Social Cooling - the follow-on effect of Social Media and Big Data
 

https://www.socialcooling.com/

Synopsis: data is being aggregated from social media, purchasing, travel and other behavior patterns and will untilamtely affect how you're treated by companies, insurers, employers, and ultimately the government. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System

When I told people this in 2010, I was painted as a kook. We haven't been secure in our persons or papers in quite awhile now.

Now I try to keep a low profile on social media. It's a place to share pictures of kids (who I never tag or identify by name) for grandparents. I both don't post anything political and avoid the posts of others that do.

And the various big tech companies are working hard to suppress speech they don't like by calling it "hate speech". This gives them cover with the media. Post something like: "I don't think we should be allowing millions of illegals into the country" and your post will be taken down promptly and you will be given a timeout if not outright banned for life. Post: "I think we should kill all of the Trump fascists by cutting of their genitals and stuffing them in their mouths while they bleed to death" and that post might get taken down, but only after thousands of complaints over several weeks. The poster certainly won't get a timeout.

BTW, wait until government gets in on this game. Kiss your rights good-bye. Turns out we won't need psychic triplets to be prosecuted for pre-crime. Mark my words: someone will get jailed because a predictive model judges they are likely to commit violence. Think it's a stretch? We already jail people for being drunk and driving because they are likely to commit another crime. Some jurisdictions already use predictive models to set bail.

wait until government gets in on this game. Kiss your rights good-bye

This is already happening: Facebook, Google, 23-And-Me, and internet provides are all proxies for surveillance that the government wished it could carry out, but can't.

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A

See also https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article209913514.html

George Orwell was an optimist.

^^
I think so.
How is the "bad stuff" going to manifest itself, through personal value ratings or what?

Eventually we will have a Butlerian Jihad.

To a certain extent, one can already find examples of these practices today. Yes, the concept isn't new, but the ease and opacity with which it can be done, is.

Based on mixing and matching the available criteria of genetic markers, consumer history, online activities, etc:

• Insurers could drop or charge higher rates for specific individuals or groups
• Employers could opt to not hire or promote individuals or groups with certain behavior patterns
• Companies can use the data to charge higher prices or refuse to sell to groups or individuals
• Schools could decline admission
• Groups or individuals could be selected for specific government treatment - good or bad - based on these criteria

China is doing this full-bore. They will start calculating a "social score", like a credit score but looks at what you post on social media, what you say in your emails, what you read online, where you go (cellphone tracking), who you associate with (more cellphone tracking and email snooping). Based on your social score you'll get or not get jobs, housing, credit, etc.

In the US, we will absolutely need legislation to limit the gathering and use of such data. It is complex and legislators will have a hard time crafting sensible rules. Europe is already putting in place such legislation, at least the start of such.

This is an overhang on Facebook, Google, etc. And a reason to like Baidu, Tencent, etc - they will use their technology and data to reinforce government control, and will be shielded from Western social media/tech competition.

I won't get a 23AndMe test for this reason; my genetic data will get used for something that I can't control. I only use Apple phones, also for this reason; they aren't perfect but privacy/security is worlds better on an iPhone than a Samsung or heaven forbid a Huawei phone.

And in case anyone is listening, I am a wholly apolitical person who unquestioningly supports every aspect of current government policy and would never dream of entertaining a subversive thought :-)

A holey war on butts? This could get ugly. :D

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain....:D-WW

And this is why I don’t post on social media.

Well except here...

What really pisses me off is that our phones listen to our conversations even when they're sitting idle in our pockets or in the car.

My GF is a lawyer, we were talking about managing law practices as opposed to actually practicing law. All of a sudden I started getting adds for Masters degrees in the business of Law.

My son and I were visiting my folks in Florida last week. We were in a bit of traffic in down town West Palm Beach, right next to McLaren of Palm Beach. We had a conversation about how nice the people there were when my mom had taken my 11 year old to look at cars there last winter. Next thing you know I am getting adds for McLaren of Palm Beach on my phone.

My GF and I were watching TV and an add for the Leeza mattress came on the TV, we had a conversation about the Leeza mattress and low and behold I started getting adds for Leeza on my phone.


That's over the top if you asked me. I already know that my phone reports everywhere I go to Google whether I have my gps feature on or not. It saves my whereabouts and sends them to google.

I have deleted Facebook and turned off Siri on my phone for this very reason. Long story short, I was at a bar having a pre Christmas drink with a friend. My phone was on the bar in front of me. We were talking about a person, who happened to be a younger female from work. My Apple Phone (Siri) apparently heard the name. The Facebook app pulled up her details then the Messenger app (also Facebook, but a separate app) sent her contact details to the last half dozen people I had corresponded with via Messenger, making me look like a creep. I already knew that phones listen, but I had no idea that, that level of cooperation existed between the phone and the apps. Since then my phone gets put down as soon as I enter the house and I don't touch it again so I've missed calls. I absolutely refuse to have one of those phone pod/Alexa/Echo spies in my house either.

One more thing. How can we get those plug in spies that Insurance companies are tricking people into plugging into theirs cars banned? Right now it gives you lower insurance if you're a 'good' driver, how long before you are assumed to be a bad driver for not having one and automatically get higher insurance rates.

BTW, forget hiding by not using social media. Every computer you are on knows who you are. Every site you look at it logged, they know your age, approximate income, family, gender, religious (or not) affiliation, interests, politics etc. without you posting about it.

Also, even if you are not on social media your phone knows where you are thus who you are with. If you appear in the background of a picture, even if not tagged, Facebook etc. now has your facial profile and can find out who you are from other pictures. They can then work out who you associate with, and from that make a guess as to who you are and what you're interested in.

For a long time I was content with hiding in plain site. If I'm doing nothing wrong, which I don't other than a casual disregard for speed limits at times, I figured that I was anonymous amongst the millions, make that billions of other people going about their daily lives, working and interacting with friends and family. That changed after the Facebook incident in the post above. When the Matrix glitches like it did, I look like a creep for doing and saying nothing wrong. I'm now looking for a different browser for my phone and home to cut down on Googles knowledge map of me. I thought about Firefox, but I found out it actually uses Google. I've got rid of Facebook, but I still have Facebook messenger as it's the best, most reliable and cost effective way of communicating with friends and family who still live in the UK. Whatsapp is also owned by Facebook.

I am not an Apple guy so I don't have Siri and I have no idea what the google equivalent is.

I wouldn't have one of those Alexa or whatever things in my home for anything. I realize there is no such thing as privacy anymore but that's inviting the world in with not even a speed bump as a barrier.

Wasn't there a Tom Cruise movie about that maybe a decade ago? Minority Report right?

+1 Maybe a little older. 2002 per IMDB.

Always highly ranked in the top sci-fi movie lists.

I can't say that phones are or are not listening to our conversations, but I suspect the reason we get ads from place we visited or merely drove by is from the GPS data. Seems like the most simple thing to do is turn off your GPS, or get a flip phone. I know that I need to practice better data/media hygiene. Maybe 2019 is the year to start.

I need a mentat