Announcement

Collapse

Civics 101 Guidelines

Want to argue about politics? Healthcare reform? Taxes? Governments? You've come to the right place!

Try to keep it civil though. The rules still apply here.
See more
See less

50 million Facebook profiles harvested for firm linked to former Trump adviser

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for firm linked to former Trump adviser

    The data analytics firm that worked with Donald Trump’s election team and the winning Brexit campaign harvested millions of Facebook profiles of US voters, in one of the tech giant’s biggest ever data breaches, and used them to build a powerful software program to predict and influence choices at the ballot box.
    Very interesting: https://www.theguardian.com/news/201...ce-us-election
    "Yes. President Trump is a huge embarrassment. And it’s an embarrassment to evangelical Christianity that there appear to be so many who will celebrate precisely the aspects that I see Biblically as most lamentable and embarrassing." Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler Jr.

  • #2
    And...?

    I'm always still in trouble again

    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
      And...?
      Apparently it's now considered wrong for a political candidate to attempt to influence people to vote for him.

      This is getting very silly.
      Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
      But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
      Than a fool in the eyes of God


      From "Fools Gold" by Petra

      Comment


      • #4
        Here's the money-quote buried near the bottom of the article:

        '[Facebook] said in a statement that Kogan “gained access to this information in a legitimate way and through the proper channels”...'

        They just didn't like how the information was used. In other words, there's nothing to see here.
        Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
        But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
        Than a fool in the eyes of God


        From "Fools Gold" by Petra

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
          Here's the money-quote buried near the bottom of the article:

          '[Facebook] said in a statement that Kogan “gained access to this information in a legitimate way and through the proper channels”...'

          They just didn't like how the information was used. In other words, there's nothing to see here.
          There is nothing to see there? How about this part?

          Paul-Olivier Dehaye, a data protection specialist, who spearheaded the investigative efforts into the tech giant, said: “Facebook has denied and denied and denied this. It has misled MPs and congressional investigators and it’s failed in its duties to respect the law.

          “It has a legal obligation to inform regulators and individuals about this data breach, and it hasn’t. It’s failed time and time again to be open and transparent.”
          And for your the part you quoted, let's see the whole part:

          Facebook denies that the harvesting of tens of millions of profiles by GSR and Cambridge Analytica was a data breach. It said in a statement that Kogan “gained access to this information in a legitimate way and through the proper channels” but “did not subsequently abide by our rules” because he passed the information on to third parties.
          "Yes. President Trump is a huge embarrassment. And it’s an embarrassment to evangelical Christianity that there appear to be so many who will celebrate precisely the aspects that I see Biblically as most lamentable and embarrassing." Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler Jr.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
            Apparently it's now considered wrong for a political candidate to attempt to influence people to vote for him.

            This is getting very silly.
            I encourage everyone who believes this is a qualified response to actually read the article in order to see that what MM says about the points in this article is simply not true. It is certainly not the point that it is considered wrong for a political candidate to attempt to influence people to vote for him.
            "Yes. President Trump is a huge embarrassment. And it’s an embarrassment to evangelical Christianity that there appear to be so many who will celebrate precisely the aspects that I see Biblically as most lamentable and embarrassing." Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler Jr.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Charles View Post
              There is nothing to see there?
              Not really.

              The issue is whether or not this technically qualifies as a data breach and whether or not Facebook acted appropriately. According to Facebook, everything was legal and proper.
              Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
              But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
              Than a fool in the eyes of God


              From "Fools Gold" by Petra

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                Not really.

                The issue is whether or not this technically qualifies as a data breach and whether or not Facebook acted appropriately. According to Facebook, everything was legal and proper.
                That is not the issue but I understand why you would like to present that as the issue and everyone who actually reads the article will easily see that you are wrong. And what is your reason for trusting Facebook when experts claim they are wrong? You have not yet given any reason.

                The real issue rather seems to be this:

                A whistleblower has revealed to the Observer how Cambridge Analytica – a company owned by the hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, and headed at the time by Trump’s key adviser Steve Bannon – used personal information taken without authorisation in early 2014 to build a system that could profile individual US voters, in order to target them with personalised political advertisements.
                I see why you would like it to be about something else.
                "Yes. President Trump is a huge embarrassment. And it’s an embarrassment to evangelical Christianity that there appear to be so many who will celebrate precisely the aspects that I see Biblically as most lamentable and embarrassing." Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler Jr.

                Comment


                • #9
                  And according to Facebook, the information was gathered "in legitimate way and through the proper channels".

                  And just because it might have given Trump some small advantage in his epic defeat of Hillary, certain people are, of course, crying foul.
                  Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                  But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                  Than a fool in the eyes of God


                  From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                    And according to Facebook, the information was gathered "in legitimate way and through the proper channels".

                    And just because it might have given Trump some small advantage in his epic defeat of Hillary, certain people are, of course, crying foul.
                    That is another misrepresentation of the facts. Let me repeat an important part:

                    Facebook denies that the harvesting of tens of millions of profiles by GSR and Cambridge Analytica was a data breach. It said in a statement that Kogan “gained access to this information in a legitimate way and through the proper channels” but “did not subsequently abide by our rules” because he passed the information on to third parties.
                    Emphasis mine.

                    Are you ready to take a real debate instead of misrepresenting it? So far you have said quite a lot that every reader can easily see is wrong if they read the article.
                    "Yes. President Trump is a huge embarrassment. And it’s an embarrassment to evangelical Christianity that there appear to be so many who will celebrate precisely the aspects that I see Biblically as most lamentable and embarrassing." Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler Jr.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Charles View Post
                      Let me repeat an important part...
                      Like I said, they didn't have a problem with them gathering the information, they just didn't like how that information was used, that is to Trump's advantage.

                      What's most interesting is that Facebook is in a Catch-22: they are actively anti-Trump, but if they press on this issue then they could be on the hook for breaking federal law. It will be interesting to see what they do
                      Last edited by Mountain Man; 03-18-2018, 02:25 PM.
                      Some may call me foolish, and some may call me odd
                      But I'd rather be a fool in the eyes of man
                      Than a fool in the eyes of God


                      From "Fools Gold" by Petra

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                        Like I said, they didn't have a problem with them gathering the information, they just didn't like how that information was used. that is to Trump's advantage.
                        That was what you said but like most things you have said in this thread it is quite far from the truth. What they actually said was that when sharing information with third parties they did not abide by the rules. That differs quite a lot from not liking Trump or not liking it to be used in Trumps favour. It was simply used against the rules. And as I mentioned this is the softest version of the story. Technical experts go quite a lot further.
                        "Yes. President Trump is a huge embarrassment. And it’s an embarrassment to evangelical Christianity that there appear to be so many who will celebrate precisely the aspects that I see Biblically as most lamentable and embarrassing." Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler Jr.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Mountain Man View Post
                          What's most interesting is that Facebook is in a Catch-22: they are actively anti-Trump, but if they press on this issue then they could be on the hook for breaking federal law. It will be interesting to see what they do
                          Progs are attacking own side, over everyday harvesting at facebook.
                          Last edited by demi-conservative; 03-18-2018, 09:01 PM.
                          Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The real problem is not a "data breach" it is people willingly giving away their private information in return for playing idiotic personality tests or stupid games on facebook and then crying about it later. People never read the fine print when they play these stupid games, it says right there that by playing the game or test you give them permission to access your profile, friends, and other information.

                            It used to be people were afraid of "Big Brother" spying on them, yet now they just give away their information. And they post everything on facebook to "public" because they want to get more "likes" and "shares" but when you do that, you are giving everyone access to your page and information too. I work at a law firm and one of the first things a law firm does when there is a case is gather a person's public social media. Everything they post public on facebook, instagram, twitter, etc gets captured. People are stupid. Lock down your social media and don't play games on facebook unless you trust the company with your information.

                            That's the lesson to be learned here.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Sparko View Post
                              The real problem is not a "data breach" it is people willingly giving away their private information in return for playing idiotic personality tests or stupid games on facebook and then crying about it later. People never read the fine print when they play these stupid games, it says right there that by playing the game or test you give them permission to access your profile, friends, and other information.

                              It used to be people were afraid of "Big Brother" spying on them, yet now they just give away their information. And they post everything on facebook to "public" because they want to get more "likes" and "shares" but when you do that, you are giving everyone access to your page and information too. I work at a law firm and one of the first things a law firm does when there is a case is gather a person's public social media. Everything they post public on facebook, instagram, twitter, etc gets captured. People are stupid. Lock down your social media and don't play games on facebook unless you trust the company with your information.

                              That's the lesson to be learned here.
                              As I understand the article I read this morning, the issue is not so much the information of those who took the test (which as you note had a clause in its agreement allowing this), but the information of their friends which was also shared. This isn't the first time Facebook has been the focus of investigation over giving away private information. That it was given to an organization working for Trump isn't really relevant; it's just another excuse for outrage.
                              Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

                              Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
                              sigpic
                              I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

                              Comment

                              Related Threads

                              Collapse

                              Topics Statistics Last Post
                              Started by little_monkey, Yesterday, 04:19 PM
                              16 responses
                              137 views
                              0 likes
                              Last Post One Bad Pig  
                              Started by whag, 03-26-2024, 04:38 PM
                              53 responses
                              356 views
                              0 likes
                              Last Post Mountain Man  
                              Started by rogue06, 03-26-2024, 11:45 AM
                              25 responses
                              112 views
                              0 likes
                              Last Post rogue06
                              by rogue06
                               
                              Started by Hypatia_Alexandria, 03-26-2024, 09:21 AM
                              33 responses
                              197 views
                              0 likes
                              Last Post Roy
                              by Roy
                               
                              Started by Hypatia_Alexandria, 03-26-2024, 08:34 AM
                              84 responses
                              364 views
                              0 likes
                              Last Post JimL
                              by JimL
                               
                              Working...
                              X