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Obviously not a lawyer but however you feel about it I don't think this technically violates the fair housing act by the letter of the law. The advertisement i

Obviously not a lawyer but however you feel about it I don't think this technically violates the fair housing act by the letter of the law. The advertisement itself(as seen by the public) does not indicate "any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin." Rather, who is shown the advertisement is limited. You can argue that targeted advertising should be illegal in certain circumstances, but AFAIK there are currently no laws governing it.

chadgeidel 10y ago
I'm struggling with this comment. The article is a conversation answering this very question. A lawyer thinks it does violate the Act, because the Act makes this form of "targeted advertising" illegal. I might of course disagree with that assessment, but I would defer to a lawyer to make a case why it wouldn't be illegal.
- mordocai 10y ago
  There is a single quote from a single lawyer and all it says is that he thinks it is a violation. There is nothing from the lawyer concerning targeted advertising specifically. From my point of view, he saw the UI screenshot and screamed that it was a violation without any further research (the article backs this up since it says he gasped and immediately responded). I don't find that a very convincing legal assessment and the article seems to assume that it is violating the act due to that statement with no proof or reasoning backing it up. Edit: To me, this is no different from choosing to mail advertisements to various zip codes or neighborhoods based on demographics.
  - chadgeidel 10y ago
    I see. Thanks for explaining your position.
  - ubernostrum 10y ago
    You admit you are not a lawyer, but give and prefer your own opinion on it over that of someone who is a lawyer in the relevant field, and when confronted with the opinion of the lawyer in the relevant field you choose the least charitable explanation of how that lawyer came to give the opinion, in order to continue preferring your view over the lawyer's. But tech people don't have blind spots or problems when it comes to issues like race, nope, no sir.
  - danudey 10y ago
    The law apparently makes it illegal to create an ad which expresses any preference for a specific racial group. I would assume his argument is that by being invisible to a certain racial group, you are expressing a preference against them.

chadgeidel 10y ago

I'm struggling with this comment. The article is a conversation answering this very question. A lawyer thinks it does violate the Act, because the Act makes this form of "targeted advertising" illegal. I might of course disagree with that assessment, but I would defer to a lawyer to make a case why it wouldn't be illegal.

mordocai 10y ago
There is a single quote from a single lawyer and all it says is that he thinks it is a violation. There is nothing from the lawyer concerning targeted advertising specifically. From my point of view, he saw the UI screenshot and screamed that it was a violation without any further research (the article backs this up since it says he gasped and immediately responded). I don't find that a very convincing legal assessment and the article seems to assume that it is violating the act due to that statement with no proof or reasoning backing it up. Edit: To me, this is no different from choosing to mail advertisements to various zip codes or neighborhoods based on demographics.
- chadgeidel 10y ago
  I see. Thanks for explaining your position.
- ubernostrum 10y ago
  You admit you are not a lawyer, but give and prefer your own opinion on it over that of someone who is a lawyer in the relevant field, and when confronted with the opinion of the lawyer in the relevant field you choose the least charitable explanation of how that lawyer came to give the opinion, in order to continue preferring your view over the lawyer's. But tech people don't have blind spots or problems when it comes to issues like race, nope, no sir.
- danudey 10y ago
  The law apparently makes it illegal to create an ad which expresses any preference for a specific racial group. I would assume his argument is that by being invisible to a certain racial group, you are expressing a preference against them.