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Why should I trust people working at universities with my private data?
by ori_b 7y ago
Why should I trust people working at universities with my private data?
- Alex3917 7y agoBecause it's necessary for academics to have real datasets in order to do quantitative research on social systems.
- ori_b 7y agoThat's not sufficient reason to trust them.
- bathtub365 7y agoI don’t think it’s necessary. In fact, I’d prefer if these researchers didn’t even exist.
- 0_gravitas 7y agoCan you make a good case for legitimate researchers of any kind not to exist? Just because its a potentially dangerous/dismal subject matter doesn't mean it should be discarded as forbidden knowledge; if the truth destroys us then perhaps we deserve to be destroyed, better that than to live in ignorance.
- ori_b 7y agoLet them exist; However, their existence shouldn't be a free license to data.
- nine_k 7y agoA better question: why would you trust a company like Facebook with your private data? To my mind, if you post something to a social network, and twice as much to Facebook, you should only post stuff which you won't mind posted openly on every wall in your town.
- rvnx 7y agoBecause if done properly, employees interests are aligned with the interests of the employer. If you own significant stock options in Facebook, it's not very wise to to cut the branch you are sitting on. Additionally, external researchers have much higher risk, because they may seek fame, or need money (employee are generally in a safe position, the intern at a research group is not). An exclusive data leak can bring both advantages. Also, they may not have the same security practices as internal ones (deep packet inspection, etc).
- ori_b 7y agoYou shouldn't. But let's not make the problem worse?
- sneak 7y agoFacebook collects tons of private data across the whole of the web that we don’t generally consent to giving them. They are an advertising company, after all.