platform that they get their news. So if the news they receive is entirely based upon their previous behaviour, it then becomes possible to manipulate that person. For the vast majority this is not an issue as most would question what they read, but some do not. It is an almost perfect platform to manipulate the gullible.

Only a small percentage of these 87m people would have been targetted by Cambridge Analytica as in most votes only a small percentage would need to be influenced to vote differently to get the desired result.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I think it’s people who took part in surveys or “fun quizzes” that were mined although there is probably an argument that they gave the information freely even if they didn’t realise what was going to happen to it. Did it make people vote a certain way? Who knows?

Worse than that.

Fair enough that people who did a silly quiz gave permission for their data to be collected.

Not Fair enough that the silly quiz then automatically took all the data off the silly quizzers *facebook friends* with absolutely no permission whatsoever.

The data is then used to map individuals *likes* to targeted content which then influences their choices.

For instance, if there is a link that people who click a *like* for bhafc on facebook can be influenced to vote for Vlad the Impaler at the next election by sending their newsfeed certain articles then it starts to get very sinister.

 

[maffew]

Anyone who thinks that the data mining is targeting you specifically is mistaken. If course there aren't bank details and personal addresses always needed, that isn't what they are after

A snippet of information about your profile is pretty useless to 3rd parties (well, except for targeted advertising so its of use to Facebook as that is their revenue). Though coupled with 50m+ other records which will show demographics at a minimum of gender, age band, and location then you start to be able to profile it, find trends, and influence decisions, which unwittingly MAY impact (indeed harm) you. They don't pay millions for this sort of stuff for no reason

 

[Eeyore]

There isn't a little man watching everything we do. There are profiling algorithms.

I'm not that concerned- except that I wouldn't want a platform listening to conversations. That's tapping and it's bloody creepy. That's why Alexa can do one.

I'm more concerned about what FB does give a platform to. Namely violent and nasty content. Standards and values should always usurp 'free speech'. There is no harm in telling people they can't use a platform to peddle hatred even if the law of the country of origin allows (e.g USA)

 

[Machiavelli]

I think it’s people who took part in surveys or “fun quizzes” that were mined although there is probably an argument that they gave the information freely even if they didn’t realise what was going to happen to it. Did it make people vote a certain way? Who knows?

About 300,000 took part in the survey. From that number, information from 87 million was harvested, as it also got all the data from the friends of those that took part in the survey. This was then used to target specific ads at voters in elections.
I'm not pointing the finger at you, as this thread is illustrative of the lack of understanding of what has been going on. All of this has been made clear by, especially, the work of Carole Cadwalladr in The Observer over the past year. Data is the new gold/oil, and Facebook (and cookies on your computer) has the richest supply, and have played fast and loose with our data.

 

[Machiavelli]

The way I see it is that this is not about advertising or gaining your personal data. It is about manipulating those who maybe susceptible into doing something that they would not otherwise do (in this case, vote a certain way) by using the information facebook/google store on you re your likes, preferences, browsing habits etc.

Social Media is becoming more and more catered to each individual and what is dangerous about it is that each individual user may only see stories that the social media platform determines that you may be interested in based on your previous viewing behaviour. You are therefore not getting a balanced view on certain stories/events etc. For some people social media is the only platform that they get their news. So if the news they receive is entirely based upon their previous behaviour, it then becomes possible to manipulate that person. For the vast majority this is not an issue as most would question what they read, but some do not. It is an almost perfect platform to manipulate the gullible.

Only a small percentage of these 87m people would have been targetted by Cambridge Analytica as in most votes only a small percentage would need to be influenced to vote differently to get the desired result.

This.

 

[astralavi]

You Tube analytics, Click on Instant Road Rage Karma, link to Robber picks on wrong guy - navy seal, Link Black women steps on American flag, link Black Lives matter activist fails in debate, link Anti trump supporters gets owned by Police, link Wise theologian outsmarts feminist atheist, link Anne Coultier outwits antifa, link Rees Mogg fights bravely for Brexit, link The world is flat

 

[Foul Play Rocks]

About 300,000 took part in the survey. From that number, information from 87 million was harvested, as it also got all the data from the friends of those that took part in the survey. This was then used to target specific ads at voters in elections.
I'm not pointing the finger at you, as this thread is illustrative of the lack of understanding of what has been going on. All of this has been made clear by, especially, the work of Carole Cadwalladr in The Observer over the past year. Data is the new gold/oil, and Facebook (and cookies on your computer) has the richest supply, and have played fast and loose with our data.

Someone else also pointed this out to me on this thread so I do stand corrected. Thank you to you both as I clearly didn’t give the original story my fullest attention.