*a must read for the year* @cwarzel @stuartathompson through diligence, management support and a brave whistleblower source,
may have officially broken the adtech lobby complex /1 nytimes.com/interactive/20…
may have officially broken the adtech lobby complex /1 nytimes.com/interactive/20…
So many real-life risks captured in their storytelling. This illustration is one that should move lawmakers and regulators to finally wake up. /2
There are democracy risks, too, which aren’t captured. Recall how Steve Bannon boasted in documentary about using this data to microtarget election ads at Catholics based on frequency of church visits in 2018. /3 theverge.com/2019/7/19/2070…
And remember the Trump campaign plans to do it again in 2020. This isn’t unique to them. But the entire political advertising category across all parties is one of the most unregulated, rogue and high risk areas for misuse of this data. /4 theintercept.com/2019/12/11/the…
And please don’t overlook the news report Tuesday on how Peter Thiel is behind Facebook’s unwillingness to suspend microtargeted political advertising even when the ads are lies. The questions around Thiel’s board status should be deeply concerning. /5 wsj.com/articles/peter…
Also good NYT connected dots between this personal data and value to advertising. With it, the entire value of news and entertainment is undermined. Contextual advertising has been replaced by surveillance advertising and the relentless pursuit of tracking and conversion. /6
Two companies go unmentioned in the piece as they don’t semantically “sell this data” but instead rent it through their approaching $200B in advertising. It’s why I previously called the duopoly of Google and Facebook “21st century junk mail empires.” /7 thedailybeast.com/facebook-and-g…
Academic research which we helped distribute in full disclosure helped catalogue all of the ways Google collects this data. This chart will remind you of today’s @cwarzel @stuartathompson report. /8 
I also worry about risk to journalists. As much as they’re deeply disturbingly seen as “the enemy” whether by our administration or by Facebook, they must know these risks in meeting with sources or just going about their lives. /9
It is worth noting there was a law to protect Americans but Google and many of the adtech lobby complex pushed hard to have it thrown out immediately after the new administration came to town. Worth noting the ISPs just wanted the same restrictions on Google and Facebook. /10
We think Facebook’s value is in explicitly entered data but that’s unnecessary when GPS has 3ft accuracy and they can map who we’re with and where. Friends, groups, clusters now available by mapping visit frequency with surveillance devices on us 24/7. /11
As the UK authorities documented so well yesterday in their interim report, it’s the data collection of Google and Facebook which gives them their overwhelming value and dominance. Rest of tech is only trying to keep up bringing significantly more actors, shadiness, risks. /12
I look forward to how industry, public and our representatives react to this report and tip my
hat to @cwarzel @stuartathompson for shining a light on it. It’s in the same power of @JuliaAngwin @emilysteel @jenvalentino work last decade which is the highest compliment. /end
hat to @cwarzel @stuartathompson for shining a light on it. It’s in the same power of @JuliaAngwin @emilysteel @jenvalentino work last decade which is the highest compliment. /end
Here is part 2 from @nytimes trove of location data it was given by source. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
A point I made yesterday 👆🏽about how the social graph can now be assembled through geolocation data with 3ft accuracy. Lucrative opportunity for adtech companies.
Part 3: “the aggregate is closer to total surveillance — an exact record of the rhythms of a living, breathing community.” nytimes.com/interactive/20…
As you read this, it’s a great time to remind all that news reports claim Facebook plans to “lead industry” to ignore Do Not Track / browser signals and not change its relentless tracking even after the new California privacy law rolls out in ten days. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
This paragraph about detailed tracking of 80+ teenagers will no doubt catch @SenMarkey attention. Reminder, research shows no one has more tracking tags surveillance outside of their own products than Google and Facebook. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
And The New York Times Editorial board now weighs in. They include critical concepts of “purpose limitation” which exists in GDPR and a simple, universal signal like Do Not Track in @HawleyMO Bill. Super smart. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
On a simple level, according to WSJ, Facebook plans to continue to collect data across the more than 8.3 million websites and apps they have tags on (which can pick up location data). Way outside the purposes of the tags being there.
Part 4 of series. Anonymity is a fiction of your imagination as long as big tech’s lobby controls the agenda. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
