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Cambridge Analytica

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Fernando Negro
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#76 Post by Fernando Negro »

In other words,

If you want to be safe and really have Privacy, stay "ashore".

Even if you use strong encryption in your communications, the US government has ways of decrypting it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZQXxUmROIU#t=1h8m25s). And, the technology that the US government has - and that, for the reason of wanting to be in advantage, doesn't share - is usually about 2 decades more advanced than what normal people use.

The Internet is a great tool do disseminate information, and to communicate with other people with whom we would not have the opportunity to otherwise. But, to use it for anything beyond that, is usually counterproductive - and we should only use e-mail, Skype and such to communicate if we really have to.

From what I know, the main purpose of this type of general surveillance (not just Facebook, but reading everyone's e-mails etc) is not even to spy on individual people. But, to collect (generic) data in order to make studies on the general population (know how people think, react etc) in order to develop better ways of controlling the latter.

And, all the immensely naive people who continue thinking that governments and big corporations are trustworthy entities, are falling into the establishment's own trap - by giving it even more means to better enslave them.

MI6 agent Eric Blair wrote in a famous book that the future would be one were the establishment would be aware of everything that people did, even inside their own houses, by using cameras and microphones for it.

Well, look at the type of computers that people nowadays have...

"In three consecutive transparencies, the authors of the presentation draw a comparison with '1984,' George Orwell's classic novel about a surveillance state, revealing the agency's current view of smartphones and their users. 'Who knew in 1984 that this would be Big Brother...' the authors ask, in reference to a photo of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. And commenting on photos of enthusiastic Apple customers and iPhone users, the NSA writes: '...and the zombies would be paying customers?'"
--- http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 21161.html
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I just *love* the stability, much more bug-free nature, and modular installation options of Debian. Apart from the unfortunate adoption of "systemd" (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=129881&start=165#p671030) this distribution is *great*.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#77 Post by Fernando Negro »

Another iceberg,

This one with a most interesting shape - https://micahflee.com/2013/01/why-im-le ... ment-39171 - and that has, in the meantime, grown bigger: https://fossbytes.com/ubuntu-data-collection/
I just *love* the stability, much more bug-free nature, and modular installation options of Debian. Apart from the unfortunate adoption of "systemd" (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=129881&start=165#p671030) this distribution is *great*.

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debiman
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#78 Post by debiman »

the pressure on facebook is still on.
They are being investigated in UK and USA afaik.
Germany will likely follow soon, government officials have pressing questions to ask of facebook officials.
Zuckerberg himself admitted that the numbers of affected users are much higher than 50 million - 87 million is his new estimate, which means it is likely still higher.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#79 Post by acewiza »

Some people around here need better tinfoil hats. There is no conspiracy, with the possible exception of an internal FB coverup when the problems started surfacing a few years ago. The FB scandal is simply the result of (then) nitwit college kids not thinking things all the way through because they were too busy banking boatloads of money.
Nobody would ever ask questions If everyone possessed encyclopedic knowledge of the man pages.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#80 Post by bw123 »

acewiza wrote:Some people around here need better tinfoil hats. There is no conspiracy, with the possible exception of an internal FB coverup when the problems started surfacing a few years ago. The FB scandal is simply the result of (then) nitwit college kids not thinking things all the way through because they were too busy banking boatloads of money.
From what I have read, everyone seems mad about the info being shared, but not about the advertising that was purchased and targeted at the users involved? I mean, if a company has info on a person, so what? It's what they do with it that matters, and targeting ads at people based on demographics is big money I hear...

I still don't see what law was broken, or how governments run by big money is going to fix anything. They can investigate all year long, but what solution is there?
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#81 Post by Bulkley »

acewiza wrote:There is no conspiracy, with the possible exception of an internal FB coverup when the problems started surfacing a few years ago. The FB scandal is simply the result of (then) nitwit college kids not thinking things all the way through because they were too busy banking boatloads of money.
+1.

The design of FB was always about making money from user's data. It has no other purpose. We can ignore any promises Zuckerberg makes about protecting user privacy because he can't do it without shutting FB down.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#82 Post by pawRoot »

acewiza wrote:Some people around here need better tinfoil hats.
Exactly my thought.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#83 Post by KBD47 »

Facebook has always been open to manipulation, even performing some themselves:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... news-feeds
And not having enough info about its users, if this current situation had not bit them in the ass Facebook was ready to scarf up hospital/medical info on its users:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 91716.html
Facebook is evil.
Not sure when its users will wake up and dump this surveillance agency.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#84 Post by acewiza »

The whole social media business model is paradoxically, fatally flawed. Given the ability to do so, the more people crank up the privacy, the less revenue from ads and data analysis. It simply does not work in favor of the users they claim to support.
Nobody would ever ask questions If everyone possessed encyclopedic knowledge of the man pages.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#85 Post by oswaldkelso »

I just don't get how some folks can't distinguish between advertising and subliminal thought control using illegally gained data.

Advertising uses persuasion, buy this soap powder and your shirts will be cleaner, and is highly regulated. You can't sexualise children or sell them cigarettes etc.

The other uses manipulation via complex algorithms gained from this illegally gained data the control who you vote for. Those targeted don't even know it, and it has the potential to undermine democracy, if it's not already done so.
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#86 Post by n_hologram »

Sounds like there are some people who need to reach out to their lawmakers.
@oswaldkelso, the biggest issue with the advertisement/"thought control" binary is that it's a false dichotomy. If one wilfully gives information, it is completely reasonable to expect subversive things to happen; information is a lucrative commodity. Facebook is not free, and neither is the internet.
Also in this episode:
Tim Cook says ads that follow you online are creepy.
Big Brother in India requires fingerprint scans for food, phones, finances
Facebook donated to 46 of 55 members on committee that will question Zuckerberg
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It has enabled the global information exchange, mass surveillance, studies in social control, allowed revolutions, made a fortune for many billionaires and in the meanwhile ruined our climate: the web.
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#87 Post by jibberjabber »

The Web Sucks
It has enabled the global information exchange, mass surveillance, studies in social control, allowed revolutions, made a fortune for many billionaires and in the meanwhile ruined our climate: the web.
Spiders make webs, the victims are the insects that get trapped in THE WEB, and they are food for the spiders.
Why do you think they started calling it "The Web" , ? Maybe "they" are not even human, and humanity has all ready demonstrated that the average mind is no more intelligent then even insects. In fact many insects show a higher level of intelligence then most humans, look at the ants,.. They work hard, and
The ant has no commander, officer, or ruler.
Even so, it gets its food in summer; gathers its provisions at harvest.
Humans can not live without their rulers,bosses, MS windows, FaceBook, etc,...most any way, maybe a few could survive, but very few.
Humanity, with all it's wonderful science and so called advanced technologies, and all they can think of to with it is make nuclear bombs, so they can destroy the planet they live on, and if the nukes don't destroy it , the poisons the technology produces will,.... not very intelligent at all.
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Fernando Negro
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#88 Post by Fernando Negro »

"WWW" stands for "World Wide Wiretap", in intelligence circles.

And, the coming "Internet of Things" will be the ultimate demonstration of just how [fill in your own words] people are, if they go along with such a thing...

If Facebook offers to manage you social connections, or Google offers to take care of your e-mail, for free, it's because they have something hidden to gain from it (and, the same thing goes for all the "free" games that people install on their Android smartphones, and such).

(Ever wondered where the name "Android" comes from? It's not the phone itself that resembles a human being... https://trisquel.info/en/forum/nsa-can- ... ment-42309)

The part of making money from "data mining" people's personal information, agendas, photographs etc (to be used for commercial purposes) is just one of the lower levels. Above that, there are whole social studies that can be (and are being) made.

And, the key term for the upper levels is "Tavistock Institute" (https://www.amazon.com/Tavistock-Instit ... 63424043X/).
Last edited by Fernando Negro on 2018-04-10 18:09, edited 1 time in total.
I just *love* the stability, much more bug-free nature, and modular installation options of Debian. Apart from the unfortunate adoption of "systemd" (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=129881&start=165#p671030) this distribution is *great*.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#89 Post by Fernando Negro »

debiman wrote: this is only one of many icebergs of which we only see the tip.
(Still commenting on that statement...)

Another one of the biggest "icebergs", on the Internet, with the usual connections:

https://sputniknews.com/military/201711 ... egion-cia/
https://www.prisonplanet.com/washington ... -ties.html

(Nothing going on, here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdFl__NlOpA - just, continue to do whatever you can online. And, don't listen to what even the main co-founder of the operating system you're using has to say about all this: https://vimeo.com/28195912)
I just *love* the stability, much more bug-free nature, and modular installation options of Debian. Apart from the unfortunate adoption of "systemd" (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=129881&start=165#p671030) this distribution is *great*.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#90 Post by Fernando Negro »

This is only what is publicly admitted...

(Calling attention to another tip of an iceberg, that only some people noticed,)

Ever wondered why Zuckerberg covers the camera and microphone of his laptop? (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/ ... ophone-on/)
I just *love* the stability, much more bug-free nature, and modular installation options of Debian. Apart from the unfortunate adoption of "systemd" (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=129881&start=165#p671030) this distribution is *great*.

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#91 Post by None1975 »

Fernando Negro wrote:Ever wondered why Zuckerberg covers the camera and microphone of his laptop?
Due to the fact that the Central Intelligence Agency and NSA is not drowning :D
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#92 Post by n_hologram »

I know this is old news -- which it shouldn't be, since Facebook is still happily mining data -- but I happened across this interview with Antonio Martinez, who used to work at Facebook. I agree with his position that the real harm isn't necessarily with advertisers, or the amoral internal directors, but with some very human natures that Facebook is really good at probing.

Cognitive dissonance means monetary capital. (It isn't like we don't see cognitive dissonance on these forums, either.)
In my mind, the scary sort of parts of Facebook is the fake news, the filter bubble, the online tribes that don’t speak to each other, the political polarization. The organic side, to me, is scarier than the ad side...the reality is that Facebook is cognitive dissonance at scale. Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of awkwardness you feel when your worldview gets contradicted in some concrete way...the algorithm, by default, is designed to placate you by shielding you from the things you don’t want to hear about.
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One thing that I think is annoying is the lack of moral courage in Silicon Valley. No one takes a stand on anything ‘cause the opportunity costs can be so great given the winner-take-all nature of it...
(Nonexistent) editorship is also something I never really considered with the way Facebook selectively hashes ads:
The other way of looking at it is that historically, we had editorship for a few reasons. One, it was an appeal to authority. “These people just understand these political issues, whatever, better.” The other is — maybe not so much in the U.S., but certainly in Europe — that the editor should edify us...Basically, editors are there to tell you to eat your vegetables. Facebook is kind of like, “Well, the algorithm says to feed you just endless sugar and fat, right, and that’s what we’re going to do.” These people have just abdicated any sort of responsibility toward informing or educating the public. Somehow, we have subconsciously accepted that.

It's a good read for anyone who no longer uses Facebook, and is therefore unaware of its burdensome user experience.
http://nymag.com/selectall/2018/04/anto ... rview.html
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#93 Post by oswaldkelso »

Cambridge Analytica’s dead

Welcome to Emerdata
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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#94 Post by debiman »

i wrote about CA's bankruptcy yesterday, and without yet knowing about Emerdata, I "predicted" this exact scenario...

It's good that facebook got slapped around by this, but an equally important issue is that these practices (*) aren't illegal - and nobody seems to give a rat's ass about that. It's infuriating.

(*) let's recap:
exploiting user data, of course, duh, then using it to influence people through fake advertisement, fake facebook users, and other fake content, like blogs created especially to spread a certain opinion.
how is all that fake content not illegal? deliberately spreading lies, with intent? i don't understand.
and the client that pays for all this, decides which opinion...

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Re: Cambridge Analytica

#95 Post by alan stone »

debiman wrote:nobody seems to give a rat's ass about that.
Z(s)uck to begin with: Facebook moves 1.5bn users out of reach of new European privacy law.

It's for the common good: FB Dating.

Next: FB Mating? :lol:

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