@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 Thanks Ray for the recommendation. I'm not sure where to begin except to say I don't have special insights into public trust. I tend to agree there seem to be stereotypical differences between countries in the public's trust in government versus trust in business. -/2
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 2/n: So the cliche goes that Americans distrust government but have faith in the invisible hand of the markets, and so they "trust" businesses more (shudder quotes are deliberate when we're talking in such broad generalizations). -/3
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 3/n: Conversely continental Europeans stereotypically tend to trust governments more than business (and so when Iceland wanted to DNA-test the entire population for research purposes, compliance was pretty high; citizens trusted in the outcomes, and trusted in due care). -/4
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 4/n: But I've said enough about "trust". One of the questions earlier in this thread was about giving our personal data to Social Media companies. IMO little or no conscious "trust" enters into that transaction because very few users comprehend what's going on. -/5
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 5/n: Facebook is notoriously clever at tricking users into divulging personal data. It's pretty widely accepted now (isn't it?) that Facebook takes deliberate steps to get users addicted. See Zuboff #SurveillanceCapitalism. -/6 
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 6/n: My own favorite example of Facebook's trickery is how they gamified the training of their face recognition algorithms, by getting users to tag each other, and then to confirm the algorithm's tag suggestions! Genius!! lockstep.com.au/blog/2014/10/1… -/7
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 7/n: So that's Facebook's direct (albeit covert) collection. But they're also expert at extracting personal data from the rich matrix of connections they have cultivated over years and years. The closely-guarded #PYMK algorithm is a classic case: constellationr.com/blog-news/myth… -/8
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 8/n: What's to be done about all this? IANAL but I have two regulatory suggestions.
First, most places in the world (and increasingly also some U.S. states) have technology neutral data privacy laws which put limits on the collection of personal data. -/9
First, most places in the world (and increasingly also some U.S. states) have technology neutral data privacy laws which put limits on the collection of personal data. -/9
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 9/n: These laws are largely blind to the manner of collection. If Social Media companies extract insights about identifiable users, then that's *personal data* and it's being *collected*. Privacy laws apply, ESPECIALLY when individuals are unaware of the collection. -/10
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 10/n: So legal action could be taken by Data Protection Authorities in any number of jurisdictions against Social Media's Friend Suggestions, Tag Suggestions, People You May Know #PYMK and other algorithmic tricks. See my paper with @SalingerPrivacy: link.springer.com/referenceworke… -/11
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 @SalingerPrivacy 11/n: IMHO one of the biggest sleeping issues in Social Media and #BigData and #AI is Synthetic Personal Data or what @OAICgov calls "Collection by Creation". If a business uses algorithms instead of questionnaires to get to know you, then Privacy Laws still apply. -/12
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 @SalingerPrivacy @OAICgov 12/n: But an even bigger sleeping issue in Social Media data collection could be deceptive conduct. Data magnates like to claim that today's users are sophisticated: "they know" there's no free lunch; "they know" their data is being traded with businesses as part of a deal. -/13
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 @SalingerPrivacy @OAICgov 13/n: But what if typical users don't actually know how their data is used? Very few people have figured this out. Moreover, what if the Social Media bosses know that users don't know? The purported services-for-data deal is a sham if users don't enter into it knowingly. -/14
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 @SalingerPrivacy @OAICgov 15/n: That would represent deceptive conduct wouldn't it? On a colossal scale. Some of the richest people in history have arguably made their fortunes on the back of users' ignorance about how data flows in the Digital Economy. -/16
@rohitprabhakar @rwang0 @fxrseen @drsubirsaha @neeraj @vfiorese_ @roxanasoi @hessiejones @AlaricAloor @sarbjeetjohal @MiaD @jrhunt @defcon_5 @SalingerPrivacy @OAICgov 16/16: The most lucrative opaque digital economy isn't the Dark Web but it's Social Media, with its tricky data collection practices and synthetic collection algorithms hiding in plain sight.
