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That's what I'm looking for yes? It's just that the arguments generally presented seem to be able to be applied to skype, forums, blogs, email... pretty much h

by Alexx 15y ago

That's what I'm looking for yes? It's just that the arguments generally presented seem to be able to be applied to skype, forums, blogs, email... pretty much having an IP address, or even a mobile phone. I'm just generally interested in what makes facebook specifically so bad to me personally - beyond it's obvious size and centralisation. The riots one is an interesting example. Do you have any links to examples of people arrested as a result of just having a facebook account? Not just as a result of posting pictures of themselves doing something illegal or organising illegal activity publicly; in which case the medium is unimportant.

ddw 15y ago
Facebook is way more powerful for surveillance because it's a centralized network of people you are connected to and information about yourself. Connections are explicit and easier to track and store and once it's in Facebook it's in forever. While similar surveillance is possible with the other technologies, they aren't in an easily accessible database that can allow extraction of data by interested parties. And it doesn't help that the very company holding all of the data has had a lot of privacy issues in the past. Plus just because surveillance is possible by other means does not make Facebook ok, it's just the scariest for some people at this point.
- need_to_be_safe 15y ago
  The social graph is the holy grail of intelligence analysts and law enforcement. I believe for many years they've been trying to do this themselves, but it requires a massive collection system, along with an equally massive backend database to house all of this information. And it is tough to normalize a person when they have multiple shards of identity. Now, we just give it to them wholesale. In this way, the tech that empowers us may eventually be used against us. It is terrifying enough that I would prefer a more analog future. (Apologies for the throwaway account, but I'm not naive.)
  - Alexx 15y ago
    I agree with what you are saying; that's it's powerful. But I'm still just looking for an example of how this can be leveraged? When you say 'used against' us, how do you mean?

by Alexx 15y ago

ddw 15y ago

Facebook is way more powerful for surveillance because it's a centralized network of people you are connected to and information about yourself. Connections are explicit and easier to track and store and once it's in Facebook it's in forever. While similar surveillance is possible with the other technologies, they aren't in an easily accessible database that can allow extraction of data by interested parties. And it doesn't help that the very company holding all of the data has had a lot of privacy issues in the past. Plus just because surveillance is possible by other means does not make Facebook ok, it's just the scariest for some people at this point.

need_to_be_safe 15y ago
The social graph is the holy grail of intelligence analysts and law enforcement. I believe for many years they've been trying to do this themselves, but it requires a massive collection system, along with an equally massive backend database to house all of this information. And it is tough to normalize a person when they have multiple shards of identity. Now, we just give it to them wholesale. In this way, the tech that empowers us may eventually be used against us. It is terrifying enough that I would prefer a more analog future. (Apologies for the throwaway account, but I'm not naive.)
- Alexx 15y ago
  I agree with what you are saying; that's it's powerful. But I'm still just looking for an example of how this can be leveraged? When you say 'used against' us, how do you mean?