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from the give-me-six-lines-penned-by-the-most-honest-of-men... dept.
Cracked Labs has just released a report on Corporate Surveillance in Everyday Life:
Report: How thousands of companies monitor, analyze, and influence the lives of billions. Who are the main players in today's digital tracking? What can they infer from our purchases, phone calls, web searches, and Facebook likes? How do online platforms, tech companies, and data brokers collect, trade, and make use of personal data?
In recent years, a wide range of companies has started to monitor, track and follow people in virtually every aspect of their lives. The behaviors, movements, social relationships, interests, weaknesses and most private moments of billions are now constantly recorded, evaluated and analyzed in real-time. The exploitation of personal information has become a multi-billion industry. Yet only the tip of the iceberg of today's pervasive digital tracking is visible; much of it occurs in the background and remains opaque to most of us.
This report by Cracked Labs examines the actual practices and inner workings of this personal data industry. Based on years of research and a previous 2016 report, the investigation shines light on the hidden data flows between companies. It maps the structure and scope of today's digital tracking and profiling ecosystems and explores relevant technologies, platforms and devices, as well as key recent developments.
While the full report is available as PDF download, this web publication presents a ten part overview.
The online paper has 10 sections on everything from "Analyzing People" through "Towards a society of pervasive digital social control?"
In short, these companies are relying on information asymmetry — they know what they are getting and what they plan on doing with data about you, while you are left to your limited imagination as to what they might be planning.
(Score: 2) by pvanhoof on Monday June 12 2017, @06:01PM (5 children)
You can also police and control social media just like how you police and control society: when you bully another youngster so hard that he or she commits suicide, it's quite likely that you'll at least need to change school afterwards. People will generally not like you afterwards. It might be that you or your parents will be held accountable in front of a judge, too. The teachers at school might be held accountable too (why didn't they stop it, etc).
Nothing of any of that on social media. Under the umbrella "no censorship!!!" (or, whatever you are bullshitting) anything goes. All norms are out of the door. All for the profits of the mega corps that want to suck each and every piece of information out of everybody. For example also how depressed their data milk cows are. Because who knows what you can sell them? It's sick and absolutely not natural or normal. It's a total and complete abuse of technology, too. I also think in time it'll turn society against technology.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday June 12 2017, @07:04PM (1 child)
Many people have faced real world consequences for their actions on social media. People post racist and sexist remarks or bully others all the time online, under their real names. If a big enough backlash results, it can lead to termination of employment, advertiser boycotts, and even criminal charges [people.com].
If a social media platform doesn't require users to post using their real names, perhaps it's actually an antisocial media platform.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday June 12 2017, @09:21PM
People face real world consequences for transgressing corporate agenda. Not really for being abusive towards other people. And that is the problem. Corporations have no place in policing social forums with a corporate agenda as a basis.
Not using the real name is a necessity because too many people are bullies by nature or let their vested interest expand like a damp cloth over everybody else if they get a chance. But maybe a maturity limit would be a good thing to implement. In the past it existed in the form of the need to be technically qualified which necessitated some minimum thinking and curiosity capability. Let people install the OS on their computer phones themselves and it may solve a lot of modern day bullshit..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:44AM (2 children)
Nope, censorship is always evil and should be circumvented by any means possible. There is nothing on any part of the internet that can make a person act involuntarily. So stop with the scapegoating. If you find something you consider offensive, tune it out, and teach your damn kids to do the same thing. Nobody forces them to read the bully's posts...
(Score: 2) by pvanhoof on Tuesday June 13 2017, @11:34AM (1 child)
I mentioned that everyday a teenager is nowadays committing suicide because of social media bullshit of other people. This is today on nieuwsblad.be (my country):
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20170613_02922991 [nieuwsblad.be]
Translated: teenager (15 years old) commits suicide by throwing himself in front of a train, after a nude picture of him started circulating on social media.
No matter how you feel about censorship, this stuff is going on constantly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 13 2017, @02:49PM
It's not social media's fault. The choice to commit suicide is a personal one. You and mass media are simply scapegoating in your call for censorship. Scream all you want. I will continue my efforts to work around whatever blockages you put up. It seems you are posting from Europe. So I understand why you propagandize against freedom of speech. You all aren't big believers in it, and since we can't convince you, we just have to go around the *damage* and let you little dictators cry in your soup.