Apparently, Nancy Pelosi isn't the only one "embracing the suck"...
Facebook saves everything you type - even if you don't publish it
Sydney Morning Herald
December 14, 2013
It turns out the things you explicitly choose not to share aren't entirely private, writes Jennifer Golbeck couple of months ago, a friend of mine asked on Facebook:
"Do you think that Facebook tracks the stuff that people type and then erase before hitting ? (or the 'post' button)"
The NSA is monitoring things we have actually put online. Facebook, on the other hand, is analysing thoughts that we have intentionally chosen not to share...
...
...Unfortunately, the code that powers Facebook still knows what you typed – even if you decide not to publish it. It turns out the things you explicitly choose not to share aren't entirely private.
Facebook calls these unposted thoughts "self-censorship", and insights into how it collects these non-posts can be found in a recent paper written by two Facebookers. Sauvik Das, a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon and summer software engineer intern at Facebook, and Adam Kramer, a Facebook data scientist, have put online an article presenting their study of the self-censorship behaviour collected from 5 million English-speaking Facebook users. It reveals a lot about how Facebook monitors our unshared thoughts and what it thinks about them...
Saturday's story in Australia's largest daily newspaper tells us:
"The study examined aborted status updates, posts on other people's timelines and comments on others' posts. To collect the text you type, Facebook sends code to your browser. That code automatically analyses what you type into any text box and reports metadata back to Facebook."
...Storing text as you type isn't uncommon on other websites. For example, if you use Gmail, your draft messages are automatically saved as you type them. Even if you close the browser without saving, you can usually find a (nearly) complete copy of the email you were typing in your drafts folder. Facebook is using essentially the same technology here. The difference is that Google is saving your messages to help you. Facebook users don't expect their unposted thoughts to be collected, nor do they benefit from it....
The article continues on to note that Facebook's privacy policy is (deliberately) vague about about this data collection practice; and then directs us to this link: Facebook's
Data Use Policy; via a section called "
Information we receive and how it is used",
"...it's made clear that the company collects information you choose to share or when you "view or otherwise interact with things". But nothing suggests that it collects content you explicitly don't share. Typing and deleting text in a box could be considered a type of interaction, but I suspect very few of us would expect that data to be saved. When I reached out to Facebook, a representative told me the company believes this self-censorship is a type of interaction covered by the policy.
The SMH points to the inconvenient fact that "...Das and Kramer claim to only send back information to Facebook that indicates whether you self-censored, not what you typed. The Facebook rep I spoke with agreed the company isn't collecting the text of self-censored posts. But it's certainly technologically possible, and it's clear that Facebook is interested in the content of your self-censored posts."
And, I definitely agree with the newspaper's observation: "This implies Facebook wants to know what you are typing in order to understand it. The same code Facebook uses to check for self-censorship can tell the company what you typed, so the technology exists to collect that data it wants right now."
...It is easy to connect this to all the recent news about NSA surveillance. On the surface, it's similar enough. An organisation is collecting metadata – that is, everything but the content of a communication – and analysing it to understand people's behaviour. However, there are some important differences. While it may be uncomfortable that the NSA has access to our private communications, the agency is monitoring things we have actually put online. Facebook, on the other hand, is analysing thoughts that we have intentionally chosen not to share.
This may be closer to the recent revelation that the FBI can turn on a computer's webcam without activating the indicator light to monitor criminals. People surveilled through their computers' cameras aren't choosing to share video of themselves, just as people who self-censor on Facebook aren't choosing to share their thoughts. The difference is that the FBI needs a warrant but Facebook can proceed without permission from anyone…
Having spent a lot of time in the production, marketing and development side of the tech industry (since college), but working in the interdisciplinary world of media, corporate/political communications, etc., I tend to be significantly more aware than most as far as where the direction of technological trends (i.e.: software development, distribution, and tech in general) are headed. As byproducts of these realities, I also know that complex business/consumer analytics are clearly encroaching upon our Constitutional rights as you read this. So, when I discuss these issues with others, both professionally and in the blogging world (I don’t blog professionally; never received a cent for doing this, in fact, either directly or indirectly; although I have worked/contracted for/with firms over the years that have engaged—or are engaging--in those services), I tend to be ahead of the curve, so to speak.
The reason I just mentioned what I mentioned in the above paragraph is this: Even when you browse the Sydney Morning Herald’s website, just to read the article excerpted in this comment, you’ll see a link near the top of the piece to the people that are reading the article, itself. The “short and sweet” of all of this is simple: not only are companies tracking what you read (what influences your thinking); they’re now tracking what you type and decide not to post!
The “Thought Police” are now, literally (despite any spin you might hear or read in response to this story to the contrary), patrolling not just virtually everything you do; they’re tracking as much as they can get their hands on with regard to what you’re thinking, too! (And, you'll just have to trust me on this, but again--from extensive, firsthand experience--this is already a runaway train. There's just too much potential revenue here for these firms for them to not engage in these practices.)
That being said, I’m sure our government the folks over at Facebook (and even trolls in the comments responding to this post) will tell you this is all a conspiracy theory!
"What could possibly go wrong?"
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