Cambridge Analytica whistleblower: 'We spent $1m harvesting millions of Facebook

[littleman]

So... Peak Facebook value?  Its been feeling that way for a while at the user level, but this is probably going to be a lead weight.

[Mackin USA]

On Monday, the US senator Ron Wyden sent Zuckerberg a detailed list of questions related to the breach, with a demand for answers by 13 April. Two members of the Senate judiciary committee, Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican John Kennedy, called for hearings with the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google.

"It's time for Mark Zuckerberg to stop hiding behind his Facebook page," said the Conservative MP Damian Collins, chair of the digital, culture, media and sport select committee.

Referencing the government's request for Facebook's auditors to leave Cambridge Analytica's offices, Collins tweeted: "These investigations need to be undertaken by the proper authorities."

The three social media companies testified in Washington last fall, following the revelation that their platforms had been used by foreign agents seeking to illegally influence the US presidential election. All three companies sent their general counsels, a move that was criticized at the time. It is unlikely that Zuckerberg will be able to avoid congressional questioning a second time.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/19/where-is-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-ceo-cambridge-analytica-scandal

[littleman]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/977209817012977665

[littleman]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/25/17160944/facebook-call-history-sms-data-collection-android

Ars Technica reports that Facebook has been requesting access to contacts, SMS data, and call history on Android devices to improve its friend recommendation algorithm and distinguish between business contacts and your true personal friendships. Facebook appears to be gathering this data through its Messenger application, which often prompts Android users to take over as the default SMS client. Facebook has, at least recently, been offering an opt-in prompt that prods users with a big blue button to "continuously upload" contact data, including call and text history. It's not clear when this prompt started appearing in relation to the historical data gathering, and whether it has simply been opt-in the whole time. Either way, it's clearly alarmed some who have found call history data stored on Facebook's servers.

[rcjordan]

Facebook's CEO apologised for the Cambridge Analytica scandal with ads in multiple US and British newspapers on Sunday, saying the social media platform doesn't deserve to hold personal information if it can't protect it.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/facebook-ads-apologise-for-cambridge-analytica-scandal-20180326-p4z67o.html

Facebook's damage-control ads were published in The New York Times and The Washington Post in the US and The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph in the UK.

[rcjordan]

The Guardian has jumped on the texts and calls logging story that LM posted above.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/25/facebook-logs-texts-and-calls-users-find-as-they-delete-accounts-cambridge-analytica

<added>
>peak FB value

Last week, Facebook shares FB  tumbled nearly 14%, shaving nearly $75 billion from its market cap.

Ads now in SIX UK newspapers: The Observer, The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday, Sunday Mirror, Sunday Express and Sunday Telegraph.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-apologizes-for-breach-of-trust-in-newspaper-ads-2018-03-25

[rcjordan]

.

[rcjordan]

<added>

>If we follow our usual pattern, the US will end up doing little more than lip service.  We'll need the EU to kick a##.

THIS is why Zuck is trying to contain the dumpster fire in EU.

Watch out, Facebook: how new EU data rules may reach the U.S.

For those of us who hold out no hope that our government will stand up for our rights, we are grateful to Europe

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/watch-out-facebook-how-new-eu-data-rules-may-reach-the-u-s/

[rcjordan]

<added 2>

>lip service

FTC Confirms Facebook Probe Regarding Privacy Practices

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-26/ftc-says-it-has-an-open-non-public-probe-on-facebook-practices

[rcjordan]

German justice minister vows stricter regulations

"Promises aren't enough," said Minister Katarina Barley after meeting with Facebook's European management team.

http://www.dw.com/en/facebook-german-justice-minister-vows-stricter-regulations/a-43143085

[Mackin USA]

IMFO

This could be the beginning of the breakup of BIG Tech

NOT

http://www.weeklystandard.com/is-it-time-to-break-up-big-tech/article/2010245

[rcjordan]

Facebook to end targeted ads built with third-party data mining

we will be shutting down Partner Categories

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/03/29/facebook-to-end-targeted-ads-built-with-third-party-data-mining.html

-----------------

Shares of a company that trafficked in personal Facebook data lose a third of their value

Acxiom

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/29/shares-of-a-company-that-trafficked-in-personal-facebook-data-are-plunging.html

[ukgimp]

Going to kill Tinder

[ergophobe]

Acxiom

Ah... I wonder how much of their data comes from Facebook. I've found their demographic data (age, education, income) ring true with other data, but their "interests" clustering is pretty random and mostly useless in my (limited) experience.

[rcjordan]

>Acxiom

IPG to Acquire Acxiom Division for $2.3 Billion

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ipg-in-advanced-talks-to-acquire-acxiom-division-for-over-2-2-billion-1530561951