Facebook Under Pressure as EU, US Urge Probes of Data Practices (reuters.com)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced calls on Monday from U.S. and European lawmakers to explain how a consultancy that worked on President Donald Trump's election campaign gained access to data on 50 million Facebook users. From a report: Facebook's shares fell more than 7 percent, wiping around $40 billion off its market value, set for their biggest drop since September 2012, as investors worried that new legislation could damage the company's lucrative advertising business. "The lid is being opened on the black box of Facebook's data practices, and the picture is not pretty," said Frank Pasquale, a University of Maryland law professor who has written about Silicon Valley's use of data. Lawmakers in the United States, Britain and Europe have called for investigations into media reports that political analytics firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested the private data on more than 50 million Facebook users to support Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign. Further reading: An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News reveals how Cambridge Analytica secretly campaigns in elections across the world. Bosses were filmed talking about using bribes, ex-spies, fake IDs and sex workers.

Comments

DUH

[sit1963nz]

What did anyone think Facebook was ? Its a MASSIVE data gathering/mining platform that will sell that information to whom ever offers them enough money.

Re: DUH

[Train0987]

https://ijr.com/2018/03/107708...

Re: DUH

[Train0987]

"In a Sunday tweet thread, Carol Davidson, former director of integration and media analytics for Obama for America, said the 2012 campaign led Facebook to “suck out the whole social graph” and target potential voters. They would then use that data to do things like append their email lists.

When Facebook found out what they were doing, they were “surprised,” she said. But she also claimed they didn’t stop them once they found out" https://ijr.com/2018/03/107708...

Re: DUH

[Train0987]

And these:

https://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07...

https://www.technologyreview.c...

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

http://swampland.time.com/2012...

They BRAGGED about doing the same things (and worse) than what they're accusing Cambridge of doing.

Re:DUH

[SirGarlon]

There are many people who just want to use technology and are actively disinterested in how it works. I call this "willful ignorance." They lack the background to see how data mining could be a problem. As long as most of our legislators and regulators remain willfully ignorant, there will be no meaningful safeguards on privacy.

It's sleazy to frame this is "here is how Trump cheated at the election" because AFAIK anyone could have and would have done the same thing. But if that's what it takes to get politicians to think about privacy, bring on the sleaze.

Re: DUH

[jellomizer]

It was bragged, because it was used to get people excited about the candidate, and have them go out and vote for him.

What this was using the data to find people insecurities, and setup information to hate the other guy, and have people not vote, or be so polarized that they will be afraid to choose the lesser evil.

Like all technology there are lines to be crossed, because you can use technology for good or bad.

In this election, I didn't find too many people who were wild for Trump, but they just hated Hillary more. And in many coverage when asked why they hate Clinton, they sometimes pointed to a fake news article they read on Facebook.

Re: DUH

[Train0987]

Well that search didn't take long...

Behold, "The Data Crunching Prowess of Barack Obama"
https://politics.slashdot.org/...

Re: DUH

[PopeRatzo]

They BRAGGED about doing the same things (and worse) than what they're accusing Cambridge of doing.

There's at least one big difference (besides the biggest difference which is that what the Obama data team did was nothing like what Trump's Cambridge Analytica team did, but let's put that aside for now). The people who were on Obama's data team were American citizens or were authorized to work in the US. Cambridge Analytica had a team made up primarily of foreign nationals who did not have US visas, green cards or work permits.

And, there is a law against that. Foreign nationals without green cards cannot work on US election campaigns even if they are volunteers.

https://www.fec.gov/updates/fo...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk...

Re: DUH

[LynnwoodRooster]

Hillary Clinton hired a foreign worker herself, and I don't remember you ranting about that... Not that you should have, because it is NOT illegal to hire overseas contractors, but it IS illegal to accept overseas contributions as Obama did, not to mention the Obama campaign was fined for illegal donations.

Re: DUH

[PopeRatzo]

Not that you should have, because it is NOT illegal to hire overseas contractors

Yeah, it is.

but it IS illegal to accept overseas contributions as Obama did [thehill.com]

That opinion piece is by the famous Dick Morris, of Fox New/Hannity renown. You will notice he doesn't provide any citations or evidence. Just his assertions.

not to mention the Obama campaign was fined for illegal donations

Better read that article more closely.

Re: DUH

[PopeRatzo]

What law prohibits hiring a foreign worker for a campaign?

I'm sorry I didn't respond to you earlier. I was too busy following the recent developments in the story. It appears that FEC violations would be the least of Cambridge Analytica's problems, considering there is now video tape of their CEO confessing to bribery, blackmail and using Ukranian prostitutes for purposes of blackmail (human trafficking). And not just once, but admitting on camera that they have a "history" of doing this. Did I mention that he said all these things on video?

This is becoming so much fun.

https://www.channel4.com/news/...

Re: DUH

[LynnwoodRooster]

I'm sorry old friend, but that's just not true. If you read through that link to the FEC, you'll see that there can't be any foreign workers in a "decision-making" capacity or "participating" in decision making.

So a data collection agency is now making decisions? I guess then you also hold Hillary Clinton and the DNC as 100% guilty via their hiring of Christopher Steele!

Now (and pay attention here, Rooster, because I see your eyes starting to glaze over), members of the Cambridge Analytica staff have already snitched that CA was give legal guidance by their own lawyers warning them not to have foreign nationals in key positions and that advice was ignored and laws have been broken. This isn't me saying this, it's Cambridge Analytica legal counsel.

Gee, I wonder why? Perhaps it's easier to avoid the entire thing than try to do the legal amount without running into the issue we have here?

But clearly, if you think CA was an issue - then the hiring of Christopher Steele - a British Citizen - was clearly an issue for you too, correct?

Cambridge Analytica, hookers & blow

[PopeRatzo]

This just came across the transom. Apparently, Cambridge Analytica was doing more than just data mining for the Trump campaign.

https://boingboing.net/2018/03...

https://www.channel4.com/news/...