4 ms·

Another case of lawsuits stifling innovation. And I agree with one of the comments on that post - why doesn't Netflix have people opt-in to have their data ano

by tbgvi 17y ago

Another case of lawsuits stifling innovation. And I agree with one of the comments on that post - why doesn't Netflix have people opt-in to have their data anonymized and used for this purpose? Edit: replaced bureaucracy with lawsuits

nlabs 17y ago
good idea...opt-in and we can improve our recommendations to you. People worried that some geek will find out they watched Who's the Boss reruns will miss out.
nfnaaron 17y ago
I think bureaucracy had little to do with it. As I recall, the first Netflix contest did indeed expose private, and sometimes embarrassing, information. This was a privacy issue, and something legitimate to address.
- nlabs 17y ago
  privacy issues dont necessarily need to be dealt with by lawsuits. Most lawsuits are about money.
  - nfnaaron 17y ago
    Not to quibble, but lawsuits are also not bureaucracy.
    - tbgvi 17y ago
      Good point, was at a loss for the right word when I commented. This kind of behavior by lawyers is just like patent trolling and I couldn't pinpoint a word for that. Maybe privacy trolling? The lawyers are the same ones that sued Facebook for Beacon.
- sh1mmer 17y ago
  Right, but I find it astonishing that it was necessary to cancel the competition altogether. I find it surprising that there wasn't a middle-ground which anonymized or didn't include personally identifying information. I feel the lack of a middle-ground is probably due to the lawsuit plaintiffs refusing to back down (presumably for financial gain) and thus causing Netflix to hedge their risk.
tel 17y ago
It breaks simple random sampling meaning that you're optimizing purely for some unknown subset. That becomes a problem when someone someone realizes that Netflix is spending millions of dollars to have a recommendation engine that ends up being racist.
wingo 17y ago
While it's not entirely the same situation, perhaps you should read up on the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_search_data_scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_search_data_scandal.
mhb 17y ago
why doesn't Netflix have people opt-in to have their data anonymized and used for this purpose? Selection bias?
- ntoshev 17y ago
  Selection bias would mean people who opt in get better recommendations... sounds like a good incentive and a virtuous circle to me.
- nlabs 17y ago
  selection bias would only be a concern if you were trying make inference on all netflix customers (not just the ones that opt-in).

by tbgvi 17y ago

nlabs 17y ago

good idea...opt-in and we can improve our recommendations to you. People worried that some geek will find out they watched Who's the Boss reruns will miss out.

nfnaaron 17y ago

I think bureaucracy had little to do with it. As I recall, the first Netflix contest did indeed expose private, and sometimes embarrassing, information. This was a privacy issue, and something legitimate to address.

nlabs 17y ago
privacy issues dont necessarily need to be dealt with by lawsuits. Most lawsuits are about money.
- nfnaaron 17y ago
  Not to quibble, but lawsuits are also not bureaucracy.
  - tbgvi 17y ago
    Good point, was at a loss for the right word when I commented. This kind of behavior by lawyers is just like patent trolling and I couldn't pinpoint a word for that. Maybe privacy trolling? The lawyers are the same ones that sued Facebook for Beacon.
sh1mmer 17y ago
Right, but I find it astonishing that it was necessary to cancel the competition altogether. I find it surprising that there wasn't a middle-ground which anonymized or didn't include personally identifying information. I feel the lack of a middle-ground is probably due to the lawsuit plaintiffs refusing to back down (presumably for financial gain) and thus causing Netflix to hedge their risk.

tel 17y ago

It breaks simple random sampling meaning that you're optimizing purely for some unknown subset. That becomes a problem when someone someone realizes that Netflix is spending millions of dollars to have a recommendation engine that ends up being racist.

wingo 17y ago

While it's not entirely the same situation, perhaps you should read up on the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_search_data_scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_search_data_scandal.

mhb 17y ago

why doesn't Netflix have people opt-in to have their data anonymized and used for this purpose? Selection bias?

ntoshev 17y ago
Selection bias would mean people who opt in get better recommendations... sounds like a good incentive and a virtuous circle to me.
nlabs 17y ago
selection bias would only be a concern if you were trying make inference on all netflix customers (not just the ones that opt-in).