Take a Data Selfie

Interesting app project launched by two students at Parsons. App will make predictions and personalized profiles based on our browsing history. App is meant to be an educational tool to show just how much information can be gathered about us from what we browse.

http://dataselfie.it/

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/data-selfie-app-shows-you-exactly-who-facebook-thinks-you-are

-- AlexiaBedat - 13 Apr 2016

Wow this is so interesting. Thanks for sharing. I also saw this:

http://gizmodo.com/facebook-employees-asked-mark-zuckerberg-if-they-should-1771012990

It seems a little naive to be surprised that Facebook manipulates users and that 'it has no legal responsibility to give an unfiltered view of what's happening on their network.' Isn't that the same as any media company in theory? The more interesting point to me is that Facebook happens to be vastly more powerful (in part at least, no doubt, because people expect them to behave differently).

It does make me wonder about the future of the self - or the production of self - in the digital age and how this can happen freely. This is a version of autonomy that ought to be integrated into our understanding of privacy, in my view.

-- LizzieOShea - 20 Apr 2016

Such an interesting article!

I'm not sure how I feel about it though. Facebook is only as powerful and manipulative as it is because we have allowed it to be that powerful and manipulative. Speaking for myself, the power of Facebook over my political views is only as great as my usage of and reliance on Facebook is. I don't rely on it or expect it to be my source of reliable political information (again, speaking only for myself). There's too much potential for algorithm distortion, as the article makes clear (and too much gratuitous political debate which, in my opinion, is often more about people venting than having a constructive dialogue). As such, I don't have any expectations on how it presents political information and don't hold it to high ethical standards in terms of political news reporting. I know many people though who try, and do succeed in having good political dialogues on Facebook, and appreciate that their views would be different from mine.

-- AlexiaBedat - 21 Apr 2016

It is amusing that the data selfie page has a Facebook "like" button, ensuring that Facebook knows exactly when you use it, what your results are, and how you change your behavior on the net afterwards.

-- GreggBadichek - 22 Apr 2016

I don't know if this is of any interest to anyone, it's more a cultural commentary on privacy among other things, but it is an amazing read. I love that a voyeur is appalled by state spying. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/11/gay-talese-the-voyeurs-motel

-- LizzieOShea - 28 Apr 2016

Okay, this one is definitely more relevant - Mass Surveillance Breeds Meekness, Fear and Self-Censorship https://theintercept.com/2016/04/28/new-study-shows-mass-surveillance-breeds-meekness-fear-and-self-censorship/

-- LizzieOShea - 01 May 2016