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Privacy (collected references)
IainB:
Some valid points from theregister.co.uk:
Facebook insists it has 'no plans' to exploit your personal banking info for ads – just as we have 'no plans' to trust it
After all, never say never!
By Kieren McCarthy in San Francisco 7 Aug 2018 at 20:4432
Image [Denial]
Analysis: Facebook has denied it is seeking to suck up netizens' bank account details, claiming it just wants to connect bank customers to their bank's chat accounts and give useful financial updates. ...
Copied from: Facebook insists it has 'no plans' to exploit your personal banking info for ads – just as we have 'no plans' to trust it • The Register - <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/08/07/facebook_banking_data/>
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Yeah, right.
4wd:
Looks like the Ugandan government could be in the vanguard when it comes to, uh, privacy...
...Uganda orders ISPs to block Ugandans from accessing Pornographic Websites Nice one! :Thmbsup:-IainB (July 29, 2018, 08:14 PM)
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Except they're 2 or 3 years behind Russia.
IainB:
The other end of the loss of Privacy is where its loss makes the loser potentially vulnerable, or more vulnerable than they were before, leading to potential risk - e.g., exposure to demographic stratification and targeting, with subsequent stigmatisation, discrimination, harm/loss, even to the extent of circumventing laws that were expressly established to avoid such risks to these vulnerable groups/minorities.
So, right on cue, here's a classic recent example - and yes, Facebook are behind it, because they can make money out of it (of course) - and are doing so. What a surprise (NOT). :o
From the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD No. 18-085
HUD Public Affairs
(202) 708-0685FOR RELEASE
Friday
August 17, 2018HUD FILES HOUSING DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT AGAINST FACEBOOK
Secretary-initiated complaint alleges platform allows advertisers to discriminate
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today a formal complaint against Facebook for violating the Fair Housing Act by allowing landlords and home sellers to use its advertising platform to engage in housing discrimination.
HUD claims Facebook enables advertisers to control which users receive housing-related ads based upon the recipient's race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, disability, and/or zip code. Facebook then invites advertisers to express unlawful preferences by offering discriminatory options, allowing them to effectively limit housing options for these protected classes under the guise of 'targeted advertising.' Read HUD's complaint against Facebook.
"The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination including those who might limit or deny housing options with a click of a mouse," said Anna María Farías, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. "When Facebook uses the vast amount of personal data it collects to help advertisers to discriminate, it's the same as slamming the door in someone's face."
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing transactions including print and online advertisement on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status. HUD's Secretary-initiated complaint follows the Department's investigation into Facebook's advertising platform which includes targeting tools that enable advertisers to filter prospective tenants or homebuyers based on these protected classes.
For example, HUD's complaint alleges Facebook's platform violates the Fair Housing Act. It enables advertisers to, among other things:
* display housing ads either only to men or women;
* not show ads to Facebook users interested in an "assistance dog," "mobility scooter," "accessibility" or "deaf culture";
* not show ads to users whom Facebook categorizes as interested in "child care" or "parenting," or show ads only to users with children above a specified age;
* to display/not display ads to users whom Facebook categorizes as interested in a particular place of worship, religion or tenet, such as the "Christian Church," "Sikhism," "Hinduism," or the "Bible."
* not show ads to users whom Facebook categorizes as interested in "Latin America," "Canada," "Southeast Asia," "China," "Honduras," or "Somalia."
* draw a red line around zip codes and then not display ads to Facebook users who live in specific zip codes.Additionally, Facebook promotes its advertising targeting platform for housing purposes with "success stories" for finding "the perfect homeowners," "reaching home buyers," "attracting renters" and "personalizing property ads."
In addition, today the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) filed a statement of interest, joined in by HUD, in U.S. District Court on behalf of a number of private litigants challenging Facebook's advertising platform.
HUD Secretary-Initiated Complaints
The Secretary of HUD may file a fair housing complaint directly against those whom the Department believes may be in violation of the Fair Housing Act. Secretary-Initiated Complaints are appropriate in cases, among others, involving significant issues that are national in scope or when the Department is made aware of potential violations of the Act and broad public interest relief is warranted or where HUD does not know of a specific aggrieved person or injured party that is willing or able to come forward. A Fair Housing Act complaint, including a Secretary initiated complaint, is not a determination of liability.
A Secretary-Initiated Complaint will result in a formal fact-finding investigation. The party against whom the complaint is filed will be provided notice and an opportunity to respond. If HUD's investigation results in a determination that reasonable cause exists that there has been a violation of the Fair Housing Act, a charge of discrimination may be filed. Throughout the process, HUD will seek conciliation and voluntary resolution. Charges may be resolved through settlement, through referral to the Department of Justice, or through an administrative determination.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. In commemoration, HUD, local communities, and fair housing organizations across the country have coordinated a variety of activities to enhance fair housing awareness, highlight HUD's fair housing enforcement efforts, and end housing discrimination in the nation. For a list of activities, log onto www.hud.gov/fairhousingis50.
Persons who believe they have experienced discrimination may file a complaint by contacting HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 (voice) or (800) 927-9275 (TTY).
###
HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.
More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet
at www.hud.gov and https://espanol.hud.gov.
You can also connect with HUD on social media and follow Secretary Carson on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for news alerts on HUD's Email List.
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IainB:
Ah! Found it! There's gold in them thar DCF datamines. I knew it was here somewhere. Just took me a while to find it though - a past comment on the DC Forum about LifeLock and which happens to be an apposite quote apropos of the recent HUD v. Facebook item, above: (my emphasis)
LifeLock has been running to center on the Equifax breach, with ads and press statements saying how the breach shows how important its own services cost: up to $29.99 a month can be to preserve you from identity theft.
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...
Here’s what LifeLock isn’t spreading so widely: When you buy its security, you’re signing up for credit recording and monitoring services provided by, yes, Equifax.
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...You just can't make this stuff up: Full Article here
Maybe it's just my rather dark sense of humor, but I just couldn't stop laughing after I read that. The unmitigated gall of corporations these days is just flat-out mind blowing.
-Stoic Joker (September 20, 2017, 03:39 PM)
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IainB:
RUMPEL web browser's aim : take back control of your personal data:
Interesting open source project led by the University of Warwick. Its aim is to help users keep track of where information about them is stored online so that they can actually -- personally -- benefit from it. An important issue; whether this is a viable solution or not is another one... :)
[...] a marketing professor at the University of Warwick who led RUMPEL's development, said: "It's time for people to claim their data from the internet."
"The aim of RUMPEL is to empower users and enable them to be served by the ocean of data about them that's stored in all kinds of places online, so that it benefits them and not just the businesses and organisations that harvest it," she added.
"The strapline 'Your Data, Your Way' reflects our determination to let people lead smarter lives by bringing their digital lives back under their own control."
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TechRadar article : New web browser lets you take back control of your personal data
And the GitHub RUMPEL project.
-Armando (July 29, 2016, 02:49 PM)
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