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This sounds very weird. It's OK if the user has consented to it, but this feels more like the company taking law in it's own hands. Hope it's a one off rather t

This sounds very weird. It's OK if the user has consented to it, but this feels more like the company taking law in it's own hands. Hope it's a one off rather than becoming a norm.

vidarh 8y ago
Part of the problem is that unless the consent is very explicitly communicated so that there is no doubt, it has the potential to pose substantial risks to people. When I was at school, I remember a student that went abroad that had to get assistance to find new housing after she'd been thrown out by her host family just for receiving a letter from the political youth organization she was a member of at home in Norway, for example (she was a member of Socialist Youth - the youth organization of a mainstream left wing party that has since been part of ruling coalitions, nothing remotely extremist, but too much for her particular host family). That was a benign situation compared to what might happen if Facebook starts outing peoples political views to people they may have no expectation of sharing their views with, but who has physical access. I don't this process will survive contact with the real world very long before they get sued.
- sacheendra 8y ago
  If the person didn't want the political views to be public, they shouldn't have tried to buy ads about them.
  - vidarh 8y ago
    There is a difference between wanting their views to be public and wanting your neighbours, parents, co-workers etc. to know about them. Through a lot of human history, people have fought for certain views exactly because they faced oppression and immediate risk to their person for those views. E.g. gay people wanting equal rights in societies where they at times may place their life at risk to come forward.
- kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
  People with such concerns should launch their own social media platform so they don't have to be subject to someone else's rules.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
    Oh, is that all?
webmobdev 8y ago
> "This action, if true, clearly infringes upon the privacy of a user. Sending a representative to physically verifying a user is a blatant invasion of his or her privacy space. Only the state can act like this under proper laws," Pavan Duggal, nation's top cyber law expert and a senior Supreme Court advocate, told IANS.
- gruez 8y ago
  That seems baffling. This it's not like facebook is sending a bunch of goons to ask for your ID "or else". How is this any different than someone coming to your door for marketing purposes? I get there's the privacy aspect because they're asking for ID, but you could always say "no" and slam the door.

This sounds very weird. It's OK if the user has consented to it, but this feels more like the company taking law in it's own hands. Hope it's a one off rather than becoming a norm.

vidarh 8y ago

Part of the problem is that unless the consent is very explicitly communicated so that there is no doubt, it has the potential to pose substantial risks to people. When I was at school, I remember a student that went abroad that had to get assistance to find new housing after she'd been thrown out by her host family just for receiving a letter from the political youth organization she was a member of at home in Norway, for example (she was a member of Socialist Youth - the youth organization of a mainstream left wing party that has since been part of ruling coalitions, nothing remotely extremist, but too much for her particular host family). That was a benign situation compared to what might happen if Facebook starts outing peoples political views to people they may have no expectation of sharing their views with, but who has physical access. I don't this process will survive contact with the real world very long before they get sued.

sacheendra 8y ago
If the person didn't want the political views to be public, they shouldn't have tried to buy ads about them.
- vidarh 8y ago
  There is a difference between wanting their views to be public and wanting your neighbours, parents, co-workers etc. to know about them. Through a lot of human history, people have fought for certain views exactly because they faced oppression and immediate risk to their person for those views. E.g. gay people wanting equal rights in societies where they at times may place their life at risk to come forward.
kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
People with such concerns should launch their own social media platform so they don't have to be subject to someone else's rules.
- yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
  Oh, is that all?

webmobdev 8y ago

> "This action, if true, clearly infringes upon the privacy of a user. Sending a representative to physically verifying a user is a blatant invasion of his or her privacy space. Only the state can act like this under proper laws," Pavan Duggal, nation's top cyber law expert and a senior Supreme Court advocate, told IANS.

gruez 8y ago
That seems baffling. This it's not like facebook is sending a bunch of goons to ask for your ID "or else". How is this any different than someone coming to your door for marketing purposes? I get there's the privacy aspect because they're asking for ID, but you could always say "no" and slam the door.