How Facebook's Targeted Advertising Destroyed the Life of a Young Man
93 replies, posted
[img]https://www.privacyinternational.org/sites/privacyinternational.org/files/images/facebook_ads.png[/img]
[quote]This is a story about how the world's biggest social networking site - in the single-minded pursuit of profit - teamed up with the marketing industry to unwittingly risk the safety of a vulnerable young person. It raises some uncomfortable questions about how large corporations gamble with the lives and reputations of people and how privacy is being routinely circumvented throughout modern business models.
Last night a teenager in London was [b]made homeless because his parents discovered "incriminating" gay content on his Facebook page.[/b] He was kicked out of the house without notice and his whereabouts are currently unknown. One of his friends who spoke to Privacy International last night was concerned that the lad had spun into depression. He had no money - not even a change of clothes.
Curiously, David (we'll give him that name) did not place the offending material on his Facebook profile - someone else did. He never mentioned anywhere on his profile that he was gay, and was not openly involved in any online gay groups. For David, living in a closed-minded community and with homophobic parents, such revelations would be disastrous.
But if David didn't place that material on his profile, who did?
The culprit is Facebook. The company placed that material on his page without notification, without his consent and in violation of every principle of care that the company claims to stand for. It did so through a covert mechanism of targeted advertising, deeply analysing David's Facebook activities and relationships and then posting blatant ads on his profile that scream "Hey! This user is queer!"
David knew the ads were displayed on his profile, but could do nothing to remove them no matter how hard he tried. They just kept coming back. On this occasion he made the mistake of leaving his computer screen on while going to the shop, unaware that his parents were to return earlier than expected to the house.
Was David asked whether he would find such inferential advertising dangerous? Was he given an opportunity to opt out? These questions are of course rhetorical.
Facebook calls its gay users an "alternative lifestyle" sector, and it sells advertising space to companies on the promise of creating a finely tuned set of ad channels to reach this population. It will even sell advertising under this banner to people interested in fetish lifestyles, even though promotion of that lifestyle is formally banned on its site.
Yet even when the Facebook analytics conclude that a user is homosexual but the user has not published this orientation (clearly indicating even to an idiot that the person wants some level of privacy) the ads are still prominently displayed.
There is no ambiguity in these ads. I've just taken a look at a few on my own profile:
MAN looking for MAN
Gay cruises in Greece
Gay Speed Dating
This begs the question of how many other "alternative" or "marginal" conditions are hoovered and channeled by Facebook's ad system, and at what cost to individuals. Ill-health? Pregnancy? Domestic violence?
These are issues that concerned people might want to probe before more lives are put at risk.[/quote]
[url=https://www.privacyinternational.org/blog/how-facebooks-targeted-advertising-destroyed-life-young-man]SOURCE[/url]
(Ignore the "Humor" Title, it was an accident.)
Who wants to go on a gay cruise to greece with me?
This is why everyone needs the AdBlock add-on.
It's not facebooks fault that his parents are morons.
This article is a bit extreme on the language. I wouldn't blame the ads but rather the parents for tossing their kid out.
I am pretty much against Facebook's policies but the company didn't throw him out of the house.
His parents are absolute fucking scumbags.
Title is completely misleading, it was his parent's fault not Facebook's
Great parents
[QUOTE=Mio Akiyama;34161937]Title is completely misleading, it was his parent's fault not Facebook's[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;34161874]It's not facebooks fault that his parents are morons.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Atlascore;34161856]This isn't Facebooks fault, it's the kids bigoted parents fault.[/QUOTE]
Missing the point of the article [I]completely[/I].
While it's his parents fault for kicking him out, I think the article is saying that it should only be showing those ads if someone publicly puts their orientation on there.
[quote]Yet even when the Facebook analytics conclude that a user is homosexual but the user has not published this orientation (clearly indicating even to an idiot that the person wants some level of privacy) the ads are still prominently displayed.[/quote]
[QUOTE=Atlascore;34162051]What point? That Facebook uses your information for advertising? You do realize this shit has been happening on the internet for decades, right?[/QUOTE]
you should be about to opt out of it at the least...
[QUOTE=Atlascore;34162051]What point? That Facebook uses your information for advertising? You do realize this shit has been happening on the internet for decades, right?[/QUOTE]
First that such a category exists for their already scummy targeted marketing, second that it's unavoidable, third that the ways they obtain the information are so intrusive and fourth that they're making a horrendous profit off of it?
[QUOTE=Atlascore;34162051]What point? That Facebook uses your information for advertising? You do realize this shit has been happening on the internet for decades, right?[/QUOTE]Just because it has happened for so long does not mean that it is by any means right or acceptable.
[QUOTE=Ray-The-Sun;34161985]Missing the point of the article [I]completely[/I].[/QUOTE]
Yeah we get it, but still, the title is misleading, Facebook may show gay ads on his timeline, but that doesn't mean he is gay, the parents are morons for doing such a horrible thing.
If it hadn't been for Facebook's intrusive information gathering and unauthorized advertising, the kids parent's wouldn't have found out to begin with. So while Facebook may not have grabbed the kid and tossed him out on the streets, their shitty policies caused it and they are just as responsible.
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;34162190]If it hadn't been for Facebook's intrusive information gathering and unauthorized advertising, the kids parent's wouldn't have found out to begin with. So while Facebook may not have grabbed the kid and tossed him out on the streets, their shitty policies caused it and they are just as responsible.[/QUOTE]
their shitty policies did not make the person gay, or make his parents complete fucking moronic retards.
[QUOTE=Schmaaa;34162306]their shitty policies did not make the person gay, or make his parents complete fucking moronic retards.[/QUOTE]
The policies did get the idea that their child was gay into the parent's minds.
Ad Block Plus would have kept this from happening.
[QUOTE=SSBMX;34161844]Who wants to go on a gay cruise to greece with me?[/QUOTE]
I'd love to!, which city you wanna see first?
does facebook themselves actually manage the ads? I recall even google's add system being pretty specific, to the level of it listing your gender in the URL and few other things which it more or less guessed about you.
Fucking terrible parrents.
Why do people never consider deleting their facebook account an option.
[QUOTE=Scot;34164066]Why do people never consider deleting their facebook account an option.[/QUOTE]Because the kid was using Facebook, he just didn't want their ads plastered to it.
Next up: Occupy Facebook
And by that I mean boycott Facebook.
Stupid scum parents, why is sexual preference such a problem? Fucking god damn.
[QUOTE=Scot;34164066]Why do people never consider deleting their facebook account an option.[/QUOTE]
What
[QUOTE=Alien_23;34164142]Next up: Occupy Facebook
And by that I mean boycott Facebook.[/QUOTE]
It's not FB's fault dingleling.
I get targeted ads on my Facebook page for lesbian dating sites. Facebook has sussed out that I am a male lesbian. A lesbro, if you will.
[QUOTE=Rocko's;34164193]It's not FB's fault dingleling.[/QUOTE]They're just as responsible.
[editline]11th January 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Omali;34164235]I get targeted ads on my Facebook page for lesbian dating sites. Facebook has sussed out that I am a male lesbian. A lesbro, if you will.[/QUOTE]You probably go to a lot of lesbian porn sites. Or have several lesbian friends.
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