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>> What are your thoughts with regard to the amount of personal information that Facebook possesses? "Fucking disgusting" >> Regardless of whether they are go

>> What are your thoughts with regard to the amount of personal information that Facebook possesses? "Fucking disgusting" >> Regardless of whether they are good or evil, what do you think the potential implications are? Less privacy, more data in the hands of governments, more police state.

res0nat0r 13y ago
The FB data is being given to them freely by their users
- lucb1e 13y ago
  Define: freely I think Moxie Marlinespike's talk at Defcon 18 (2010) was a really good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0KrT6pBPk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0KrT6pBPk He talks about how we do not really have a free choice when it comes to things like having a Facebook account or having a mobile phone. Namely due to the network effect, you don't really have a choice if you want to be a normal member of society.
  - res0nat0r 13y ago
    How is any of that Facebooks fault?
    - ars_technician 13y ago
      That's exactly their goal. Get as many people to use it as possible so it will be painful to not use. Then exploit the information they gain as much as possible because the users have no alternative.
      - res0nat0r 13y ago
        No alternative? No one is being forced to use Facebook.
        sushirain 13y ago
        There is an increasing amount of peer pressure though.
        argonaut 13y ago
        "How is any of that Facebooks fault?" As repeated by resonator several posts up.
        lucb1e 13y ago
        None of the previous replies addressed this question, so I think it's unfair to downvote this. As I see it, Facebook could at least attempt to act like they have the user's best interest at heart. This means actively educating them about privacy, risks, and not setting defaults to public. Also not everything on private as this would confuse some people, but at least use non-public and reasonable settings. And/or have a public discussion about it. Facebook is becoming ubiquitous enough that it's almost something like "internet" or "calling" in general. For such services we have made laws, e.g. in the Netherlands there is a net neutrality law, and sending spam is illegal. But for individual website we have no laws, nor do I think we can make any in the near future without a huge lot of fuzz about it. I'm not saying governments should make laws for Facebook to follow, I'm just saying it won't any time soon, if at all. So then how do we make sure such a big service acts in our best interest? I think Facebook should start acting less like a for-profit company and more like a government would. Not with elections per se, but at least act in the public's interest instead of working against the users. And that is how I'd answer the question of "how is this Facebook's fault?". Being a popular for-profit company is not a 'fault', but with so many users they have a responsibility, and I think that it's fair if we, hackers that understand the technology, try to make them act responsibly.
        ars_technician 13y ago
        What don't you get? It's exactly facebook's goal to get critical mass to get the network peer pressure. If it's my goal to create a product that forces people via social pressure to do something, it's definitely my fault when it works. Your response is the same as people saying "don't fly" when they complain about the TSA. 'Someone had an unpleasant experience with the TSA? How is that the TSA's fault? That person didn't have to fly.'
- deleted 13y ago
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res0nat0r 13y ago

The FB data is being given to them freely by their users

lucb1e 13y ago
Define: freely I think Moxie Marlinespike's talk at Defcon 18 (2010) was a really good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0KrT6pBPk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0KrT6pBPk He talks about how we do not really have a free choice when it comes to things like having a Facebook account or having a mobile phone. Namely due to the network effect, you don't really have a choice if you want to be a normal member of society.
- res0nat0r 13y ago
  How is any of that Facebooks fault?
  - ars_technician 13y ago
    That's exactly their goal. Get as many people to use it as possible so it will be painful to not use. Then exploit the information they gain as much as possible because the users have no alternative.
    - res0nat0r 13y ago
      No alternative? No one is being forced to use Facebook.
      - sushirain 13y ago
        There is an increasing amount of peer pressure though.
        argonaut 13y ago
        "How is any of that Facebooks fault?" As repeated by resonator several posts up.
        lucb1e 13y ago
        None of the previous replies addressed this question, so I think it's unfair to downvote this. As I see it, Facebook could at least attempt to act like they have the user's best interest at heart. This means actively educating them about privacy, risks, and not setting defaults to public. Also not everything on private as this would confuse some people, but at least use non-public and reasonable settings. And/or have a public discussion about it. Facebook is becoming ubiquitous enough that it's almost something like "internet" or "calling" in general. For such services we have made laws, e.g. in the Netherlands there is a net neutrality law, and sending spam is illegal. But for individual website we have no laws, nor do I think we can make any in the near future without a huge lot of fuzz about it. I'm not saying governments should make laws for Facebook to follow, I'm just saying it won't any time soon, if at all. So then how do we make sure such a big service acts in our best interest? I think Facebook should start acting less like a for-profit company and more like a government would. Not with elections per se, but at least act in the public's interest instead of working against the users. And that is how I'd answer the question of "how is this Facebook's fault?". Being a popular for-profit company is not a 'fault', but with so many users they have a responsibility, and I think that it's fair if we, hackers that understand the technology, try to make them act responsibly.
        ars_technician 13y ago
        What don't you get? It's exactly facebook's goal to get critical mass to get the network peer pressure. If it's my goal to create a product that forces people via social pressure to do something, it's definitely my fault when it works. Your response is the same as people saying "don't fly" when they complain about the TSA. 'Someone had an unpleasant experience with the TSA? How is that the TSA's fault? That person didn't have to fly.'
deleted 13y ago
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