Discussions

Came out yesterday that Facebook has been giving 150 companies a lot more access to private information than they have been letting on.  
 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/technology/facebook-privacy.html  
 
The worst was Facebook gave three companies access to read users' private messages.Netflix and Spotify say they didn't use the access, and the Royal Bank says they didn't have the access: regardless there is no evidence that any of the three took advantage of the free gift Facebook gave them.  
 
Personally, I've sandboxed Facebook off into its own browser on a year-old account after deleting the old one, but I'm considering closing my account altogether. How are others reacting to this latest Facebook cluster**** ?  
 
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As for an alternative with similar function, MeWe.com seems to have a better privacy policy. Aware of any others?

I just finished reading a book that examines some of the pervasiveness and omniscience of data collection and how it's used. It's seriously making me rethinking my online life. I had culled a lot of my social media and online accounts a few years ago (ebrandon is one of the few I kept), but now I'm thinking of ditching it all and being a luddite.

Email (Gmail for sure) and Facebook messages are searched for keywords to target advertising.  
 
Cell text messages are likely more private.  
 
GPS on cell phones can see which store isles you walk down. Apps can send you targeted advertising that way as well. eg. Why did you visit a car dealership and furniture store today?

Its simple.  
 
If you aren''t paying for it then you aren''t the customer, you're the product.  
 
Edited by TylerLane, 2018-12-20 11:09:13

Could also just not overshare as much as they currently do lol. That would help too.

We're not talking oversharing. We're talking about techonology that tracks you simply by going about your everyday business. I feel that I have a moderate amount of tech savvy, and I was shocked to read about the capabilities that companies have to track you, gather data about you, and the AI developments that have occurred in recent years. I knew it happened, but not to the extent that it has.  
 
Even if we don't use social media, it's impossible to avoid the tracking altogether.

I too recently realized that we are letting tech and social media infringe on our lives more than we often realize.  
 
Now, not to sound like a tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, but I've had facebook ads targeted to me based on things I've never searched for, but merely said aloud. For example, I cracked a joke about my sister law and I looking like a cute little same sex couple on a recent shopping trip, and the next day there were ads for same sex dating apps.  
 
I think there is genuinely no way to avoid companies invading on our "privacy".

Back before there was data mining and customer profiling, companies trying to get their products to specific customers often relied on hit and miss advertising to reach a specific target market. As a previous poster stated, GPS technology can even go so far as to know what aisle in a certain store a smart phone (which I don't own) carrying customer is browsing. I think it is more efficient for both me and a potential vendor to have very targeted advertising directed to me. If I am searching for a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots or a 6 TB hard drive, for example, it's nice to know where to find what I'm seeking at the best price (unfortunately also probably not here in Canada)

Comes with the territory. If a company such as Facebook is free then one of two things is happening ( or both ) Advertising obviously. And if it’s free, then you’re the product.