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Academic who collected 50 million Facebook profiles: ‘We thought we were doing something normal’
The Verge ^ | 21 March 2018 | James Vincent

Posted on 03/22/2018 1:58:57 AM PDT by blueplum

....Kogan’s comments, made to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, describe an environment of permissive data-gathering and lax privacy policies. “We thought we were acting perfectly appropriately. We thought we were doing something that was really normal,” Kogan said. “My view is that I’m being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.” {snip}

Whether or not the Facebook data helped swing the election for Trump is unclear, although experts are skeptical. “I think Cambridge Analytica is a better marketing company than a targeting company,” one academic studying political microtargeting told The Verge this week.

Speaking to Radio 4, Kogan echoed these sentiments, saying Cambridge Analytica had tried to sell “magic” but that its efforts “could have only hurt [Trump’s] campaign.”

“The accuracy of this data has been extremely exaggerated,” said Kogan. “In practice my best guess is that we were six times more likely to get everything wrong about a person as we were to get everything right about a person. I personally don’t think micro-targeting is an effective way to use such datasets.”

(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: datagate; facebook; surveillance; zuckerberg
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much ado about nothing?
1 posted on 03/22/2018 1:58:58 AM PDT by blueplum
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To: blueplum

” We thought we were doing something that was really normal,” Kogan said.”

Lol.
“We were just following orders.”


2 posted on 03/22/2018 2:04:44 AM PDT by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: blueplum

theft of personal info done in secret and then sold.

Nothing to see here.


4 posted on 03/22/2018 2:11:45 AM PDT by Diogenesis
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To: blueplum

First, let’s look at the Facebook insider-geek who brought the material to Cambridge Analytical (Christopher Wylie). He seems not to have ever understood Cambridge Analytical, their customer base, or how his data set would fit in. Then he gets all weepy-eyed thinking that he helped to elect Trump.

Second, Cambridge Analytical itself? Funded by Bannon...they were telling a lot of people that they had ‘lightning in the bottle’ with this Facebook data. What they really knew were people-clicks on certain topics and they simply guessed at what that really meant.

Third, Facebook said from day on....the only real profit would come when they could sell and use your personal data (they said this in 2008/2009). It’s clear that virtually every social media site is offering their free deal....just to get at your private data. For anyone to act shocked now? Totally fake.

Fourth, a bunch of journalists are sitting there in frustration....that they might have helped Trump win. To resolve this....either you force Facebook into a non-profit situation (impossible) or you quit social media.

A bunch of folks may be hyped up....but so far, there is no law broken. I know....I’ve seen five different journalists over the past 24 hours say laws were broken but so far....no one cites the precise law. So it’s a fake outrage, if you ask me.


5 posted on 03/22/2018 2:19:42 AM PDT by pepsionice
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This has blown up into a BIG DEAL cause Liberal think Facebook got TRUMP Elected!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

BS! No trump Supporters were influenced bt Facebook! It was ALL TRUMP!!!

6 posted on 03/22/2018 2:23:17 AM PDT by KavMan
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To: pepsionice

I answered some Facebook profile stuff with made up answers. Sometimes I say I am male, sometimes female, Or ”other”. I say I worked at Disney Paris, making pixie dust....


7 posted on 03/22/2018 2:24:07 AM PDT by buffyt (John 14:6)
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To: blueplum
Right. He and his fellow “academics” did not know what they were doing.

However, I’ll bet he, and they, still think they are smart enough to be qualified to tell us peasants what to think and how to live our lives.

8 posted on 03/22/2018 2:42:07 AM PDT by WayneS (An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Winston Churchill.)
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To: blueplum

“We thought we were acting perfectly appropriately. We thought we were doing something that was really normal,”

...after all Odungo did it for years
and nobody did anything about it...
What Constitution?


9 posted on 03/22/2018 3:01:25 AM PDT by Doogle (( USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand....never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: blueplum

Isn’t the whole point of Facebook to broadcast personal info about yourself to the word?


10 posted on 03/22/2018 3:10:51 AM PDT by eclecticEel ("The petty man forsakes what lies within his power and longs for what lies with Heaven." - Xunzi)
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To: pepsionice
A bunch of folks may be hyped up....but so far, there is no law broken. I know....I’ve seen five different journalists over the past 24 hours say laws were broken but so far....no one cites the precise law. So it’s a fake outrage, if you ask me.

Correct. Facebook collects and sells data for profit. Companies pay Facebook to have access to that data. That is known as a business transaction...not a crime. (unless you are a Communist)

11 posted on 03/22/2018 3:19:54 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob ("Other People's Money" = The life blood of Liberalism)
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To: blueplum

When the Obama campaign data mined Facebook, the media excitedly reported about how brilliant and sophisticated it was and it proved that Obama is a genius. When the Trump campaign did something similar, now it is sinister and a misuse of data and a horrible scandal and the crime of the century.


12 posted on 03/22/2018 4:02:42 AM PDT by Wilhelm Tell (True or False? This is not a tag line.)
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To: blueplum

Targeted marketing is as old as marketing.


13 posted on 03/22/2018 4:05:45 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: P.O.E.

yeah I’m influenced by liberal progressive websites


14 posted on 03/22/2018 4:18:15 AM PDT by ronnie raygun (Trump plays chess the rest are still playing checkers)
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To: P.O.E.

yeah I’m influenced by liberal progressive websites


15 posted on 03/22/2018 4:18:15 AM PDT by ronnie raygun (Trump plays chess the rest are still playing checkers)
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To: Diogenesis

“theft of personal info done in secret and then sold.”

It’s not theft if you agree to it. And you do when you accept the Ts&Cs. If you didn’t read all 574 pages of them, that’s on you.

If you have a Facebook profile you’re not the customer. You’re the product.

L


16 posted on 03/22/2018 4:29:03 AM PDT by Lurker (President Trump isn't our last chance. President Trump is THEIR last chance.)
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To: blueplum

I’m kind of at a loss on this one. CA didn’t do anything wrong. They mined data that was publicly available. This would be no different than walking into a local bar or restaurant, sitting at a table adjacent to a chatty family and writing down everything they talk about. There’s nothing stopping anyone from doing this, CA just happened to be the first very prominent example of a company doing this to the benefit of a politician.

The truth is that companies around the world are doing this every day, sometimes to the benefit of the customers. “Big data,” or business intelligence, is being used across the spectrum of businesses for everything from marketing to fraud prevention. Matter of fact, it’s almost a certainty that your bank/credit union is using a fraud solution that mines your purchase data to prevent fraud.

It’s pretty simple: you purchase things in patterns. You go the same grocery store, you fuel up your car on a pretty regular schedule, your bills are likely paid online or through a bill pay service, everything about your purchase activity is monitored. When someone buys something using your card number in a Walgreens three states away, it’s flagged as suspicious. You don’t live in that state, you have no family in that state, and you recently purchased something with the same card in an establishment local to you. That Walgreen transaction is either flagged or outright declined. Data analytics just saved you a headache!

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Hell, any social media platform is not in the business of providing YOU a service. YOU are the product. They are watching YOU and using your personal information to form profiles about you and sell those profiles to third parties. If you put your personal information ANYWHERE on the Internet, even if it’s in a location you presume to be secure, you’re gonna have a bad time!

Read the privacy agreements that companies send you, and go through the steps to protect your information. Oftentimes this is just a nondescript piece of paper that falls out of an envelope from your bank, but it’s the only thing keeping your data safe. Otherwise, most companies work on the concept of “presumed consent” when you sign up to use your services. Since most Americans just click “Accept” on end user licensing agreements (EULA) and similar forms, you’re giving away the farm without realizing it.

Be smart, folks. This new age of tech is not interested in your rights.


17 posted on 03/22/2018 4:29:31 AM PDT by rarestia (Repeal the 17th Amendment and ratify Article the First to give the power back to the people!)
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To: blueplum
much ado about nothing?

It would have been had Hillary won like she was supposed to.

18 posted on 03/22/2018 4:31:24 AM PDT by Drew68
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To: Darksheare

“Everyone’s doing it” is a defense that doesn’t fly in middle school.


19 posted on 03/22/2018 4:32:20 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: buffyt
I answered some Facebook profile stuff with made up answers. Sometimes I say I am male, sometimes female, Or ”other”. I say I worked at Disney Paris, making pixie dust....


20 posted on 03/22/2018 4:33:15 AM PDT by Drew68
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