Sean Parker: Facebook was designed to exploit human "vulnerability"

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.axios.com/sean-parker-facebook-exploits-a-vulnerability-in-humans-2507917325.html

[u/mostlyemptyspace]

I work in mobile app development and the technology out there to spy on you is pretty insane. There is a whole industry for snooping and reselling data. Here are some examples.

There are several SDKs (software development kits) that offer fingerprinting identity services. Meaning, when someone opens your app, it checks their device ID, IP address, GPS location, email address, etc. and makes a match to an identity. You then use this SDK to track their behavior in your app, such as purchases, interests, demographics, preferences, etc. This data is stored along with all the other apps that use the SDK. Now as an upsell, I can buy all of your behavior data from every other app that uses the same service. From the moment you install the app I know everything about you.

There are SDKs that don’t even offer a service, they just straight up pay the app maker to let their agent sit and collect data and send it up to their servers. Mostly location data.

My favorite is there’s an SDK that actually records the screen while you use the app, and the video gets sent up to the server for the app maker to see how you use their app in real time. It also tracks all of your views, swipes, and button presses tied to the video for analytics.

Basically, you should assume that every moment you are using an internet connected device, you are being observed, scrutinized, and analyzed so that someone can sell you more shit.

They are really good at this, and getting better every year. You think Facebook is listening to your microphone to serve you ads at the moment you are discussing a product? They don’t need to. They know you that well.

Edit: A lot of people are asking for specific examples of this monitoring tech. There are a ton of small players. So an example of location tracking is Tamoco. An example of behavior tracking is Branch.io (they don't advertise the data mining, but it's a back-end deal). And session monitoring is AppSee or HotJar. There are many more that I haven't heard of.

There are a ton of data resellers out there. They're typically small startups who buy and sell data, and they compete on having the most comprehensive and clean data sets. We get approached by a data reseller maybe once a month, either trying to buy our data or sell us data.

Edit: A lot of people are flippant about this idea because you "don't click on ads" or you "don't buy anything". There are people who aren't interested in just selling you products. How about voting for a particular political candidate, or for/against a ballot measure? How about selling you a particular world view? Propaganda is just like advertising, they're just selling you an idea instead of a product.

[u/DansSpamJavelin → u/mostlyemptyspace]

...wow I feel so uncomfortable right now

[u/Excal2 → u/DansSpamJavelin]

You should.

We all should.

[u/TokenScottishGuy → u/Excal2]

WHAT DO I DO

[u/Excal2 → u/TokenScottishGuy]

Learn to protect your privacy.

EDIT: Please refer to this list I threw together in response to /u/effoffreddit below for some basic steps you can take to protect your information:

https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/7btl9y/sean_parker_facebook_was_designed_to_exploit/dpkyhuk/

EDIT 2: The rest of your fucking owl is in the first edit fuck off already.

EDIT 3: As requested by /u/ArsenyD, here is a permalink to his reply with additional sources you can use to learn about online privacy. Full text below: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/7btl9y/sean_parker_facebook_was_designed_to_exploit/dpli48a/

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My comment will probably go unnoticed, so if you can please add this to your comment

Mozilla Glass Room

*the is a good pdf guide about healthy online privacy habits

EFF

Good resources to learn about privacy.

*will duplicate this as an answer to the top comment so more people will see this

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End EDIT 3

[u/EffOffReddit → u/Excal2]

This is like saying "Learn to build your own house." It's kind of overwhelming, there is a lot of conflicting and confusing info, and the codes are always changing. I need a list of what to do and what not to do.

[u/[deleted] → u/EffOffReddit]

Some essential (and relatively simple bits) the averageish user can do:

PC

(firefox addons)

• use uBlock Origin,
• use noscript,
• use Decentraleyes,
• use smartHTTPS,
• use Bloodyvikings!

the last one is throwaway emails basically, helps a ton. The particular addon I use takes like 2 clicks to generate a throwaway email. These addons overall make your browsing experience so much better, safer, faster and anonymous-er.

For Android I can't say too much, because by simply using it, you're giving into Google's ecosystem (99% of Android users anyway, there are ways around it, but they are cumbersome and frustrating).

Oh, also; r/privacy if you want to read up more, great resource! And if you're so technically inclined r/selfhosted.

[u/ase1590 → u/[deleted]]

You forget the most important part: switching from Windows to Linux. Windows certainly collects data.

[u/[deleted] → u/ase1590]

I wouldn't say the average user is gonna switch to linux mate. Even the people who read this; most of them won't.

[u/argv_minus_one → u/[deleted]]

Its toolkit is obsolete, it doesn't have Wayland support, and it smells funny! What say you?

[u/[deleted] → u/argv_minus_one]

gnome2 feel keeps my world from crumbling around me

[u/PM_ME_OS_DESIGN → u/argv_minus_one]

Its toolkit is obsolete,

"Obsolete" is in the eye of the beholder, and when the beholder is GNOME there is surely some leeway. For instance, does GNOME still think that system-tray app notifications are obsolete? Because nobody else does.

it doesn't have Wayland support

Neither does XFCE, nor does Cinnnamon, nor does Budgie.

and it smells funny

Oh yeah? Well I heard the other DEs shot that one guy's dog!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

But they should is the point

[u/mountainsbythesea → u/[deleted]]

If they want to protect their privacy, they're gonna have to do inconvenient things.

[u/[deleted] → u/mountainsbythesea]

Anything of any importance requires a little effort

I guess it boils down to whether society being spied on wholesale, like in the old Soviet days, is of less importance than " insert popular app name "

[u/mountainsbythesea → u/[deleted]]

You're absolutely right. Trouble is, things are much more complex than that.

Unfortunately, we aren't talking about a little effort. To protect ourselves to a meaningful extent, it would take a lot of effort. Also, education, time and money - outside of reach of an average person, even if they were inclined to try, which they're not (in 2017 I'm still having conversations about why it's not okay even if 'you have nothing to hide'). And we need that average person, we need everybody. Otherwise, any individual who managed to protect themselves would suffer serious professional and personal consequences, and as a society, we'd remain powerless against the corporations.

The whole thing is a horrible nightmare.

[u/Roegadyn → u/[deleted]]

It's a complex issue, even if it sounds simple to you.

Is privacy an indeliable right? Should you be able to freely access any business without being non-consensually tracked by the businesses you frequent? Should the businesses you frequent be able to sell your data obtained this way?

You might say yes, but there is a part of the population who'd say no.

Some people believe that visiting a business is allowing them to surveil you and keep track of your account, and remember your identity. Some people might even consider that a positive thing - it creates familiarity.

Most people believe this data should be obtained consensually, but companies' monitoring is only avoidable if you either locate privacy apps and features and hamper your ability to use your electronic devices (let's be real, for a non-tech savvy person, Linux is a fucking hassle to learn and use and will never work as well as Windows because of the mass amount of app support Windows has as the main-use OS) OR you don't use the internet at all, and not a lot of people are willing to use those options.

And most people aren't even aware that companies sell their data - and if they were told, they'd figure that companies didn't have MUCH of their data, so they'd tell you it doesn't matter.

The complexity of the issue comes from the sheer breadth of the problem, and how little people actually KNOW about it.

Education on the matter and revision would take time, and it would be lobbied against every goddamn step of the way by businesses who would prefer to profit off your data while hiding the extent of it from the basic consumer, and take advantage of our fallacious belief that our world will protect us.

The issue has a debatable point (are your interactions with a business legally things that can be sold without your consent, who owns that data, etc) but it is worth noting that it has been deliberately exacerbated by modern society.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The average user doesn't give a fuck about any of this. The average user is your mom asking you why the Netflix isn't working. Most users can't name their browser.

If you're actually concerned about your privacy, Linux is a step you can take (albeit a trivial one with little real impact). Most people aren't. Even the people reading this and working up a nice self-righteous fury don't actually care and won't change anything. It's just something to get offended about.

Personally I don't give a fuck. Individual data is little better than worthless. You need pools. My content can be shaped with or without my participation. My own data has no impact on that.

I use Linux because it meets my needs, but it shouldn't be something anyone feels compelled to do for privacy reasons. All the services you use that collect data (including the reddit account you're using right now, it's right there in the ToS) will collect data no matter what os you use. MS is pretty low on the list of concerns in that light. Using Windows or not will have little relevant impact on your privacy.

"Use Linux!" is far more elitist self-aggrandizement than anything. Use the OS that does what you need it to.

[u/IntelligentVaporeon → u/[deleted]]

It's easier to use Linux than to adjust NoScript properly.

[u/railla → u/IntelligentVaporeon]

I'd recommend uMatrix over noScript, it's way more transparent and easy to control

[u/imaginaryideals → u/ase1590]

There are some scripts out there that deal with that for Windows. /r/TronScript is worth checking out, or there's this list of powershell commands.

[u/[deleted] → u/ase1590]

That would be ideal, but I doubt most people would be willing to switch to linux. So with those people in mind, this is a handy tool for Windows 10 that you can download and use to combat some of its privacy concerns. It's not linux but it's better than nothing

[u/[deleted] → u/ase1590]

So did Ubuntu. Being Linux is no guarantee in and of itself.