Tuesday, January 7, 2020

What does Facebook do with your nude photos?

Quick: before you let your brain trick you into the safety of "probably nothing" please take into consideration these facts:
  • software that identifies nude photos has been functioning "in the wild" for over a decade, i.e., it's not new,
  • software that takes said photos and automatically archives them is hilariously easy to deploy,
  • why wouldn't a team of misogynists dude-bros create their own unique wank-bank of constantly-updating porn courtesy of blissfully unaware women?
  • The US political system has a long history of using intimate/private communications to unseat unfavorable actors
Now I'm not saying this is happening - that's silly - I'm saying the probability of this being the case is high enough to warrant a "this is probably happening." I'll leave the implications up to you.

Facebook is a New Thing, insofar as it doesn't really have an analog in history, which means what we learn from it's eventual demise will be new, too.

I don't know what Facebook really is, and neither do you. I have this gnawing sensation that it ultimately serves - somehow - a tiny percentage of powerful people in a way that undermines the rest of our ability to enjoy a functioning society. I'm not sure even deleting Facebook is enough to get away from this thing.

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