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YOU ARE THE PRODUCT

META IS SELLING YOUR DATA.

Facebook Smashed Logo

BY: CHRISTIAN STUESSEL

 

The world is not free.

When is something free in the world? Never. The Internet is a global computer network that's free to access. For companies to make money, they sell user information as a product. Companies use your data, such as your foot traffic analytics, and use that to produce simple personal marketing. Facebook has undergone the most scrutiny—now being questioned if they pose a threat to democracy. With a state suit signed by the attorney generals of 46 states and the District Columbia and Guam, the New York Times said.

Worldwide servers

PHOTOS

Facebook uses global servers to store user data, like photos, to make it easier to access all data quicker worldwide. The risk can involve digital kidnapping which is when someone uses photos for extortion schemes .

A.I. FACTIAL RECOGNITION

In 2019, Facebook launched a facial recognition software that would make it easier for users to "Tag" loved ones in photos because it would do it automatically. CREDIT: Slate

Facial recognition had backlash because users found it

can have racial and gender bias, especially for women of darker skin tone, and privacy infringement. Multiple states have put up lawsuits against Facebook. In Illinois they were forced to pay $650 million in a settlement because the software broke Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act.

However in the Texas lawsuit it states, “Facebook has, for over a decade, built an Artificial Intelligence empire on the backs of Texans by deceiving them while capturing their most intimate data, thereby putting their well-being, safety, and security at risk.”
PHONE NUMBERS AND EMAILS

Facebook released phone numbers to scammers, where they can track caller I.D.s to gain access to your financial data and bank account data. Phone numbers and emails are used to hack "two-factor identification," which would be the way to access all account information and data. Emails often contain full names and complete birthdays, so you can give all the data necessary to infiltrate your accounts.

I.P., LOCATION, ADVERTISING

Your I.P. address can be sold online, containing your specific home address within US Postal Service, with fake credit card applications, bills, checks. Nothing is safe online, and most of the data I have stated is free online because of Facebook and other corporations.


CREDIT: Sudonull When you are the product in question, you need to be asking yourself, to whom are you being sold? Besides hackers, Facebook has sold all of the information listed above to advertisers for marketing. To guarantee product success is to know somebody already wants it.

 

We have all experienced the weird phenomenon of discussing a product specifically wanted with a friend or family member. Then, immediately, it appears on your Facebook feed. Furthermore, targeted advertisements are not just on specific things you want, but even your beliefs can also be targeted, which is wrong. These beliefs can be racially motivated, politically motivated, hate motivated; beliefs can be advertised on Facebook and provoked.

CREDIT: Rolling Stone

AOC VS ZUCKERBERG

Facebook has had meetings with Congress and lawmakers discussing these complications. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an American politician and activist, has served as a US representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019.

 

She confronted the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, at Capitol Hill when discussing The Green New Deal of October 23, 2019. The meeting was planned to talk about climate change, but it came to light that Facebook has been a part of bashing this deal and spreading misinformation knowingly.

AOC asked Zuckerberg:

AOC

CREDIT: The Verge

"You announced recently that the official policy of Facebook now allows politicians to pay to spread disinformation in 2020 elections and the future. So, I want to know how far I can push this in the next year."

"Could I run ads targeting Republicans and primaries saying that they voted for the Green New Deal?Would I be able to run advertisements on Facebook targeting Republicans in primaries saying that they voted for the Green New Deal? I mean if you're not fact-checking political advertisements, I'm trying to understand the bounds here." YAHOO FINANCES

CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA, DATA BREACH

Reported by The Guardian on December 11, 2015

Meaning A.I. uses data that, "uses past behavior of individual users to predict future behaviors." AOC

This A.I. is called Cambridge Analytica. It caused a mass data breach where personal data from 87 million Facebook users or more was obtained adequately by political data firms.

ZUCKERBERG

CREDIT: The Verge

"Congresswoman, I believe so and that some folks were tracking it internally.” Board member of Facebook, Peter Thiel, was tracking the progress of the program. Zuckerberg continued, "l'm sure we discussed it after we were aware of what happened," due to the scandal associated with the 2016 election. GUARDIAN NEWS

WATCH THE CONVERSATION HERE: C-SPAN

 
ZUCKERBERG BLAMES CONSUMERS

Mark Zuckerberg did say that they would always take down advertisements that risk harm to others and cause damage within society. Still, their actions have proven otherwise. Mark Zuckerberg believes that the responsibility of fact-checking the advertisement before accepting it is on the individual users, Facebook says. Facebook will flag the ad for being false but not take it down.

The selling of data is a threat to privacy and threatens democracy. To have a functioning democracy, citizens need to know elected representatives uphold their oath in office. If your data has been leaked, your democracy has failed.


CREDIT: Slate

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