4 ms·

This is an old strategy, and one of the reasons I don't accept random friend requests. It isn't just the NYPD that does this, it's advertisers, data mining com

This is an old strategy, and one of the reasons I don't accept random friend requests. It isn't just the NYPD that does this, it's advertisers, data mining companies, financial institutions, employers, nation-states, ex's, stalkers, etc. It's cheap and easy to do, so why wouldn't organizations mine that data that have the resources to do so?

sneak 3y ago
If your strategy is to give private data to an ad company and then expect who you do or do not friend to be the perimeter that controls its distribution, you have already lost. The best thing you can do is to delete your profiles on these services.
- pbhjpbhj 3y ago
  Such services are useful (to me, for one), you're throwing out the baby with the bath water.
  - sneak 3y ago
    The problem is that when you are on it, you contribute to the network effect and make it more useful to others to submit themselves to surveillance in turn. You and your interactions with your friends becomes the honey in the trap. I urge a visit to the Stasi museum in Berlin.
    - noman-land 3y ago
      The Stasi museum was horrifying. It felt like walking thru the history of American politics of the past 20 years in parallel.
  - noman-land 3y ago
    The baby has already died and the bathwater is diseased and festering. Give it a proper funeral if you like, but it needs to be buried deep in the ground where it cannot spread any more disease.
- heavyset_go 3y ago
  I agree, but there's no reason to make it easier for even more parties to get their hands on the data if you're going to use them anyway.
aqme28 3y ago
Have you ever had friend requests from a "clone"? An actual IRL friend of yours, but it's a scam duplicate of their profile. It's not always immediately obvious if this isn't a friend you interact with regularly, like someone who accepted a request from years ago.
- heavyset_go 3y ago
  Hasn't happened that I know about, but I only accept requests after confirming with the person who added me that they sent it. I spent too much time in parts of the internet where catfishing like that was done routinely as trolling.

sneak 3y ago

If your strategy is to give private data to an ad company and then expect who you do or do not friend to be the perimeter that controls its distribution, you have already lost. The best thing you can do is to delete your profiles on these services.

pbhjpbhj 3y ago
Such services are useful (to me, for one), you're throwing out the baby with the bath water.
- sneak 3y ago
  The problem is that when you are on it, you contribute to the network effect and make it more useful to others to submit themselves to surveillance in turn. You and your interactions with your friends becomes the honey in the trap. I urge a visit to the Stasi museum in Berlin.
  - noman-land 3y ago
    The Stasi museum was horrifying. It felt like walking thru the history of American politics of the past 20 years in parallel.
- noman-land 3y ago
  The baby has already died and the bathwater is diseased and festering. Give it a proper funeral if you like, but it needs to be buried deep in the ground where it cannot spread any more disease.
heavyset_go 3y ago
I agree, but there's no reason to make it easier for even more parties to get their hands on the data if you're going to use them anyway.

aqme28 3y ago

Have you ever had friend requests from a "clone"? An actual IRL friend of yours, but it's a scam duplicate of their profile. It's not always immediately obvious if this isn't a friend you interact with regularly, like someone who accepted a request from years ago.

heavyset_go 3y ago
Hasn't happened that I know about, but I only accept requests after confirming with the person who added me that they sent it. I spent too much time in parts of the internet where catfishing like that was done routinely as trolling.