facebook faces possible investigation over mond control experiment

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Sicc OG
Feb 2, 2006
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Facebook NewsFeed Manipulation Prompts FTC Complaint, Investigation Possible - Forbes

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed formal legal documents with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that Facebook engaged in deceptive trade practices and violated a 2012 Consent Order entered into with the FTC. The formal complaint asks the agency to begin an investigation, and comes in response to the news that Facebook manipulated the NewsFeeds of 689,003 users.
EPIC has previously filed complaints against Facebook, and was largely successful in their efforts. The FTC’s 2012 settlement with Facebook followed from a Complaint filed by EPIC and a coalition of privacy and civil liberties organization in December 2009 and a Supplemental Complaint filed by EPIC in February 2010. In that matter, the FTC settled charges that Facebook “deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public.”
The complaint sets forth three allegations:
Count I: Deceptive Failure to Inform Users that their Data Would Be Shared With Third-Party Researchers

As described above, Facebook represented to consumers that the company shared user data with users’ “friends” on the website, advertisers, and developers.
In fact, as described above, Facebook shared user data with third-party researchers at multiple universities.
Users could not reasonably have known that their data might be shared with third party behavioral science researchers.
As described above, Facebook users were materially concerned with this data sharing practice.
Therefore, Facebook’s failure to adequately disclose that it shared consumer data with third-party researchers constitutes a deceptive act or practice in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a).

Count II: Unfair Failure to Inform Users That They Were Subject to Behavioral Testing

As described above, Facebook represented to users that the company only shared
user data for advertising purposes or in conjunction with [thing].
In fact, as described above, Facebook subjected certain users to ongoing
behavioral testing by collecting user data and feeding it into a separate algorithm.
Users could not reasonably have guessed that use of their Facebook account might
subject them to behavioral testing.
As described above, users were materially concerned with this change in
Facebook’s data use.
Therefore, Facebook’s failure to adequately disclose that it used consumer data to manipulate users’ NewsFeeds and record users’ reactions constitutes a deceptive act or practice in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a).

Count III: Violation of the 2012 Consent Order

As described above, Facebook misrepresented its data collection practices, in contravention of Count I of the Consent Order.
As described above, Facebook misrepresented the extent to which it made covered information accessible to third parties, also in contravention of Count I of the Consent Order.

Therefore, Facebook has violated Count I of its 2012 Consent Order with the FTC and is subject to FTC enforcement in Federal district court.

EPIC’s complaint asks the FTC to initiate an investigation of Facebook’s manipulation of user NewsFeeds and the transfer of user data to third parties. The group is also asking that the FTC force Facebook to make public the algorithm that produces the NewsFeed.
The full legal complaint is included below
 
May 7, 2013
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www.hoescantstopme.biz
#2
I didn't read, but I'm taking a guess and saying facebook is in trouble for manipulating news to its members the way that their computer algorithms determined the members prefer to read their news (i.e. catering to thought patterns). I am not understanding how that is a crime. State sponsored television networks have been doing this since the beginning, the only difference is it is broadcast in its single format versus individual formats.
 
May 7, 2013
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www.hoescantstopme.biz
#3
This week's debate relates to the secretive social experiment Facebook conducted on a random selection of 689,003 of its one billion-plus users. According to an article published June 17, 2014, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Facebook and Cornell University were testing whether certain emotions could be manipulated and would then spread among people without face-to-face contact.

As part of the experiment, the number of positive and negative comments that Facebook users saw on their feeds of articles and photos was artificially altered without their knowledge in January 2012. In the end, the researchers found that users who were shown fewer positive words were found to write more negative posts, and those who were exposed to fewer negative terms ultimately shared more positive posts.

You Said We Could

The authors of the study were able to conduct the research because, they said, automated testing “was consistent with Facebook’s Data Use Policy, to which all users agree prior to creating an account on Facebook, constituting informed consent for this research.”


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And that is the bottom line, people are more than happy to sign user agreements without reading or understanding them. People, overall, are no longer interested in their rights and are more than willing to waive them.

Here is another example:

Verizon Wireless is launching a rewards program this week for subscribers who consent to having their everyday movements tracked.

The program, called Smart Rewards, offers gift cards and travel deals to subscribers who surrender their web surfing, app usage and location data in exchange for targeted advertisements based on that personal information through the Verizon Selects tracking program.

“To make marketing messages more relevant, Verizon will analyze the information described above to identify you as part of a group of people a marketer is trying to reach,” the terms and conditions for Verizon Selects state.

The wireless company introduced Verizon Selects back in 2012 but has now created the Smart Rewards program to encourage more subscribers to enroll
 
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