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Facebook is apologizing after its algorithms tagged 65,000 Russian users as "interested in treason." Facebook algorithmically tags users based on their behavior, making it easier for advertisers to target people interested in specific topics. In this case, however, the tag "treason" may have put users under the threat of government intervention. Facebook says it has since removed the interest category.
[...] Automated profiling is useful when you're an orange juice vendor looking for people who say they like orange juice, but a landmark 2016 report from ProPublica found that many of the interests Facebook links to users aren't self-selected. Facebook records your behavior, then makes inferences on who you may be or what you might like, including your race, gender, sexuality, and religion.
[...] Let's be clear: Facebook is an automated profiling machine that synthesizes the enormous amounts of behavior data we create as we click, share, and friend other users. Advertisers can tap into that machine whenever they want, for the right price, and governments can request data. Overall, Facebook hands data over about 75% of the time, according to its 2018 Transparency Report.
Source: Facebook's Ad Tools Labeled Thousands of Users as 'Interested' in Treason
(Score: 3, Interesting) by acid andy on Thursday July 12 2018, @11:55PM
I think there's a lot of truth in that but it's also wise to remember that we all grew up initially having to place a lot of trust in authority figures (unless you were a lone orphan) be they parents, teachers, or peers and you accept a lot of knowledge on faith quite early on in life until you learn to analyze and think critically. It's all too easy to be conditioned into the trap of subconsciously assuming that authority figures know better than you do in their field. Even when you start to reject what you grew up with, the subconscious biases can still be there. Don't take anything you learnt in the past for granted. Debunk everything. Open your mind.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?