Corporate Sponsered Surveillance

[calikid]

This thread will deal with Corporations trampling the public's privacy rights.
Either through outright greed (selling our data), or incompetence (data breeches).

Used as a sister thread to our "Emerging Surveillance State" (Government violations) thread.

[calikid]

CROSS POST FROM SISTER THREAD.

Bad enough we have to fight to keep the government out of our private data. Now we find Facebook has partners that don't mind violating policy (sharing data without permission) to gain a political edge.

Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and data mining: What you need to know
The world's largest social network is at the center of an international scandal involving voter data, the 2016 US presidential election and Brexit.
by Ian Sherr

Consultants working for Donald Trump's presidential campaign exploited the personal Facebook data of millions.

That's the key message in March 17 stories by The New York Times and the UK's Guardian and Observer newspapers, as well as in statements from Facebook. The stories and statements indicate the social networking giant was duped by researchers, who reportedly gained access to the data of more than 50 million Facebook users, which was then misused for political ads during the 2016 US presidential election.

Until now, most of what you've heard about Facebook and the 2016 election has been focused on meddling by Russian operatives. Those efforts are being investigated by the FBI and the US Senate.

Data consultancy Cambridge Analytica represents a different problem. The UK-based company reportedly acquired data about millions of Facebook users in a way that violated the social network's policies. It then tapped that information to build psychographic profiles of users and their friends, which were utilized for targeted political ads in the UK's Brexit referendum campaign, as well as by Trump's team during the 2016 US election.

Facebook says it told Cambridge Analytica to delete the data, but also that reports suggest the info wasn't destroyed. Cambridge Analytica says it complies with the social network's rules, only receives data "obtained legally and fairly," and did wipe out the data Facebook is worried about.

Here's what you need to know.

What is Cambridge Analytica?

Cambridge Analytica is a UK-based data analytics firm, whose parent company is Strategic Communication Laboratories. Cambridge Analytica helps political campaigns reach potential voters online. The firm combines data from multiple sources, including online information and polling, to build "profiles" of voters. The company then uses computer programs to predict voter behavior, which then could be influenced through specialized advertisements aimed at the voters.

Cambridge Analytica isn't working with a small amount of user data either. The company says it has "5,000 data points on over 230 million American voters" -- or pretty much all of us, considering there are an estimated 250 million people of voting age in the US.

The company has since faced criticism for what executives, including what CEO Alexander Nix, said in a series of undercover videos shot by the UK's Channel 4. In the videos, he discussed lies and seeming blackmail he'd perform as part of his efforts to sway elections.

"We have lots of history of things," Nix said in the videos, "I'm just giving you examples of what can be done and what, what has been done."

Nix has since been suspended from his job as CEO. His comments "do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation," the company said in a statement.
What did Cambridge Analytica do?

Facebook said in a statement late on Friday, March 16, that Cambridge Analytica received user data from Aleksandr Kogan, a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. Kogan reportedly created an app called "thisisyourdigitallife" that ostensibly offered personality predictions to users while calling itself a research tool for psychologists.

The app asked users to log in using their Facebook account. As part of the login process, it asked for access to users' Facebook profiles, locations, what they liked on the service, and importantly, their friends' data as well.

The problem, Facebook says, is that Kogan then sent this user data to Cambridge Analytica without user permission, something that's against the social network's rules.

"Although Kogan gained access to this information in a legitimate way and through the proper channels that governed all developers on Facebook at that time, he did not subsequently abide by our rules," Paul Grewal, a vice president and general counsel at Facebook, said in a statement.

Kogan didn't respond to requests for comment. The New York Times said he cited nondisclosure agreements and declined to provide details about what happened, saying his personality prediction program was "a very standard vanilla Facebook app."

What does this have to do with Trump?

The Trump campaign hired Cambridge Analytica to run data operations during the 2016 election. Steve Bannon, who eventually became Trump's chief strategist, was also reportedly vice president of Cambridge Analytica's board. The company helped the campaign identify voters to target with ads, and gave advice on how best to focus its approach, such as where to make campaign stops. It also helped with strategic communication, like what to say in speeches.
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[calikid]

Looks like Zuckerberg and Friends are in for hard times.
Members are fleeing, and now the threat of class action should have a negative impact on their stock price.

Facebook users sue over collection of call, text history
A lawsuit seeking class-action status says a feature that logs calls and texts violated users' privacy.
by Steven Musil

Three users of Facebook's Messenger app filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the social-networking giant, alleging the company violated their privacy by logging the histories of their phone calls and text messages.

The lawsuit was filed after Facebook acknowledged it had been logging some Android users' call and text history, but noting it was with their permission. The feature, which allows Facebook to see when a call or text was sent or received, "has always been opt-in only," Facebook said Sunday.

The lawsuit, filed by three Facebook users in a Northern California federal court, accuses Facebook of violating several state laws and acts, including the California Constitutional Right to Privacy, the Computer Data Access and Fraud Act and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act.

The lawsuit (see below) seeks class action status.

Facebook has said ....
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[CasperParks]

calikid, great idea for a thread!

Many corporations have arbitration clauses.

Recent legislation was passed that allows corporations to keep legal suits by consumers out of the courts by using arbitration clauses. Also, the legislation protects corporations from class actions lawsuits.

But if they want to sue an individual, no arbitration is needed... Not it would help...

Arbitrators are hired and paid by corporations... Major arbitration rulings against a corporation is akin to biting the hand that feeds you...

Arbitration rulings against a corporation, one has to question the amount of financial loss as compared a court ruling.

I wonder if Facebook has an arbitration clause?

When I have more time, will research for links to legislation...

Also, need to research if the government pays corporations for data storage.

[calikid]

When I buy$ a game, I'd like to think it comes without marketing/spyware.

Red Shell 'Spyware' Tracks You From Your Games
by Anthony Caruana

A bunch of PC games have been caught with a piece of software that tracks your activity even when you're not playing the game. Red Shell, named after a Mario Kart item, is software that's designed for online marketers to track the effectiveness of various online campaigns. But a massive list of games have been found to contain this tool and it can track your activity even when the game is not being played.

Red Shell matches online activity against marketing campaigns that have been launched by third parties. the problem is, the tracking happens after you've left the game.

The discovery of Red Shell's presence was revealed in a Subreddit early last week. Then, a couple of days ago, a long list of affected games was released. Already, a number of the game developers say they have either removed or are about to remove the software in response to the revelations.

The Reddit post also discusses how to check if a game you're playing. You can look for either "Redshell.dll" or "RedshellSDK.dll" in the Steam install folders although it's possible for developers to integrate that code into their own code so you won't see them.
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[calikid]

I'd like to think California is taking a step in the right direction.


New California Privacy Bill Gives Consumer Sweeping Control Over Their Personal Data

Google and other big tech companies opposed the measure, saying it was too burdensome.
By Paresh Dave

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday signed data privacy legislation aimed at giving consumers more control over how companies collect and manage their personal information, a proposal that Google and other big companies had opposed as too burdensome.

Under the proposal, large companies, such as those with data on more than 50,000 people, would be required starting in 2020 to let consumers view the data they have collected on them, request deletion of data, and opt out of having the data sold to third parties. Companies must provide equal service to consumers who exercise such rights under the law.

Each violation would carry a $7,500 fine. The law applies to users in California.

“This is a huge step forward for California,” State Senator Bob Hertzberg, a Democrat, said during a livestreamed press conference Thursday. “This is a huge step forward for people ..."

Story continues

[CasperParks]

Noisey Reports - Spotify Is Using DNA Tests to Curate Playlists, Which Is Pretty Creepy: click here to read article.

[CasperParks]

Credit must be given to Apple CEO Tim Cook for coining a new term "Data Industrial Complex". If he isn't the first to use it, he has brought the terminology to light.

The term can be added to a long list of "Industrial Complexes": Prison Industrial Complex, Military Industrial Complex, Fossil Fuel Industrial Complex and so-on...

Article at USA Today: Apple CEO Tim Cook supports stricter data privacy laws, warns of "Data Industrial Complex" click here to read article.

[CasperParks]

Engadge article: More companies are chipping their workers like pets, click here to read. Dated 11/16/18.

Article make reference that one company preparing to chip workers has "hundreds of thousands of employees". They mention a "opt-in", however direct deposit of paychecks started as an "opt-in". I can see the "opt-in" turn into a boycott of potential employees who don't want to be chipped, and or in the near future make chipping a condition of employment.

[CasperParks]

The Intercept reports: Google’s “Smart City of Surveillance” Faces New Resistance in Toronto, click here to read. Article date 11/13/18