Invisible Manipulation: 10 Ways our Data is Being Used Against Us:
The era where we were in control of the data on our own computers has been replaced with devices containing sensors we cannot control, storing data we cannot access, in operating systems we cannot monitor, in environments where our rights are rendered meaningless. Soon the default will shift from us interacting directly with our devices to interacting with devices we have no control over and no knowledge that we are generating data. Below we outline 10 ways in which this exploitation and manipulation is already happening.
As just one example from the short article:
8. Invisible Discrimination and Poverty
Online, and increasingly offline, companies gather data about us that determine what advertisements we see; this, in turn, affects the opportunities in our lives. The ads we see online, whether we are invited for a job interview, or whether we qualify for benefits is decided by opaque systems that rely on highly granular data. More often than not, such exploitation of data facilitates and exacerbates already existing inequalities in societies — without us knowing that it occurs. As a result, data exploitation disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable in society.
That reminds me of the old saying: "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Here's another old saying:
"If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged." Cardinal Richelieu.
How much data would suffice to accomplish this, today?
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Entropy on Monday October 15 2018, @09:55PM (5 children)
Because Angel Adams (and her 15 children) the welfare queen(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcn_1n6Am14) needs a Ferrari ad, right?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @11:38PM (4 children)
Better be careful, your entropy seems to be increasing exponentially.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @01:32AM
Wouldn't it be an asymptote in this case?
(Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday October 16 2018, @01:52AM (2 children)
He's very well named. He may be, weight for weight, the single most corrosive commenter on the entire site. Uzzard is at least occasionally funny, and most of what he posts is just him demonstrating how far he can shove his beak up his cloaca. Entropy, though, posts hateful content-free shit like this, and nothing else.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @09:12AM (1 child)
Thankfully we have you to point this all out and add so much content! Thanks.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday October 16 2018, @12:46PM
You're very welcome! Compared to him I'm a veritable goldmine of information and insight. Then again, compared to him, so are things that live under rocks...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday October 15 2018, @10:05PM (1 child)
So ... does that mean more coarse-grained data, or more fine-grained data? I never quite understood that descriptor.
(Score: 4, Touché) by bob_super on Monday October 15 2018, @10:14PM
It's about a quantum leap better.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @11:01PM (13 children)
The last 67 ads in a row (at least, it was so blatant I started a record) have been for female empowerment products. As a straight guy, I was having trouble trying to figure out what they are trying to sell to me. Or do they know something I don't? Am I due for a sex change?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday October 15 2018, @11:07PM
Yes.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @11:22PM (1 child)
According to the pink-hair CoC crowd at Mozilla everyone is due for gender reassignment. So your browser is just showing you the ads Mozilla wants you to see, in an attempt to hypnotize you into joining their multi-gender freakshow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 15 2018, @11:36PM
Haw haw haw, tell us another one pa!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @12:14AM (1 child)
Since all so called male products are designed by queers, I am not sure what you are missing.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday October 16 2018, @03:25AM
I think it was Tuesday anyway.
So I told my five thousand facebook friends what SN has known all along:
When AC applies stern and just punishment for my creation of Soggy Jobs, William Jefferson Clinton stands at attention.
I got lots of likes on that post.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 16 2018, @02:12AM (7 children)
Techs and nerds see advertising? Why? Is it part of the job? Is it in your contract, that you must permit advertiser's access to your desktop? How about your servers?
I see no advertising on my desktop. I've blocked the majority of ad servers at the router, and all of my browsers have uBlock and other addons to block all that nonsense. The various Google "services" are blocked, as well as third party scripting etc.
If I see an advertised Walmart product, it's because I did a search for the product, and the search led me to Walmart's site.
I remember when I used to watch television, the advertising took up increasing amounts of time. If 30% of your desktop space is devoted to advertising, like television, then you are probably doing something wrong.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday October 16 2018, @03:28AM (1 child)
It's Because I Am A Shameless Whore [pixelbegone.com].
Yes, ad servers enable tracking but ad servers alone won't be as precise as tracking pixels are.
There are a few native ad companies, they serve ads to your server, your server serve ads already embedded in its content. While in principle track could still be done, but would be far less computationally and energetically efficient, as well as a huge pain in the ass.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday October 16 2018, @03:34AM
OK I fixed it.
I fixed it good.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by Kell on Tuesday October 16 2018, @04:09AM (4 children)
This is interesting to me because right now I am -the- most valuable market segment: young, working professional woman planning a wedding and expecting her first child shortly. Aside from absolutely breathless email marketing from companies at which I have actually bought products, I have not noticed an uptick anywhere else (eg. spam, phone spam, advertising post). But I am careful to not run scripts, avoid "rewards programs", avoid facebook like the plague, and to keep uBlock etc running. If you go out of your way to avoid it, it seems the marketing machine is toothless.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday October 16 2018, @02:17PM (2 children)
Congratulations, on the wedding and the baby. And, congratulations again for taking control of your computer, and the advertising. Apparently, you've got it working like it should be working!
As for the baby, let me assure you that he/she will never work the way you expect. The husband probably won't either. But, enjoy them anyway!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Unixnut on Tuesday October 16 2018, @02:27PM
Runway said it best, +1 Congratulations Mod (to fit in the spirit of Soylent :-) )
(Score: 2) by Kell on Thursday October 18 2018, @10:33AM
Heh, the husband is an artist - he doesn't work, child or not!
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Tuesday October 16 2018, @10:29PM
+1 Congratulations mod
(Score: 4, Informative) by shipofgold on Monday October 15 2018, @11:27PM (2 children)
I like to think that the ads I see on side-bars and popups have no affect on me. But I am not sure.
I can't say I can remember having clicked on an ad and then completed a purchase because of it. What I often see are ads for the same thing I already purchased on Amazon or elsewhere and thus are no longer relevant.
Of course once I get that Ferrari ad I guess I know I have made it.
(Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Tuesday October 16 2018, @01:24AM
worse, the ads can be for items that you've researched, that you have no intention of every buying (friend buys x, is it any good? Someone asks what item you recommend, so you look at what is available.. a child uses your computer and now you see ads for paw patrol toys..)
it is always disconcerting to use someone else's computer and see all this crap (on almost every web page). The internet is very shouty for 'normal' people*
*people who use blockers, anti-trackers, script preventers, etc etc**
**no one can claim to be normal and be active on this site.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday October 16 2018, @03:37AM
I Am Absolutely Serious.
The ad was for an institution of higher learning that enables CIA agents to advance in their careers.
I took a screen shot but I don't have a clue where I put it.
Between that ad and my really having applied for the USAF Cyber Command in 2008 got mixed together with the Clark County Jail refusing to give me any medicine to result in my being a clandestine field agent for the USMC Cyber Command when I got out of the slammer.
I even issued a press release about what I was up to in the way of clandestinely fielding.
To realize that I was delusional was quite an evolution in my thinking.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday October 16 2018, @12:06AM
That's some wicked spin to suggest ads are opportunities. 99% of ads I have ever seen are pure consumerism if not outright spam. Waste your money on some product or service you do not need!
Even those that might be genuine opportunities such as the help wanted ads-- the ones that aren't obvious scams like those "work at home and make $30,000 in one week" bait for the desperate-- are suspect. You know, the ones that have so many requirements that no one can qualify, because what they really want is an excuse to whine to the government that they must have more H1B workers, that sort of thing. You have to wonder how serious an organization is when they ask for 10 years of experience in a technology that hasn't been around for 10 years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @12:10AM (1 child)
This story reminds me of Gibson's Neuromancer. We are like frogs on slowly heated \frying pan, and it looks like we the nerds are the Eichmans of this plot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @12:23AM
not all of us - remember the Unabomber.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday October 16 2018, @01:06AM
I'll have to work harder:
http://www.pixelbegone.org [pixelbegone.org]
I had a great hosts file on my Mom's iMac before I hid all her desktop documents, set Conie kneeling from kindgirls as her desktop photo the converted Adequacy.org's "Your Son May Be A Computer Hacker" to PDF then left it on her Desktop as the only icon
While the judge dismissed my case by the time I got out of the slammer moms drive had been wiped and reinstalled
The Caltech Alumni Facebook Group clued me into using uBlock Origin in some manner of permissive mode to locate all the web bugs. I'll take a stab at that tonight
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @01:59AM
Not trying real hard eh?
Once you've considered all of the buyers and sellers of unconsensually obtained surveillance data, you've pretty much impacted most facets of most peoples lives in some way. The question isn't how many ways people are being harmed.
The question is: "What parts of peoples lives aren't being harmed?"
The more you understand about the technology, the law, and the psychology; finding life that isn't contaminated by this form of assault, either directly or indirectly is quite difficult.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by looorg on Tuesday October 16 2018, @02:32AM (1 child)
What ads? I block like EVERYTHING. It's a lovely adless existance. Yes some pages do look a bit wonky, or won't display at all, but I have yet to feel I'm missing out so much that I'll stop the blocking.
The other issue tho, how many things you type and leave behind? Well I'm not going to be running for public office anytime soon. Most people do seem to leave behind a lot of things that sooner or later might come back to haunt them. There should really be a rule against that somehow, the statue of limitation of shit your wrote on the internet X years ago is no longer valid if you say so.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @05:45AM
The 'internet statue of limitations' is covered with pigeon shit, graffiti, and someone cut its balls off in an end-of-year college prank. Sadly there's no statute to enforce any limitations either.