Re:What does it mean for users to be in full control over th...
by dredmorbius on Monday December 26, 2022 @09:16PM
(#34144255)
A friend worked for a Big River merchandiser.
In their fraud department.
As a software developer, part of that involved undergoing private investigator training.
It also involved utilising various consumer information databases.
The story I heard involved looking up an ex and seeing what kind of information was available. Not merely card balances and net purchases, but line-item detail.
This was in the early aughts. Which means that practices may have changed, but also that there is now vastly more information available.
Firms are not monoliths. There have been multiple instances of line workers, managers, and/or contractors whose interests have diverged from the firm's.
A number of eBay executives were convicted and sentenced to prison for harassing a couple whose newsletter the execs disliked (2022):
So far as keeping contractors in line, even the NSA and CIA have had problems on that front --- Snowden and Winner, notably. Let alone their own staff (many cases of moles and foreign agents).
In their fraud department.
As a software developer, part of that involved undergoing private investigator training.
It also involved utilising various consumer information databases.
The story I heard involved looking up an ex and seeing what kind of information was available. Not merely card balances and net purchases, but line-item detail.
This was in the early aughts. Which means that practices may have changed, but also that there is now vastly more information available.
Firms are not monoliths. There have been multiple instances of line workers, managers, and/or contractors whose interests have diverged from the firm's.
A number of eBay executives were convicted and sentenced to prison for harassing a couple whose newsletter the execs disliked (2022):
<https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/29/tech/ebay-exec-jail-harassmen...>
External hackers, thought to be from China, hacked Gmail largely seeking information on Chinese dissidents and Tibetian activists (2015):
<https://www.foxnews.com/tech/gmail-accounts-compromised-by-c...>
A former Twitter employee was charged with spying for Saudi Arabia (2019):
<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/06/twitter-s...>
And six Amazon employees were indicted for accepting bribes on behalf of sellers to distort the Amazon marketplace (2020):
<https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/09/doj-amazon-worke...>
So far as keeping contractors in line, even the NSA and CIA have had problems on that front --- Snowden and Winner, notably. Let alone their own staff (many cases of moles and foreign agents).