Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts

Monday 14 August 2017

Digital Transformation Agency: of all the stupid ideas.....


Of all the stupid ideas this has to be one of the worst…….

The Courier Mail, 5 August 2017:

ONE super ID logon that will allow Australians to interact with Medicare, pay their car registration, help switch banks and buy groceries and clothes online is being developed by the Turnbull Government.

In a bid to stop identity fraud and increase competition, Digital Transformation Assistant Minister Angus Taylor revealed the blueprint centred on one user name and one password for government and private use.

Within five years, Australians may be able to order a pair of jeans online or update their address for Centrelink, their bank or energy providers by using the streamlining technology provided by the government.

The opt-in plan will give people the ability to have one logon and password, which will not be stored centrally to ensure security.

It will likely have a twostep verification process, including a text of a code being sent to a mobile phone.

He said the first step was a logon for all government agencies, which could happen reasonably quickly, and then expanding it to the private sector.

Mr Taylor said conversations were being held with states and territories and some significant private companies.

“It’s opt-in, that’s the crucial principle. Mistakes of the past were forcing people down a particular track,” he said, stressing that there would be no “number” given to Australians and it was not a version of dumped policy of an Australia Card.

He said the measure would also make it easier to change banks or open bank accounts because the Government logon would eventually be considered one of the best identification systems.

“If you update your address, you’ll only have to do it once (and it will go to all government agencies and online retailers).”

He called it the “tell us once” principle.

Yes indeed; one phishing email, re-direct hack, one malicious website or insecure mobile phone and in the space of five minutes your identity is not your own, money leaves your bank accounts or money is borrowed against your assets and your credit card notches up thousands of dollars in goods that someone else receives.

What a brill idea, Angus! Did Malcolm suggest it?

Thursday 3 August 2017

Facebook Inc still pursuing dream of spying on users through their webcams and via their touch screens or mobile phones


The Daily Dot, 8 June 2017:

Your worst internet nightmare could be on its way to becoming a reality.
newly discovered patent application shows Facebook has come up with plans to potentially spy on its users through their phone or laptop cameras—even when they’re not turned on. This could allow it to send tailored advertisements to its nearly two billion members. The application, filed in 2014, says Facebook has thought of using “imaging components,” like a camera, to read the emotions of its users and send them catered content, like videos, photos, and ads.

“Computing devices such as laptops, mobile phones, and tablets increasingly include at least one, and often more than one, imaging component, such as a digital camera. Some devices may include a front-facing camera that is positioned on the same side of the device as a display. Thus, during normal operation, a user may be looking towards the imaging component. However, current content delivery systems typically do not utilize passive imaging information. Thus, a need exists for a content delivery solution that takes advantage of available passive imaging data to provide content to a user with improved relevancy.”

This is the US patent application to which the article is referring.

United States Patent Application 20150242679
Kind Code:
A1
Techniques for emotion detection and content delivery are described. In one embodiment, for example, an emotion detection component may identify at least one type of emotion associated with at least one detected emotion characteristic. A storage component may store the identified emotion type. An application programming interface (API) component may receive a request from one or more applications for emotion type and, in response to the request, return the identified emotion type. The one or more applications may identify content for display based upon the identified emotion type. The identification of content for display by the one or more applications based upon the identified emotion type may include searching among a plurality of content items, each content item being associated with one or more emotion type. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Publication number
US20150242679 A1
Publication type
Application
Application number
US 14/189,467
Publication date
Aug 27, 2015
Filing date
Feb 25, 2014
Priority date
Feb 25, 2014
Also published as
Inventors
Original Assignee
Export Citation
External Links: USPTOUSPTO AssignmentEspacenet

Facebook Inc appears to have been granted this related patent, Techniques for emotion detection and content delivery (US 9681166 B2- Publication date 13 June 2017):

ABSTRACT
Techniques for emotion detection and content delivery are described. In one embodiment, for example, an emotion detection component may identify at least one type of emotion associated with at least one detected emotion characteristic. A storage component may store the identified emotion type. An application programming interface (API) component may receive a request from one or more applications for emotion type and, in response to the request, return the identified emotion type. The one or more applications may identify content for display based upon the identified emotion type. The identification of content for display by the one or more applications based upon the identified emotion type may include searching among a plurality of content items, each content item being associated with one or more emotion type. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

BACKGROUND
Users of computing devices spend increasing amounts of time browsing streams of posts on social networks, news articles, video, audio, or other digital content. The amount of information available to users is also increasing. Thus, a need exists for delivering content a user that may be of current interest to them. For example, a user's interests may be determined based upon their current emotional state. Computing devices such as laptops, mobile phones, and tablets increasingly include at least one, and often more than one, imaging component, such as a digital camera. Some devices may include a front-facing camera that is positioned on the same side of the device as a display. Thus, during normal operation, a user may be looking towards the imaging component. However, current content delivery systems typically do not utilize passive imaging information. Thus, a need exists for a content delivery solution that takes advantage of available passive imaging data to provide content to a user with improved relevancy.

Facebook also appears to have been granted a US patent in May this year for Augmenting Text Messages With Emotion Information (US 20170147202 A1).

According to CBINSIGHTS this patent would; automatically add emotional information to text messages, predicting the user’s emotion based on methods of keyboard input. The visual format of the text message would adapt in real time based on the user’s predicted emotion. As the patent notes (and as many people have likely experienced), it can be hard to convey mood and intended meaning in a text-only message; this system would aim to reduce misunderstandings.
The system could pick up data from the keyboard, mouse, touch pad, touch screen, or other input devices, and the patent mentions predicting emotion based on relative typing speed, how hard the keys are pressed, movement (using the phone’s accelerometer), location, and other factors.

Sunday 9 July 2017

Rumble in the Digital Jungle



Hiding behind this statement is the determined efforts to stop discussion of the alleged issue of a specific Remote Control Execution said to be vulnerable tMan-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks, by one Simon Joseph Smith of www.evestigator.com.au &  www.cybersecurity.com.au 
who styles himself as "Australian's most elite Computer Digital Forensics Private Investigator...renowned in Australias as "Today Tonight's" Cyber-bullying Expert" .

Mr. Smith appears incensed:


https://ghostbin.com/paste/2nhwz

The resulting number of takedowns continues to grow.

As usual, getting this hissy online only results in more people having a look at the app in question's specifications and going on to make a snap judgment about the character of the hisser.

Sunday 25 June 2017

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull's agile & innovative NBN accused of screwing the poor. Why am I not surprised?


“Examining the rollout of NBN technologies as of December 2016, our preliminary analyses suggest areas of greatest socio-economic disadvantage overlap with regions typically receiving NBN infrastructure of poorer quality.”  [The Conversation, 22 June 2017]

c|net, 23 June 2017:

The richer you are, the better the NBN getting rolled out in your area.

That's according to a new study that maps Australia's disadvantaged communities against the NBN technology they're receiving. The findings show that when it comes to accessing the technology of the future, the poorest in our community are being left behind.

Conducted by the Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity at Flinders University, the study ranked Australia's richest and poorest communities according to ABS data. The team used the ABS's 2011 socio-economic indexes for area (SEIFA) and index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.

Matching these metrics against NBN technology, the researchers found "areas of greatest socio-economic disadvantage [shown on the left of the graph below] overlap with regions typically receiving NBN infrastructure of poorer quality."  

There is massive difference in the NBN technology rolled out to the least advantaged parts of our society (on the left-hand side) and the most advantaged. The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to be using fibre (shown in blue). 
Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity

The Conversation, 22 June 2016:

This result tells a similar story to an early analysis by Sydney University’s Tooran Alizadeh of 60 NBN release sites that were announced in 2011. She found some of the most disadvantaged areas of Australia were not gaining equal access to the new infrastructure.

If we look only at major cities in Australia – where the level of fibre technology is higher overall – areas with the greatest disadvantage, while exceeding similarly disadvantaged areas nationally, still received significantly less FTTP and FTTN: 65% of areas with a SEIFA decile of one had FTTP and FTTN, compared with 94% of areas with a SEIFA decile of 10…. 

NBN services in outer regional areas

Composition of currently available* NBN service technologies in outer regional areas by Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas deciles (SEIFA). SEIFA decile 1 denotes the most disadvantaged areas, and SEIFA decile 10 denotes the least disadvantaged areas. 
Note: Decile 10 has been excluded from this chart because only one suburb falls into this category, whereas other deciles have between 129 (Decile 8) and 341 (Decile 4) suburbs.
Notes: 
(i) A suburb can have multiple NBN service types. The data is for services that are currently available*. (Services that are planned or where build has commenced is not included).  
(ii) Fibre denotes both Greenfields and Brownfields fibre, and includes Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), Fibre to the Building (FTTB) and Fibre to the Node (FTTN). 
(iii) HFC is Hybrid-Fibre Coaxial service. 

*Technology available at December 2016

Another perspective on the issue……..

How the early NBN roll out was originally determined.

Telecommunications Policy, Volume 41, Issue 4, Tooran Alizadeh,  and Reza Farid, Political economy of telecommunication infrastructure: An investigation of the National Broadband Network early rollout and pork barrel politics in Australia, May 2017:

Abstract

It has been argued that infrastructure unevenness rigidifies into more lasting structures of socio-economic and political privilege and advantage. This paper focuses on telecommunication infrastructure as the backbone of the fast-growing digital economy, and raises important questions about the early National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout in Australia. The paper asks whether there was any case of pork barrelling in the selection of early release sites that enjoyed a regional competitive advantage against other localities that had to wait several years to receive the infrastructure. The answer to this question then leads to a second question about the degree to which voting in the early NBN release sites has swung following the infrastructure rollout. In order to answer these questions the paper examines the voting patterns in the earlier NBN release sites versus all electorates in the Federal elections in 2007–2013 using the data available via Australian Electoral Commission. Findings show trends of politically targeted funding, followed by vote swing in the very next election.


An analysis of the voting behaviours within the suburbs that were selected by governing Australian Labor Party, for the early NBN release, reveals that those suburbs that voted for the opposition Liberal/National Coalition and where the Coalition-held marginal seats were the key beneficiaries. This pattern occurred in all three states, as highlighted in Figure 3. In New South Wales and Queensland, electorates where either party held marginal seats had the most likely chance of receiving the NBN, followed by those were the Australian Labor Party-held safe seats. Chances of receiving the NBN in Victoria differed to the northern states, with electorates where the Australian Labor Party-held safe seats almost as likely as suburbs where marginal seats were held by the Liberal/National Coalition to receiving the NBN in the early rollout. Moreover, across the three states, the opposing Liberal/National Coalition-held safe seats were least likely to receive the NBN. With this said, fairly safe-held seats by either party also lucked out, although those held by the Australian Labor Party overall had slightly higher chances. Thus, in terms of receiving the NBN early rollout, the overall winners were those seats held marginally by the opposing Liberal/National Coalition. At the same time, the biggest loosers where the safe seats held by the opposing Coalition.

The Liberal Party has a new website *chortle*


The Liberal Party of Australia has a new website, The Fair Go, which it officially launched on 23 June 2017 at the party's federal conference.

Created on 2 May 2017 with registration expiring on 2 May 2018, it appears to have been established with the next federal election in mind.

Its admin email is thefairgo.com.dit@domainprivacyservice.com.au.

It has everything from The Words of the Week through to Pollies Horoscopes and Agony Bob advises – along with articles like Women are just people, Simplify Medicare to make it better and more sustainable and From laissez-faire to much fairer (the last two require a log-in to read)

No, I’m not joking. These are all on the current homepage.

Presumably the Liberal Party sees this website as aiming for the 18 to 25 year-old vote (the er...."woke generation") and surely must have used the Young Liberals from Sydney University as their focus group because the lameness level is off the charts.

According to outgoing acting Liberal party director Andrew Bragg undecided voters and swing voters would be targeted and the website"is designed to support the coalition's overarching narrative into social platforms and arm supporters with bottom up perspectives on public policy issues. Publish or perish must be our credo"

Suspend disbelief and enter at  http://thefairgo.com/whos-your-grand-daddy/:
                                       
We can’t be the only ones who remember that brief, disturbing time in which Australia declared the newly-minted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to be “daddy”.

We were curious how UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and US Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders would stack up in the daddy stakes. Corbyn got a huge slice of the youth vote and Sanders didn’t make it through the primary but still commands the hearts, minds and Twitter feeds of voters craving a political quality which has been thin on the ground.
It’s The Fair Go’s considered opinion that this quality is Daddiness. Or maybe more like grand-daddiness. Hear us out.
At first glance, you’d have to say that these old white leaders (OWLs) are unlikely heroes for a woke generation. But the young, white and wealthy just can’t get enough of them. [my yellow highlighting]
Potential Pest Warning


'Chances of hitting the floor whilst reading' rating  

Friday 9 June 2017

The American Resistance has many faces and here are just seventeen of them (8)


According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

In April 2017…. President Trump signed a law overturning strong, commonsense privacy rules that gave consumers control over what internet service providers (ISPs) could do with their data. The rules that were overturned would have prevented ISPs from sharing our browsing history with advertisers, forced ISPs to be clear about what information they’re collecting, and required ISPs to take reasonable steps to protect our data from hackers.

The response from many states was almost instantaneous. State legislators around the nation are now considering laws to restore the privacy protections that Congress and President Trump eviscerated……..

ALASKA
States where legislation has been introduced
Alaska’s HB 232, and the similar HB 230, prevents ISPs that do business within the state from collecting the personal information from customers without express, written consent. It also prevents ISPs from conditioning service on a customer giving them consent to collect personal information.

HAWAII
States where legislation has been introduced
A proposed version of Hawaii’s SB 1201 prevents ISPs that do business within the state from collecting the personal information from customers without express, written consent. It also prevents ISPs from conditioning service on a customer given them consent to collect personal information. However, the current version of the legislation does not include any privacy language.

KANSAS
States where legislation has been introduced
Kansas’s HB 2423 prevents ISPs that do business within the state from collecting or otherwise storing the personal information from a resident of Kansas without express, written consent. It also prevents ISPs from refusing to provide their service to a resident of Kansas who has not given approval for the collection, storage or sale of their personal information.

MAINE
States where legislation has been introduced
Maine’s LD 1610 prohibits an ISP from using, disclosing, selling, or permitting access to a customer’s personal information without express, affirmative consent (absent certain emergency and other exceptions). The bill defines personal information as including web browsing history, app usage, and precise geolocation information, among other sensitive types of data. It prohibits conditioning the sale of a service, or changing a penalty for that service, if a customer does not provide consent. The bill also requires ISPs to take reasonable measures to protect customer’s personal information against unauthorized use, disclosure or access.

MARYLAND
States where legislation has been introduced
A bill was introduced just six days before the end of the legislative session and failed to pass through Maryland’s state legislature, SB 1200, due to the lack of time to consider the issue. It would have prohibited ISPs from selling or transferring a customer’s personally identifying information—which includes browsing history and IP address—for marketing purposes without affirmative consent from the customer (absent certain legal exceptions). It would have prevented ISPs from showing ads to customers from the ISP based on the customer’s browsing history, without affirmative permission. The bill would have prevented ISPs from conditioning service on a customer giving them consent to collect personal information. And the bill would have required the state’s Joint Committee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Biotechnology to monitor enforcement of the act and provide recommendations on future changes needed to the law.

MASSACHUSETTS
States where legislation has been introduced
There are several internet privacy bills pending in Massachusetts. HB 3698 prohibits an ISP from collecting, using, disclosing, or permitting access to a customer’s sensitive propriety information without opt-in consent (absent certain emergency and other circumstances). Sensitive proprietary information includes financial and health information, information about children, precise geolocation, browsing history, and app usage, among others. The bill also requires that ISPs disclose, at the point of sale or during significant changes to their practices, the types of information the ISP wishes to collect, the purposes for which it would use the information, and the types of third-parties who would receive the information when asking the customer for opt-in consent.
S 2062 would prohibit ISPs from collecting, using, disclosing or permitting third-party access to a customer’s proprietary information, which includes web browsing history and app usage, without affirmative consent (absent certain emergency and other exceptions). It also requires the ISP to ask for opt-in approval when material changes are made to the company’s privacy policy, and it requires that customers be given a conspicuous notice of what information is collected, the purpose for which it would be disclosed, and the type of third-party it would be disclosed to. It also prohibits conditioning the sale of a service, or changing a penalty for that service, if a customer does not provide consent.

MINNESOTA
States where legislation has been introduced
A number of similar broadband privacy amendments were attempted in Minnesota. HF 2209 has a provision that prevents ISPs that do business within the state from collecting the personal information from customers without express, written consent. HF 2579HF 2606, and HF 2309 have the same language but also prohibit conditioning the sale of a service on a customer given them consent to collect personal information.

NEBRASKA
States where legislation has been introduced
LR 136, designates the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee to conduct an interim study of the effects of the overturning of the FCC’s broadband privacy rule. If the study concludes that repeal of the rule does impact the privacy of Nebraskans, it may consider state legislative and administration options to restore privacy protections to consumers. The bill was introduced with bi-partisan support.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
States where legislation has been introduced
An amendment to HB 305, which was not adopted, prohibited ISPs from using, disclosing, selling or permitting access to a customer’s personal information without affirmative consent (absent certain emergency and other exceptions). The amendment defined personal information as the content of communications, demographic information, browsing history, financial and health information, information pertaining to children, app usage, and precise geolocation, among others. The amendment also required ISPs to take reasonable steps to protect customer personal information from unauthorized use, disclosure, or access.

NEW JERSEY
States where legislation has been introduced
SB 3156 requires ISPs to keep their customer’s personally identifiable information—which includes browsing history and precise geolocation—confidential unless the customers provide affirmative consent. It also provides that ISP give written notice of this requirement to each customer. The provisions of the bill do not apply to investigations undertaken pursuant to the “New Jersey Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act. Importantly, an ISP cannot refuse to offer internet service to customers simply because the customer does not consent to disclosure of personal information.
AB 3027 instructs the Board of Public Utilities, in consultation with the Division of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Law and Public Safety, to undertake a public awareness campaign to promote consumer understanding of ISP’s information disclosure practices. The campaign would include information about state and federal privacy laws, the circumstances under which ISPs can disclose customer information, and guidance for how consumers can access and understand the privacy policies of ISPs. The bill does not specifically address how the campaign will be clear and accessible to the public.

NEW YORK
States where legislation has been introduced
New York has the most currently pending bills of any state. A 7191 and S5603 prohibit any ISP that do business within the state from collecting or disclosing a customer’s personal information—which includes browsing history and the contents of data-storage devices—without affirmative consent . However, the bills have a number of exceptions for the consent requirement, including provisions that would allow law enforcement to access customer data without a warrant. The bills also require ISPs to take reasonable data security steps and provide a cause of action for ISP violations of its provisions.
A 7236 and S 5576 require ISPs to obtain affirmative consent from a customer prior to using, sharing or selling that customer’s sensitive information, which includes browsing history, financial and medical data, biographical data, the content of communications, and internet usage. Non-sensitive data, which includes aggregate data or subscription data, does not require consent for disclosure. The bills also require ISPs to provide customers with a copy of a privacy policy that includes: data collection and use practices; the ISP’s relationships with third-parties, the purposes for which the ISP collects data; and information for how consumers can exercise control over their privacy. Any ISP that violates the provisions would be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to fines.
A 7495 and S 5516 require ISPs to keep confidential, unless given affirmatives consent, customer information including biographical information, browsing history, financial and health information, and information about political affiliation, among others. The ISP is also required to provide written notice of the requirements of the bill to each customer.
S 3367 requires ISPs to keep all customer information confidential unless affirmative consent is provided. The bill also creates a find of $500 per offense for any ISP found to be in violation.

OREGON
States where legislation has been introduced
HB 2090, which has been passed by the Oregon legislature, makes it a violation of that state’s consumer protections law for a company to engage in practices that are inconsistent with its stated privacy policy.
HB 2813 prohibits an ISP from disclosing, selling, or permitting access to a customer’s personal information without affirmative consent (absent certain emergency or other exceptions). The bill defines personal information to include demographic information, browsing history, app usage, the content of communications, information about finances, health or children, and precise geolocation, among others. The bill also prohibits an ISP from conditioning service on or charging a higher rate to customers that do not provide consent for their information to be used. The bill requires ISPs to take reasonable measures to protect customer personal information from unauthorized use, disclosure, or access. And the bill gives a private right of action against an ISP that discloses or sell their information in violation of the bill’s provisions.

RHODE ISLAND
States where legislation has been introduced
HB 6086 prevents ISPs that do business within the state from collecting the personal information from customers without express, written consent. It also prevents ISPs from conditioning service on a customer given them consent to collect personal information.

SOUTH CAROLINA
States where legislation has been introduced
HB 4154 prevents ISPs that do business within the state from collecting the personal information from customers without express, written consent. It also prevents ISPs from conditioning service on a customer given them consent to collect personal information.

WASHINGTON
States where legislation has been introduced
HB 2200, which has already passed the House twice, prohibits an ISP from selling or transferring a customer’s proprietary information, which includes communications content, browsing history, precise geolocation, and financial and health information, among others, without opt-in consent. The bill also prohibits an ISP conditioning service on a customer’s consent to use their proprietary information, and further must disclose the terms and conditions of any financial incentive provided to a customer that consents to having their information used by the ISP.
SB 5919 prevents ISPs that do business within the state from collecting the personal information from customers without express, written consent. It also prevents ISPs from conditioning service on a customer given them consent to collect personal information.

VERMONT
States where legislation has been introduced
HB 535 directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the Commissioner of Public Services to adopt privacy and data security rules for ISPs. SB 147 uses similar language, but also requires that the rules adopted include disclosure requirements for ISP privacy policies, opt-in or opt-out procedures for obtaining customer approval to use and share sensitive or non-sensitive customer propriety information, and data security and breach notification requirements.
SB 72 directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the Commissioner for Public Service and industry and consumer stakeholders, to submit a recommendation or draft legislation regarding whether and to what extent the state should adopt privacy and data security rules for ISPs.

WISCONSIN
States where legislation has been introduced
SB 233 prohibits an ISP from using, disclosing or permitting access to a customer’s proprietary information without affirmative consent (absent certain emergency and other exceptions). The bill defines proprietary information as the content of communications or information that relates to the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location, or amount of use of an ISP’s service. The bill also requires that ISP provide notice to consumers about how they collect and use their information and it requires reasonable data security practices and notification of data breaches.

Friday 12 May 2017

You're not on Facebook? Why not?!


One of the many reasons some people are closing their Facebook accounts and walking away – excessive, obsessive data collection and the uses to which it is put.

News.com.au, 1 May 2017:

FACEBOOK has come under fire over revelations it is targeting potentially vulnerable youths who “need a confidence boost” to facilitate predatory advertising practices.

The allegation was revealed this morning by The Australian which obtained internal documents from the social media giant which reportedly show how Facebook can exploit the moods and insecurities of teenagers using the platform for the potential benefit of advertisers.

The confidential document dated this year detailed how by monitoring posts, comments and interactions on the site, Facebook can figure out when people as young as 14 feel “defeated”, “overwhelmed”, “stressed”, “anxious”, “nervous”, “stupid”, “silly”, “useless”, and a “failure”.

Such information gathered through a system dubbed sentiment analysis could be used by advertisers to target young Facebook users when they are potentially more vulnerable.

While Google is the king of the online advertising world, Facebook is the other major player which dominates the industry worth about $80 billion last year.

But Facebook is not one to rest on its laurels. The leaked document shows it has been honing the covert tools its uses to gain useful psychological insights on young Australian and New Zealanders in high school and tertiary education.

The social media services we use can derive immense insight and personal information about us and our moods from the way we use them, and arguably none is more fastidious in that regard than Facebook which harvests immense data on its users.

The secret document was put together by two Australian Facebook execs and includes information about when young people are likely to feel excited, reflective, as well as other emotions related to overcoming fears.

The Guardian, 3 May 2017:

For two years I was charged with turning Facebook data into money, by any legal means. If you browse the internet or buy items in physical stores, and then see ads related to those purchases on Facebook, blame me. I helped create the first versions of that, way back in 2012.

The ethics of Facebook’s micro-targeted advertising was thrust into the spotlight this week by a report out of Australia. The article, based on a leaked presentation, said that Facebook was able to identify teenagers at their most vulnerable, including when they feel “insecure”, “worthless”, “defeated” and “stressed”.

Facebook claimed the report was misleading, assuring the public that the company does not “offer tools to target people based on their emotional state”. If the intention of Facebook’s public relations spin is to give the impression that such targeting is not even possible on their platform, I’m here to tell you I believe they’re lying through their teeth.

Just as Mark Zuckerberg was being disingenuous (to put it mildly) when, in the wake of Donald Trump’s unexpected victory, he expressed doubt that Facebook could have flipped the presidential election.

Facebook deploys a political advertising sales team, specialized by political party, and charged with convincing deep-pocketed politicians that they do have the kind of influence needed to alter the outcome of elections. 

I was at Facebook in 2012, during the previous presidential race. The fact that Facebook could easily throw the election by selectively showing a Get Out the Vote reminder in certain counties of a swing state, for example, was a running joke.

Express online, 6 January 2017:

FACEBOOK siphons an enormous amount of data from its users – whether it's monitoring your mouse movements, tracking the amount of time you spend on any given post, or the subject of your photographs……

The US social network is constantly tracking information about its users – however, most users will not be aware of just how much data it can siphon from a single photograph.

Facebook hints at how much data it is able to detect when it suggests people who might be in the photograph, prompting you to tag their faces.

But in reality, the California-based social network is tracking much more than just faces.

When you upload a photo on Facebook, the social network scans the image and detects how many people are in the photograph, and whether it was taken indoors or outside.

Facebook is also able to identify humans, animals and inanimate objects.

It is not always accurate, but the social network is able to differentiate between people who are standing, or sitting down.

To find out exactly what Facebook is reading into your photos, software developer Adam Geitgey has created a useful Chrome browser extension that reveals the data Facebook is collecting from your images.

Show Facebook Computer Vision Tags reveals data that Facebook usually keeps hidden from its users.

The free Google Chrome extension can be downloaded from the Chrome extension store.

Facebook has implemented object recognition technology since April 2016, a spokesperson for the company told Metro.co.uk.

The Verge, 27 May 2016:

Facebook will now display ads to web users who are not members of its social network, the company announced Thursday, in a bid to significantly expand its online ad network. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Facebook will use cookies, "like" buttons, and other plug-ins embedded on third-party sites to track members and non-members alike. The company says it will be able to better target non-Facebook users and serve relevant ads to them…

Some of the data Facebook collects to facilitate ad placements, according to The Washington Post on  19 August 2016:

1. Location
2. Age
3. Generation
4. Gender
5. Language
6. Education level
7. Field of study
8. School
9. Ethnic affinity
10. Income and net worth
11. Home ownership and type
12. Home value
13. Property size
14. Square footage of home
15. Year home was built
16. Household composition

As explained on that shiny new portal, Facebook keeps ads “useful and relevant” in four distinct ways. It tracks your on-site activity, such as the pages you like and the ads you click, and your device and location settings, such as the brand of phone you use and your type of Internet connection. Most users recognize these things impact ad targeting: Facebook has repeatedly said as much. But slightly more surprising is the extent of Facebook’s web-tracking efforts and its collaborations with major data brokers.

While you’re logged onto Facebook, for instance, the network can see virtually every other website you visit. Even when you’re logged off, Facebook knows much of your browsing: It’s alerted every time you load a page with a “Like” or “share” button, or an advertisement sourced from its Atlas network. Facebook also provides publishers with a piece of code, called Facebook Pixel, that they (and by extension, Facebook) can use to log their Facebook-using visitors.

While you’re logged onto Facebook, for instance, the network can see virtually every other website you visit. Even when you’re logged off, Facebook knows much of your browsing: It’s alerted every time you load a page with a “Like” or “share” button, or an advertisement sourced from its Atlas network. Facebook also provides publishers with a piece of code, called Facebook Pixel, that they (and by extension, Facebook) can use to log their Facebook-using visitors.

17. Users who have an anniversary within 30 days
18. Users who are away from family or hometown
19. Users who are friends with someone who has an anniversary, is newly married or engaged, recently moved, or has an upcoming birthday
20. Users in long-distance relationships
21. Users in new relationships
22. Users who have new jobs
23. Users who are newly engaged
24. Users who are newly married
25. Users who have recently moved
26. Users who have birthdays soon
27. Parents
28. Expectant parents
29. Mothers, divided by “type” (soccer, trendy, etc.)
30. Users who are likely to engage in politics
31. Conservatives and liberals
32. Relationship status

On top of that, Facebook offers marketers the option to target ads according to data compiled by firms like Experian, Acxiom and Epsilon, which have historically fueled mailing lists and other sorts of offline efforts. These firms build their profiles over a period of years, gathering data from government and public records, consumer contests, warranties and surveys, and private commercial sources — like loyalty card purchase histories or magazine subscription lists. Whatever they gather from those searches can also be fed into a model to draw further conclusions, like whether you’re likely to be an investor or buy organic for your kids.

Wired, 28 December 2012:

In 2010, while researching his thesis, he asked Facebook if it could send him all of the user data the company had relating to his own account. Amazingly, he got a response.

Facebook was, in Schrems' words, "dumb enough" to send him all his data in a 1,200-page PDF. It showed that Facebook kept records of every person who had ever poked him, all the IP addresses of machines he had used to access the site (as well as which other Facebook users had logged in on that machine), a full history of messages and chats and even his "last location", which appeared to use a combination of check-ins, data gathered from apps, IP addresses and geo-tagged uploads to work out where he was.

As Schrems went through the document, he found items he thought he had deleted, such as messages, status updates and wall posts. He also found personal information he says he never supplied, including email addresses that had been culled from his friends' address books. European law is worded vaguely, but says that personal data must be processed "fairly"; people should be given comprehensive information on how it will be used; the data processed should not be "excessive" in relation to the purpose for which it was collected; it should be held securely and deleted when no longer needed. And each person should have the right to access all of their personal data.