4 ms·

Firing employees dumb enough to snoop and brag isn't enough to restore user confidence. Facebook needs to take concrete steps to prevent employees from snoopin

• beedogs 9y ago
  If it makes you feel any better, you've missed absolutely nothing. Facebook has only gotten worse.
  • chiefalchemist 9y ago
    FB was been and still is what it's always been...a mirror and a magnifier. What's changing is the tolerance some ppl (e.g., you, me, the HN'er above your comment) have for it's mindless minutia, as well as the privacy issues. The takeaway for me is simple: the evolution of humans - FB the Big Inc and the masses that feed its bottom line -is greatly exaggerated. Could some of the devo'ing be due to FB? I suppose. But for the most part, the signs have been there all along, FB just made it undeniable.
    • psyc 9y ago
      I agree it's roughly the same as it's been. I think its ubiquity has made the FB situation worse.
      • chiefalchemist 9y ago
        Yes. If nothing else,easier to see, and at the same time complicity / "normalization" has increased. It's a massive collective blindspot.
  • jazoom 9y ago
    I agree. It has gotten noticeably worse (for me) every month for several months now, possibly years. The algorithm picks such rubbish for my timeline I'd probably rather see ads. I mainly use Facebook for the messaging.
    • ams6110 9y ago
      It's like how more and more people are "cord cutting" their cable TV. Some keep it because one or two features (e.g. live sports) are still worth it to them, but more and more people are finding alternate ways to achieve the things they really want without feeling like they've gone for a swim in a cesspool to get there.
• vinchuco 9y ago
  >restore user confidence perhaps bliss is a better word
• sigfubar 9y ago
  Apparently there isn’t a stick big enough to prevent abuse by employees. What a surprise! This is human nature, plain and simple. The threat of job loss did very little to alter human nature in other settings. How can this go any differently at Facebook? When a honeypot this big is right there for the taking, there’s no amount of threats that’ll dissuade the bad actors. The solution is refreshingly simple: don’t allow sensitive information to accumulate in such quantities and at such high concentration.
  • toss1 9y ago
    Not allowing accumulations to grow is fine, except when they are needed. If they exist, need to also implement strong security compartmentalization, logging, oversight, etc. to prevent. And, the stick needs to be bigger too, not only firing from one job, but blacklisting from others, and prosecution. You do that, you're not only done, you're out of a career, and will be lucky to not find yourself in jail. (I'm no usually that punitive, but that level of casual abuse...)
    • lovich 9y ago
      Why would just the employees face consequences that dire and including prison time? Put the on us on the company and they should figure out how to incentivize people correctly. That's the benefit of capitalism right?
      • toss1 9y ago
        Absolutely -- increase the scope and also go after the managers and execs who design & implement badly secured systems -- you'll get no objection from me.
• tw1010 9y ago
  What makes you think this is the only lever they're playing with to change public perception? This is an easy lever that costs little but is dangerous and risky if not pulled. But the entirety of their strategy obviously consists of many more puzzle pieces than what this article happened to uncover.
  • noitsnot 9y ago
    It's not a lever at all. The only reason you know about it is that he bragged about it to a stranger who may or may have not pieced together a story based on a few social media comments.
    • tw1010 9y ago
      The lever is the quick firing and the curt response "Employees who abuse these controls will be fired — period."