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Category: Crime

Is there evidence that more surveillance of social media will prevent mass shootings?

Is there evidence that more surveillance of social media will prevent mass shootings?

In the wake of violent mass murder events in recent weeks, there are instant media analyses that these actions are due to lax gun laws, video games, mental health problems or social media influence. There is an undercurrent that more surveillance of social media can make accurate automated diagnoses of psychiatric disorders and predict people’s future actions. There does not appear to be evidence that more invasive surveillance and artificial intelligence-based analysis would have meaningful impact on these problems. But this is becoming the predominant propaganda message now spreading through the media

Facebook settles FTC privacy complaint

Facebook settles FTC privacy complaint

The company, whose business model is based upon exploiting personal information about its users, has been fined $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission. The company also agrees to establish a Board of Directors committee on privacy compliance and for Mark Zuckerberg to be held responsible for assuring compliance.

Product and book counterfeiters run wild on Amazon

Product and book counterfeiters run wild on Amazon

The NY Times (presented here via the Seattle Times) reports that counterfeit products run rampant on the Amazon.com web site. This is especially difficult for book authors whose works can takes months or years to create, but which are copied or scanned, re-titled and re-published under fake author names and fake publishers. Coupled with fake product reviews, counterfeits can end up stealing substantial revenue from those who wrote the books. I had one of my own books sold by counterfeit publishers on Amazon.com too.

Millions of #Facebook accounts and personal info exposed on servers

Millions of #Facebook accounts and personal info exposed on servers

UpGuard’s Cyber Risk team said Mexico City-based digital platform Cultura Colectiva openly stored 540 million records on Facebook users, including identification numbers, comments, reactions and account names. Another database, an app called At the Pool, listed names, passwords and email addresses of 22,000 people, UpGuard said. Source: Facebook removes exposed user records stored on Amazon’s servers | Reuters

Der Spiegel star reporter and editor admits to having made up stories and facts

Der Spiegel star reporter and editor admits to having made up stories and facts

A “star” reporter and editor at Der Spiegel has admitted to fabricating his stories over a period of many years. He was the four time winner of Germany’s “Reporter of the Year” award and a two time winner of CNN’s Journalist of the Year. Yet the journalists who selected the winner never saw problems. Think of the role that such fake news plays in shaping public opinion, and its sharing on social media as part of propaganda campaigns.

#Facebook will disable their features for ads that discriminate based on age, sex, ethnicity and 5,000 other factors

#Facebook will disable their features for ads that discriminate based on age, sex, ethnicity and 5,000 other factors

Facebook’s ad system was intentionally designed for advertisers to discriminate based on age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, language spoken and so on. They defended it because, you know, everyone does it.

But lawsuits and a Federal investigation have changed their thinking and they will disable their networks age, sex, gender, sex orientation, ethnic, national origin, and so on, discrimination features.