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posted by takyon on Monday January 07 2019, @11:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the just-a-speck dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Facebook Knows How to Track You Using the Dust on Your Camera Lens

In 2014, Facebook filed a patent application for a technique that employs smartphone data to figure out if two people might know each other. The author, an engineering manager at Facebook named Ben Chen, wrote that it was not merely possible to detect that two smartphones were in the same place at the same time, but that by comparing the accelerometer and gyroscope readings of each phone, the data could identify when people were facing each other or walking together. That way, Facebook could suggest you friend the person you were talking to at a bar last night, and not all the other people there that you chose not to talk to. Facebook says it hasn't put this technique into practice.

[...] Patents filed by Facebook that mention People You May Know show some ingenious methods that Facebook has devised for figuring out that seeming strangers on the network might know each other. One filed in 2015 describes a technique that would connect two people through the camera metadata associated with the photos they uploaded. It might assume two people knew each other if the images they uploaded looked like they were titled in the same series of photos—IMG_4605739.jpg and IMG_4605742, for example—or if lens scratches or dust were detectable in the same spots on the photos, revealing the photos were taken by the same camera.

[...] The technological analysis in some of the patents is pretty astounding, but it could well be wishful thinking on Facebook's part.

Vera Ranieri, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who focuses on intellectual property, hasn't reviewed these specific patents but said generally that the U.S. Patent Office doesn't ensure that a technology actually works before granting a patent.


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  • (Score: 2) by Nuke on Monday January 07 2019, @05:25PM (5 children)

    by Nuke (3162) on Monday January 07 2019, @05:25PM (#783249)

    Can someone please explain to me what is the advantage to FB of knowing who I was talking or walking with (unless it is with intent to blackmail, but presumably even FB would not go that far) ?

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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Monday January 07 2019, @07:11PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 07 2019, @07:11PM (#783300) Journal

    presumably even FB would not go that far

    I would mod you Insanely Naive, but alas no such mod.

    FB would steal your vital organs and justify it as their sacred duty to increase shareholder value if they thought they could make a buck by doing so. Just like any publicly tiraded corporation.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday January 07 2019, @07:40PM (2 children)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Monday January 07 2019, @07:40PM (#783320) Journal

    You are often together with John Smith, outside working hours. So you're likely friends with John Smith. John Smith has birthday soon. So you're likely going to buy a birthday present for him. Facebook knows (or thinks it knows) what John Smith likes from his profile data. Facebook also infers how much you are likely willing to spend, based on your Facebook profile. Suddenly you see many ads for potential presents for John Smith in that price range.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 07 2019, @09:38PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 07 2019, @09:38PM (#783388)

      Suddenly you see many ads for potential presents for John Smith in that price range. significantly above that range and one or two items just barely above it.

      That's how you maximize shareholder value. And get to charge more for the "targeted" ads.

    • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday January 08 2019, @12:59AM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday January 08 2019, @12:59AM (#783492)

      Are you now, or have you ever been a member, of the John Smith party of the United States? [wikipedia.org] And do you know any people who are members of this party?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 07 2019, @10:19PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 07 2019, @10:19PM (#783406)

    tl;dr: It's how Trump got elected. What's in it for FB? Payment, obviously.