Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

iamchairs t1_isbqeoi wrote

Facebook can't just do anything they want. Not with the regulations that have been placed on them. And their privacy/security culture is much stronger than you think.

−8

iamchairs t1_isbw12o wrote

Link to Cambridge Analytica scandal. Yes that was a major driver for all of the regulations put on Facebook thereafter

0

Imaginary-Fun-80085 t1_isc2zx8 wrote

And how are the regulations going to stop it in the future? And what about the privacy/security culture? Did they get that culture right after the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Maybe they never had that kind of culture no matter what you think or what they say.

Best to get your head out of your ass and stop believing in lies that are easily disprovable by random people on the internet.

1

iamchairs t1_isc3jgs wrote

Yes check the FTC regulation. Random people on the internet includes people who work at Meta.

0

Imaginary-Fun-80085 t1_isc4fkn wrote

Oh the people responsible to creating the system that monitors us all? Let's not forget that we only found this information out because an ex employee of Cambridge Analytica spoke out.

For all we know, selling information is happening right now. FTC can't act on anything if they don't know.

2

iamchairs t1_isc4o9l wrote

People who work at Meta would know

−1

FPOWorld t1_iscisx3 wrote

Like they knew about Cambridge Analytica?

2

iamchairs t1_iscr9qw wrote

In your own words can you tell me how the CA scandal was conducted? I'll wait

1

FPOWorld t1_iscsj1l wrote

You’ll be waiting a long time because that sentence makes little sense.

1

iamchairs t1_isct193 wrote

In what way does it not make sense? Tell me how the CA scandal worked. Do you know?

1

FPOWorld t1_isctjiy wrote

Yes. I’m a computer engineer.

1

iamchairs t1_isctw68 wrote

Good, and so am I. You could sum this up in a couple sentences then. But instead you are deflecting?

1

FPOWorld t1_iscuq1v wrote

CA jacked a bunch of data illegally, Facebook knew for years and didn’t disclose what happened until after that data was used to jack the election for Trump.

Edit: if you can call it a disclosure after it only came out via whistleblower complaint

0

iamchairs t1_iscvjbk wrote

Yeah pretty good. So as a response to that, Meta changed a lot of policies internally, and created a strong culture around privacy/security, has active 3rd party oversight, and strict guidelines from the FTC on how it can interact with 3rd parties on user data.

1

FPOWorld t1_iscywk2 wrote

NOW we can trust them? This is after they secretly ran psychological experiments on users without their consent (among many other scandals). They didn’t even suspend CA from using Facebook until after the whistleblower. They knew CA broke the law and covered it up for years. They didn’t follow their own policies, were an accessory to one of the greatest crimes of my lifetime, did nothing to stop what CA did with the data, and now we can trust they’re going to start following the rules?

The rot is at the top. There’s no fixing that as long as Zuck the conqueror is running the show. I won’t give meta a goddamn dollar or a click.

1

iamchairs t1_isczj4y wrote

Secret psychological experiments... You mean AB tests?

> one of the greatest crimes of my lifetime

I was going to say you must be young then but even then that doesn't make sense given everything that has happened since then... You sure you got the right scandal?

2

FPOWorld t1_isd0ql2 wrote

No, I mean where they did an experiment to manipulate users’ emotions: https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/facebook-sorry-secret-psychological-experiment-users

Stealing a US presidential election that led to the outlawing of abortion, nationwide voter suppression, and the community spread of Covid and a million dead Americans is right up there with anything I can think of.

1

iamchairs t1_isd2855 wrote

Yeah so this is called an AB test. These are happening all the time. Even here on Reddit did you know your version of Reddit may be slightly different than everyone else's? It's to test to see what a tweak to the system (UI or Feed) has on your behavior. In the article you linked, the article says Facebook was tweaking the percentage of positive/negative sentiment items it let through to your feed.

Yes through the Facebook platform Trump was able to get elected when maybe he wouldn't have otherwise. But the world is too complicated to say "everything happened because of X and only X". What about the following 4 years when the republicans blocked 2 impeachments? What about all of the existing levers used by those in power? Facebook was the shiny new lever. A big one- I'm not downplaying the significance- but one of many.

1

FPOWorld t1_isd33r1 wrote

Do you work for Facebook?

I’m well aware of what A/B testing is, as I mentioned, I’m a computer engineer. Why did they apologize for an A/B test, which as you know is almost an industry standard practice? Finding which widget gets the most clicks is an A/B test, not inflicting sadness on users as part of a psy op.

Sure this was not the only factor, but it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t a critical one. It’s especially egregious as it was done in the process of committing a crime that FB covered up. They deserve 0 trust.

0

iamchairs t1_isd4u7y wrote

Because they thought it was the best way to address it most likely. Schrep says in that article that they should have used a different method to conduct the same research, not that the research itself was wrong.

1