Cambridge Analytica.

[onalongsabbatical]

I'm going to be in London next week visiting the British Museum, among other thoroughly respectable activities. Headquarters of Cambridge Analytica are round the corner. AIBU to be sorely tempted to go and smear something nasty on their windows? Or at least go and give them a big, nasty stare - Paddington-bear-like?

The irony was really not to be missed. Seeing smug little beasts like that go down is one of the most satisfying elements of the modern age.

Strange how nobody seemed worried when Obama used the data of 200million people to target specific voters.
Any online company like FB, Google, Twitter etc. ONLY makes money by selling your data. You use them for free because YOU ARE THE PRODUCT. Anyone who doesn't understand this really shouldn't be allowed on the internet unsupervised.

Whataboutwhatabout notlabelled.

Go for it Sabbatical, though I hope you will be protesting to an emptying building by next week!

I'll chip in for your bail :)

Notlabeled
True, but not relevant. CA have gone way beyond this, according to their senior people, recorded on video.

I'm wondering why there hasn't been more publicity about this as there is evidence of manipulation of voters - huge implications for the legitimacy of Brexit and Trump votes. I haven't seen anything about it on TV news, outside of the Channel 4 expose.

And you are NBU!

The Guardian (sister paper of The Observer which is carrying out the investigation) has an excellent collection of articles:

The Cambridge Analytica Files
www.theguardian.com/news/series/cambridge-analytica-files

I've asked mumsnet questions about the relevance of this to mn:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/3199266-MN-FB-marketing-companies-and-our-data

In these days of "big data" we're all being manipulated. Companies want to target their advertising more accurately. Political parties want to target the people most likely to be persuaded to vote for them.

Where CA stepped over the line is that they allegedly used FB data that they weren't entitled to collect. If someone on FB gave them access they also took that person's friends' data.

I've been aware of the nefarious activities of Cambridge analytica for some time
Good to see them being held up to scrutiny
Ditto Facebook ....Zuckerberg is increasingly coming in for criticism

KellyanneConway last night's Newsnight has an interview with the chief smug shit in which he squirms. I've not watched all of it yet, but my DP says it's good. So hard to stay on top of it all, but for some reason this story has really gripped me. I feel it in my old bones - change is a comin'!

I feel it in my old bones - change is a comin'!

I wish I had any faith that it won't just be business as usual.

PR voting system would be a start at least, then some return of local power - can't see either on the horizon.

OhYouBadBadKitten good thread you started there - but no response from mumsnet yet!

frankchickens I was parodying myself, there. Just a bit cheered this morning by seeing the mighty tumble.

Handy diagram showing links between Cambridge Analytica, SCL, Steve Bannon & Robert Mercer (VP and funder of CA), and Aleksandr Kogan aka Spectre and Russia.

From this article:
Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach
www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election

The thing is, although yes, CA have broken the 'rules', and while it is a scandal, there are very many companies that deal in your data.

They gather it, they sell it on, they use it to track you, to advertise to you, to evaluate you for credit, for medical insurance etc and if you don't want it to happen, you need to not let them have it that data.

This means:

• Not using social media or at least nailing down your privacy setting very tightly and only to friends and family you trust.

• Not doing online surveys - these are what allow the data companies access to your thoughts, and most importantly, your friends list with all the likes, their likes etc. But if one of your friends completes a survey which allows access to their friend's list, then they are giving access to your posts too.

• Don't have store cards, loyalty emails etc. They simply harvest your data and sell it on

• Dont give out your email, DOB, postcode online unless you absolutely have to. Just becasue they ask for it, doesn't mean you have to give it to them. And even if you do, you can usually make it up.

• Have a number of email addresses - keep a primary one for serious purposes and mix it up for other stuff. You are absolutely tracked using email, so don't make it easy for them

• Use a web tracker Seriously! Ghostery, Adblocker - there are many. Pick one and use it.

• Don't log into websites using FB or twitter. If they insist, make a fake one. Seriously, you are simply opening the door to the thoughts in your head. And your friends'. It's completely insidious.

• For applications like Fitbit and My Fitness Pal, use a fake name and postcode. This is medical information you are giving away, which could be sold to insurance services. Financial and medical companies already pay a lot of money for data to profile you - don't make it easy for them.

-Beware of apps on your phone, especially free ones. Most demand access to data on your phone which is not required for the functionality of the app. If you have to use one, paying for it is often safer and again, if you can use a false name, do it.

-Virus blocker obv

-Put the location off on your phone if you don't need it.

-Don't use unsecured wireless - they harvest your data there too

I've probably forgotten loads

Thanks for the links and heads up about newsnight - I went to bed early last night. I need to catch up on the Guardian articles too.

I really hope change is coming OP - this story is a slither of a window opening into the opaque world of the powerful, lets hope it gets smashed open.

they think they are cleverer than the rest of us and we're here to be manipulated

Quite! It came as no surprise to hear that their MD/CEO whatever went to Eton, which seems to be the school to send your sons to if you want them to learn how to have a massive sense of entitlement and how to use it.

YANBU to go and smear stuff on their windows.

Do bricks smear? That's what their windows really need.

We have willingly and trustingly handed over Our Data for free, so yes they have been shrewd and we have been naive
the big tech companies now have huge amounts of power and information, enough to throw elections

Just to repeat what is said above. Don't log into any other website using FB. And that includes MN.

Upcoming next episode is tonight on Channel 4 News, 7 pm, just to be clear.

Thanks for info about BBC Newsnight interview last night, OP, I'd missed that. If I watch it on catch-up, will my telly be in danger of me wanting to chuck things at chief smug shit? My tolerance for his oiliness is running rather low.

Now I'm thinking of getting this made up into stickers and doing a mass window sticker blitz. I feel actually serious! Anyone in London next Tuesday fancy joining me?

A former colleague of mine told me I was bonkers not to use FB because I don't want info about me being out there, and to object to my employer putting a pic of me on their website without my consent.

I was also annoyed when an acquaintance posted a photo that included me and tagged it with my name, I was told I was paranoid that time. She called me "paranoid". At work, hardly anyone understands my refusal to appear in photographs that may be used for press purposes or in training materials.

I wish I was still in touch with that former colleague, so I could say "I told you so".

Everyone is at it, as Assigned points out.

Any supposedly free app or 'free' service is suspect. Facebook and Google being the most obvious examples.

I stopped shopping in Holland & Barrett due to the aggressive data harvesting attempts at their tills.

I have been going on about this for years. I have posted about it several times and was pretty much told that I was a fecking paranoid eejit. The information has been available but nobody really cared. All the 'if you have nothing to hide' bollocks.

But it seems that we all have something to hide, and these fuckers are taking advantage of us in many ways, with our tacit consent

- Don't log into websites using FB or twitter. If they insist, make a fake one. Seriously, you are simply opening the door to the thoughts in your head. And your friends'. It's completely insidious.

Absolutely, and mumsnet do the sign in with Facebook option too!