Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebook Privacy Practices

Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by gnode on Monday March 26, 2018 @02:07PM (#16681037)

Does anybody know what the legal situation (in US or under the GDPR) is for data derived from inferences? E.g.: if he visits this nightclub he's gay, or if she goes to this clinic she's having an abortion. As the subject never told you, but rather you speculated it, it could be argued you don't know, and you don't have to record it in explicit terms. It also raises significant concerns about the accuracy, and whether the subject can even correct, let alone expunge such data, which could be sold on to credit rating agencies or whomever else.

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by olympus on Monday March 26, 2018 @02:27PM (#16681218)

It's not illegal to record whether you think someone is gay. It's probably immoral if you hand that data over to a country that will prosecute someone for being gay (Russia).

I'm not aware of any US protections unless they came along with recently passed legislation, but the GDPR had some recourse for European citizens. They are now guaranteed a right to explanation and a right to correct the data. So if a person is given a higher health insurance premium, they are allowed to ask for an explanation. If the answer is "Google thinks you're gay, so we're raising your premium," the person is allowed to correct the information, basically saying, "I'm not gay, so please lower my premiums to what they were."

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by philipwhiuk on Monday March 26, 2018 @05:21PM (#16682724)

(and then in the UK you sue for discrimination based on sexuality).

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by olympus on Tuesday March 27, 2018 @12:05AM (#16685133)

Right, but that is only if they discriminate based on what they had recorded about you. A company recording whether they think you are gay based on your location information isn't doing anything illegal until they discriminate against you with that information. There are things that a company can do (like advertising) that doesn't meet the bar of discrimination that they can still legally do with their inference about your sexual preference (or whatever else they infer about you from your data).

Advertising "gay" products to you based on the fact that your cell phone spends a lot of time in close proximity to a gay bar probably doesn't meet the bar for a discrimination lawsuit.

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by igivanov on Monday March 26, 2018 @09:38PM (#16684411)

>prosecute someone for being gay (Russia).

where do you get this outlandish nonsense from?

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by olympus on Monday March 26, 2018 @11:59PM (#16685108)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Russia#National...

"Under the statute it is effectively illegal to perform any of the following in the presence of minors: hold gay pride events, speak in favor of gay rights, or say that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships"

"The law subjects Russian citizens found guilty to fines of up to 5,000 rubles and public officials to fines of up to 50,000 rubles."

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by TangoTrotFox on Tuesday March 27, 2018 @12:18AM (#16685197)

You didn't answer his question. Those are laws against promoting homosexuality - not being homosexual.

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by bitumen on Tuesday March 27, 2018 @12:07AM (#16685149)

Of course just being gay isn’t a crime in glorious motherland, but promoting homosexuality is. That’s so broad that it includes being openly gay, or standing up for your rights if you’re gay. It’s sort of like saying that it’s not illegal to be alive, it’s just illegal to breath.

Typically thuggish laws from a state run by its own intelligence services-cum-mafia.

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by TangoTrotFox on Tuesday March 27, 2018 @12:22AM (#16685222)

In the US personal data generally has 0 protections with a handful of exceptions like medical information. As the FTC's statement reads, the only possible issue here is Facebook violating their own privacy policy (stated as a privacy 'promise') and the consequence there will be at worst a very gentle slap on the wrist.

If not for the media coverage of this, Facebook would be unable to care any less. The media coverage though is driving the stock prices down and effect the company many orders of magnitude more negatively than any legal enforcement will.

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Re:Statement by FTC Regarding Reported Concerns about Facebo... by gnode on Tuesday March 27, 2018 @08:26AM (#16687596)

The issue with inferences is that you could use relatively unprotected data, such as location data, to derive, for example, medical data. The example of going into an abortion clinic and having had an abortion is an obvious one. In that case, does the law consider you to be handling medical data? Can you sell it to a third party simply classed as location data analysis?

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