Daily Bookmarks to GAVNet 01/16/2021

Facebook is a newstand. But no one can see which news Facebook is pushing to the top.

So we built an app for that called #CitizenBrowser. Our first finding: the sharp impact of Facebook’s political ad ban reversal in the Georgia Senate elections.
https://t.co/GZNdwZOlHW /1

This is the first report from our #CitizenBrowser project. There will be many more to come. But first, I want to tell you a bit about how we did it because it’s the most ambitious thing we’ve ever done @themarkup – and we do a lot of ambitious projects. /2

#CitizenBrowser grew out of conversations @suryamattu and I had about how to audit Facebook. We had both worked on browser extensions to collect data from Facebook, but FB always threatened to shut those down, just like their recent threats against the NYU AdObservatory. /3

But the bigger problem is that browser extensions don’t capture most FB activity. Most people use FB on mobile and browser extensions only work on desktop or laptop computers.

So one night, late at the WeWork, @suryamattu said to me: “We’ll have to build our own browser.” /4

“No way,” I said. “That’s insane.” But slowly, I came around. Here’s why: browsers are good at running in the background. Users could log into FB once through the browser and never use it again.

Then we wouldn’t be monitoring users. We would only be monitoring their feed. /5

Amit Ganguli
@amit_ganguli

Many conversations happening on #WhatsApp (WA) groups about new #WhatsAppPrivacyPolicy .
This thread has arguments to help ditch WA & move to @signalapp:
https://t.co/En4fe9VxUN
Share, use, copy-paste, modify with understanding as you deem fit on any platform in whole or part
1/n

Note: No affiliations, conflict of interest
Info presented with NO bias, prejudice, malice or indemnity.
Open to corrections: individual tweets may be deleted, tweets added to thread or corrected as replies.
Points that are unclear or uncertain are marked with "(?)".
2/n

CONTENT OF WA MESSAGES SHALL REMAIN ENCRYPTED END TO END.
BUT, there's data: contacts, group affiliations, co-affiliations, locations (live?), frequency of contacts, *tags* generated when we send or forward a message or file to contacts or groups, links, clicks on links, etc.
3/n

It is unclear whether this data is anonymized.
NOTHING in latest policy *prevents* the collection, retention, sharing or sale by FaceBook (FB: owner of WA) of this data in part or whole whether with identifying information or anonymized.
Meme source:
https://t.co/nMDTUlb0rl
4/n

Now that #WhatsApp have updated their terms, forcing users to share their data with #Facebook, here's our suggested update to that notification you see at the top of your chats.#WhatsappNewPolicy #WhatsappPrivacy pic.twitter.com/FjxFGBm6Q8
— Privacy International (@privacyint) January 7, 2021

Companies need to make money & generate profits:
To create software, install & maintain infrastructure.
Google, FB, Insta, Amazon etc sell data created from our content & data generated from our interactions (searches, clicks, purchases etc).
This makes many uncomfortable.
5/n

$\U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8\u2694\ufe0f\u03b1\u0432\u0455\u03c3\u2113\u03c5\u0442\u0454\xa2\u03c3\u03b7\u03bd\u03b9\xa2\u0442\u03b9\u03c3\u03b7\u2694\ufe0f\U0001f1fa\U0001f1f8$

🇺🇸⚔️αвѕσℓυтє¢σηνι¢тιση...
@Absolute1776

(1) Let’s get one thing straight right now;

I was a mod on r/watchpeopledie.

Ive taken part in uncovering evidence of p3d0’s to reveal to LEO.

I have seen some *dark* sh*t in my day.

Unless you are used to it; you will NOT be able to handle “seeing the truth”. I promise ➡️

Madhu Menon
@madmanweb

The Internet and mobile phones have taken over our lives. But it comes with increasing security concerns. Website data breaches, phishing attacks, and other online scams are commonplace. Here's a thread for regular people on how to increase your security online.
#StaySafeOnline

#1
Go to your Google account settings. Revoke permissions from all the apps you don't use: https://t.co/cMGgSgtRTI

Also check if any app has access to your contacts or - gasp! - your entire email. Strongly reconsider both, especially access to your email.

Giving access to your contacts lets companies spam those people.

Giving access to your email - email organising apps, for instance - renders your online security meaningless. Password resets are often done with email, and if an external entity can access that, game over!

#2
Go to your Twitter account settings and revoke permissions from all the apps you don't use or trust:
https://t.co/lXxCgdnaXH

Online quizzes and such sites often ask for permission to post tweets for you, read your tweets, and even your DMs!.

People click "OK" without reading the fine print.

But imagine the security and privacy risk with having some unknown entity be able to post tweets and read your private DMs just to post the results of what Game of Thrones character you are.