> <i>Facebook said it already offers more transparency into political advertising than either traditional media</i><p>What bullshit. If I want to know what ads are targeting my parents in print, I can buy the locally distributed newspapers. If I want to know what they see on Facebook, I have to literally shoulder surf. That or wait for the week’s crack cure-all to surface in a family message thread.
>“Scraping tools, no matter how well-intentioned, are not a permissible means of collecting information from us,” said the letter<p>Well that's quite nice that Facebook understands their intentions are positive, surely Facebook will just supply then the data directly instead!
In 2016, there was furor regarding third party data analytics. The $5 billion FTC fine was ostensibly about protecting user privacy. It can be seen here as a fine for inadequate exercise of data authority: Facebook was letting outsiders see what's in the castle.<p>Now, the walls are opaque, and privacy situation is worse. Outsiders can no longer observe and audit Facebook's <i>output information</i> to users, let alone the information users offer as input.
Rather ironic given that facebook has engaged in human subject research regarding emotional manipulation without informed consent in the past. I think they’ve waived their right to object.
They asked volunteers to install a browser extension to collect the data for them. So technically aren't they bulk collecting their volunteers' data, not Facebook's?<p>We really need a law/court case that establishes who owns data and who has permission to share it. The volunteers should be allowed to share whatever they want.
Makes sense. Last time a university wanted to scrape user data from from Facebook users (with their permission) "for research purposes", it didn't end so well for Facebook.
Here's the browser plugin the researcher team uses to collect data:<p><a href="https://adobserver.org/" rel="nofollow">https://adobserver.org/</a><p>It's been obfuscated and I don't see a public repo of the source anywhere.
Not surprising, they don't want to have the Cambridge Analytica scandal happening again. Yes it's a very different thing, but the general populus and old beuracrats in Washington aren't really going to understand that.
Sometimes, I think of throwing up my hands and saying, how can you fight this? There's only so much you can fight against what people want -- because by our actions we're saying we want it.<p>What do I mean? Facebook is just a manifestation of something that has gripped us through technology. People <i>want</i> to read about their family/friends little daily stories, they <i>want</i> to engage in arguments about politics, they <i>want</i> to hear gossip and news, they <i>want</i> a platform to promote themselves. And they've found a way to do it.<p>Someone will insert themselves into that stream to manipulate others, entice them to buy things, seek publicity for their causes. Yet we still (collectively) keep opening the app and logging on because we feel -- consciously or not -- that it brings more value to our lives than takes. So every minute, Facebook (or whoever it would be to take their place) gets the reward signal saying, "these people want what we're selling". And on net people aren't abandoning it out of concern for the side effects.<p>Maybe all you can do is create your local island of sanity and protect yourselves against whatever it produces. Maybe that's us for a decade until someone figures out how to manage this new dynamic, or Congress does its job. How much can you fight when every person's minute-by-minute choice produces a force that's uncontrollable?
It saddens me that this doesn't surprise me anymore. Big tech is so ridden with secrets and trying to hide them, specially when they have to do with politics seems a little less than what democracy is meant to be.
>In letter this month, Facebook says the project violates provisions in its terms of service that prohibit bulk data collection<p>I thought people asked for these restrictions after Cambridge Analytica. Are they evil now? :^)
Doesn't this NYU research project fall squarely within Facebook's stated mission "To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected."<p>Seriously fuck Facebook and fuck Zuckerberg. This company is the absolute height of hypocrisy, hubris and deception.<p>I hope this only makes more people interested in this research project and spurs more interest in similar projects in the future.
Politico has the story also, unpaywalled:<p><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/23/facebook-block-transparency-political-ads-432038" rel="nofollow">https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/23/facebook-block-tran...</a>