Digital Privacy
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@kirwan oh totally, and it's terrifying. Not so much because they know what I'm up to, but what they can learn and encourage when looking at huge data sets etc. I'm hoping we see another messaging provider pop up - with Wassap owned by dirty FB they can say they have stuck to their principles but... yeah right.
Showed my MIL how this worked on her tablet. We spoke about buying a house in an area she hadn't ever heard of and lo and behold what starts popping up on her FB and in her google ads? you guessed it.
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I have taken a really lax attitude towards this stuff, the "have nothing to hide, no algorithm can influence my choices". But now the kids are all active on devices, it's probably time to reflect.
At least my time on the Fern now explains all those ads I constantly get for Malaysian ladyboys
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It isn't just the likes of Google and FB.
There's a major high-speed rail project here in the UK called HS2 being run by a government-run company. People living near the line who can't sell their house while it's being built can apply online for financial assistance. As usual there's a "You accept our Terms and Conditions" pop-up - of course no-one reads the things as it's a government-run project.
Turns out the T&C's gave the project the right to access your medical history and notes, financial records and to contact your employer on salary, promotion prospects etc - and they were doing exactly that before they were exposed and stopped.
Terrifying stuff.
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@victor-meldrew said in Digital Privacy:
It isn't just the likes of Google and FB.
There's a major high-speed rail project here in the UK called HS2 being run by a government-run company. People living near the line who can't sell their house while it's being built can apply online for financial assistance. As usual there's a "You accept our Terms and Conditions" pop-up - of course no-one reads the things as it's a government-run project.
Turns out the T&C's gave the project the right to access your medical history and notes, financial records and to contact your employer on salary, promotion prospects etc - and they were doing exactly that before they were exposed and stopped.
Terrifying stuff.
That, is fucking outrageous
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@voodoo said in Digital Privacy:
That, is fucking outrageous
It was "a mistake not sanctioned by senior management" apparently. Yeah, right
It was spotted pretty quickly and stopped (the banks tipped off their customers) & I don't think they got their hands on any stuff, but the fact they were civil servants and thought it OK to try is deeply troubling.
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@victor-meldrew mate, it really is.
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If you guys haven't already, I'd strongly recommend watching The Social Dilemma. Especially if you have kids.
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@voodoo said in Digital Privacy:
I have taken a really lax attitude towards this stuff, the "have nothing to hide, no algorithm can influence my choices". But now the kids are all active on devices, it's probably time to reflect.
At least my time on the Fern now explains all those ads I constantly get for Malaysian ladyboys
Small world eh?
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@catogrande disturbingly so
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@raznomore maybe you think aloud a lot more than you realise! hmmm but surely those will all be ads for hot chicks and stuff
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@paekakboyz I'm only half serious....nothing but wall to wall tentacle porn ads..
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@paekakboyz said in Digital Privacy:
@kirwan oh totally, and it's terrifying. Not so much because they know what I'm up to, but what they can learn and encourage when looking at huge data sets etc. I'm hoping we see another messaging provider pop up - with Wassap owned by dirty FB they can say they have stuck to their principles but... yeah right.
Showed my MIL how this worked on her tablet. We spoke about buying a house in an area she hadn't ever heard of and lo and behold what starts popping up on her FB and in her google ads? you guessed it.
It's not listening, that would destroy the battery life and be easy for people to check for. The algorithms and inferences it can make with all the data they have is creepily effective.
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@kirwan i reckon its both, but only triggering on key words or something like that. As you are right that it'd be battery hungry if on 24/7. And easily identified I guess.
They know you and what you view, buy, and where you go. Then who else is around you and what their habits are. It's crazy shit but we've all clicked through the Privacy novels.
Which app had that hack that played a silent track to keep it active? So it could monitor other user activity
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I had a situation about 18 months ago, out seeing a client, and spotted portable generators, hadnt thought about it before, but asked him about them.
I return to work and I had ads for generators show up.
Can only have been from listening, as much as I didn't/dont want to believe it.
No algorithm could have done that, it was such a random thing, even the client meeting was last minute and the business name had nothing to do with generators.
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@taniwharugby said in Digital Privacy:
I had a situation about 18 months ago, out seeing a client, and spotted portable generators, hadnt thought about it before, but asked him about them.
I return to work and I had ads for generators show up.
Can only have been from listening, as much as I didn't/dont want to believe it.
No algorithm could have done that, it was such a random thing, even the client meeting was last minute and the business name had nothing to do with generators.
How did the client get the portable generators? Did he do a google search, did he have emails from the company providing them? As soon as your phone registered as being close to his, then all his searches became related to you too. The the ML takes a stab at what you'll be interested in too.
It's data mining, not eavesdropping.
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@kirwan said in Digital Privacy:
did he have emails from the company providing them
he is a bit more old school with his online activity, but I'd say invoices would be emailed.
So the mining picks up the characters/content of the PDF invoice or whatever is used, given most invoices simply state the number when multiple items are purchased.
