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Only focusing on Facebook's scandal shifts attention away from the real issue, which is tracking on the internet in general. Most people aren't aware of the ext

Only focusing on Facebook's scandal shifts attention away from the real issue, which is tracking on the internet in general. Most people aren't aware of the extent to which they are sharing information.

latexr 9y ago
Focusing on Facebook gives the benefit of focus. Techies have been warning people for years about tracking on the internet, but “tracking on the internet” is a vague premisse. It’s by bringing the actions of popular bad actors to light that we’ll raise awareness to the rest. People need something tangible that they see is affecting them, and Facebook’s scandal is just that.
- pessimizer 9y ago
  > It’s by bringing the actions of popular bad actors to light that we’ll raise awareness to the rest. What usually happens is that the one "bad actor" gets turned into a "bad apple," convincingly repents, is renamed, or is dismantles, other companies have a quiet period during the media frenzy to avoid being the next focus, then continue with impunity. If focusing on facebook brings legislative changes, then good. If focusing on facebook just punishes facebook, who cares?
  - latexr 9y ago
    > If focusing on facebook just punishes facebook, who cares? Everyone. Punishing one single bad actor (and one of the biggest, at that) is indisputably better than punishing zero. By having one answer by the consequences of their actions, the others see the same can happen to them. The math is simple. A bunch of little people against multiple tech giants. There’s no way the people have a chance to deal with all the giants at once. One at a time, maybe.
skybrian 9y ago
The problem is when you lose all technical details and are just left with who you think is good and who is evil. We should be asking, how do other companies share their data? How much info does someone publishing to each app store get? What do third-party vendors on Amazon get? What do advertisers get? Also, how much did direct marketers already know before the Internet came along?
John_KZ 9y ago
Focusing on Facebook exclusively (for now) will give the public a real, indisputable, concrete example on why data mining is terrifying. If you start babbling on how "everyone's doing it" then you take away much of the importance and seriousness of the topic. People start going "you didn't know that? Of course they do" and "yeah, what can you do about it, right?" and just shrug the issue away. But with the specifics of Facebook and CA, you know that something can be done, and that not everyone has been doing it the same way and at the same magnitude. Even if it's just Facebook, it's a step forward. You can't expect to take down all internet giants at once.

latexr 9y ago

Focusing on Facebook gives the benefit of focus. Techies have been warning people for years about tracking on the internet, but “tracking on the internet” is a vague premisse. It’s by bringing the actions of popular bad actors to light that we’ll raise awareness to the rest. People need something tangible that they see is affecting them, and Facebook’s scandal is just that.

pessimizer 9y ago
> It’s by bringing the actions of popular bad actors to light that we’ll raise awareness to the rest. What usually happens is that the one "bad actor" gets turned into a "bad apple," convincingly repents, is renamed, or is dismantles, other companies have a quiet period during the media frenzy to avoid being the next focus, then continue with impunity. If focusing on facebook brings legislative changes, then good. If focusing on facebook just punishes facebook, who cares?
- latexr 9y ago
  > If focusing on facebook just punishes facebook, who cares? Everyone. Punishing one single bad actor (and one of the biggest, at that) is indisputably better than punishing zero. By having one answer by the consequences of their actions, the others see the same can happen to them. The math is simple. A bunch of little people against multiple tech giants. There’s no way the people have a chance to deal with all the giants at once. One at a time, maybe.

skybrian 9y ago

The problem is when you lose all technical details and are just left with who you think is good and who is evil. We should be asking, how do other companies share their data? How much info does someone publishing to each app store get? What do third-party vendors on Amazon get? What do advertisers get? Also, how much did direct marketers already know before the Internet came along?

John_KZ 9y ago

Focusing on Facebook exclusively (for now) will give the public a real, indisputable, concrete example on why data mining is terrifying. If you start babbling on how "everyone's doing it" then you take away much of the importance and seriousness of the topic. People start going "you didn't know that? Of course they do" and "yeah, what can you do about it, right?" and just shrug the issue away. But with the specifics of Facebook and CA, you know that something can be done, and that not everyone has been doing it the same way and at the same magnitude. Even if it's just Facebook, it's a step forward. You can't expect to take down all internet giants at once.