3 ms·
What do they mean they don't know how Facebook found out? Facebook imports your contacts and then it uses a combination of data you give it and public records d
by peterwwillis 9y ago
What do they mean they don't know how Facebook found out? Facebook imports your contacts and then it uses a combination of data you give it and public records data and it just builds linked lists it then walks.
'John Porter': { records: '1215 Wash Ave,Akron,OH, 555-0001', siblings: 'James Porter' }
'James Porter': { records: '1215 Wash Ave,Akron,OH, 555-8901, jamesp@gmail.com', contacts: '555-0001, 555-1234', spouse: 'Rebecca Porter' }
'Rebecca Porter': { records: '1215 Wash Ave,Akron,OH, 555-1234, facebook.com/rebeccap, rebeccap@gmail.com', contacts: '555-8901' }
'Jim Hill': { records: '9030 Stine Blvd,Miami,FL, 555-5678, jimh@gmail.com', contacts: '555-2345', children: 'Kashmir Hill' }
'Kashmir Hill': { records: '9030 Stine Blvd,Miami,FL 555-2345, facebook.com/kashmirh, kashmirh@gmail.com', contacts: '555-5678' }
Because FP and JH are not on Facebook, we do not have the data connecting the two, so we have to find a path between them with more data.
A very creepy link is possible. For years, companies like Facebook have been compiling profiles on the habits of users browsing the web via tracking cookies. Additional data is collected over time until they know virtually everything about all kinds of people, even if they've never signed up for any website ever. It is very possible that just by browsing the web randomly built up Jim and James's profiles, and searching for the same funeral home created a weak (but potential) connection, which could then be strengthened by mapping other data between their mutual contacts.
But I suspect a simpler explanation exists:
"My father was adopted by a man whose last name was Hill, and he didn’t find out about his biological father until adulthood. [...] A few years ago, my father eventually did meet his biological father, along with two uncles and an aunt, when they sought him out during a trip back to Ohio for his mother’s funeral. [...] My father had met [Rebecca's] husband in person that one time, after my grandmother’s funeral. They exchanged emails, and my father had his number in his phone."
So Kashmir's grandmother died in Ohio, and her father knew her, and so did his biological father, and so did Rebecca's husband. If the grandmother ever had a Facebook, and her son's and her son's father's phone numbers, she would provide a link between Jim and James, and thus a path from Kashmir to Rebecca. Rebecca might also have had Kashmir's grandmother's phone number. If the grandmother and grandfather also were ever married, or lived at the same address, public records could link them.
Regardless of the connection, if you add enough data from enough people over time, even if they are 6 or 7 or 8 links away from each other, the connections can be made, without even creepy tracking stuff.
(Apologies in advance for the huge post)