S09.E07: Data Brokers

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic:  Data brokers

Also: Russian state media reporting on the Ukraine war; OAN; things get uncomfortable on local news thanks to a terrible holiday 

Original air date 2022.04.10

[Annber03]

Ahahahahahaha, power move, John :D. Power move. Though I may have to simultaneously curse you for the very idea of Ted Cruz erotic fanfiction. I'm okay with not knowing who might be into that. 

Another reason politicians wouldn't want to regulate this stuff - look at all the data they were able to use to figure out who to best manipulate with lies and misinformation in 2016 and 2020. Of course they wouldn't want to lose the opportunity to do something that's worked so well for them before. 

But yes, I would be very much for laws regulating and cracking down on that sort of thing. I watch a lot of true crime shows, and the way investigators are able to use some of this kind of data to help solve cases is very, very unnerving indeed. I see it a lot with that 23 and Me thing, and I'm really uncomfortable with how they're able to use that to nab killers. Alongside the creepy use of personal data, it also absolves them of having to do any real actual leg work. Which, what if the technology is off? What if you get a false lead? 'Cause that could happen. Technology isn't perfect, after all. 

As for other topics, fuuuuuuuuuck you, OAN jerk implying that bombing was a hoax. Bad enough Russia's spreading false flag propaganda, we don't need American networks adding to it. On the one hand, I shouldn't be surprised that people are pulling the, "Oh, those dead people aren't REALLY dead." bullshit, 'cause, well, we've got Holocaust deniers and Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists and so forth, so sadly, this is just another awful example of that awfulness in action. But on the other hand...it's truly horrifying that people are able to get away with spreading that kind of blatant horrific misinformation. 

Good on DirectTV for cutting OAN off, though. Can we do Fox News and Newsmax as well? 

"For sale: baby shoes. Click here." Nice. 

[scarynikki12]

Ollie's glee at being named in the OAN suit while being outraged that his Pitbull comparison didn't make it in was hilarious.

Bravo to the show engaging in this legal fuckery to demonstrate how necessary regulations are. I hope the people clicking on the fan fiction links all lost bets. I'd hate for them to genuinely want to read that shit.

Sleep well indeed. 

[revbfc]

What JO did was funny, but didn’t really seem that sensational for these two reasons:

1) Five-miles is too big of a range.  Go ask people in Arlington, VA if they’re in the “Capitol Hill area,” and you’ll get laughed at.

2) That first map was not of the Embassy Row area, but Glover Park.  It’s kinda near Embassy Row, but it’s an entirely different neighborhood.  Also, that click came from a cemetery.

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by revbfc

[JustHereForFood]

Well, yes John, russia has been spreading misinformation about Ukraine for the last 6 weeks, and also for the last 8 years before that (as well as a lot of other BS, about US elections, Brexit, culture wars, etc.). Thank you for finally paying 8 minutes of attention to that. I know I'm repeating myself at this point, sorry to the posters who are already annoyed, but I find it really, really dangerous, especially if it is also freely spread in US as well (no surprise it's on OAN). I kept hoping that it would have a segment on its own, but I guess this was it. Sad.  Also worth mentioning, to counter the narrative that poor russian people have no idea what is really going on, would be to mention that many people know very well what is happening and are cheering their soldiers as they murder, rape, torture and loot.

 

That "Hug a newsperon day", OMG. As someone who dislikes physical contact, I was with those reporters that were all "No, thank you". What a crazy idea in the first place.

The main segment - it's scary, but we pretty much knew all of this already. But I cheered at the ending, John's approach is the right one, people in power will only care if they are affected themselves and I hope many will see this episode. Though I could have done without the idea of Ted Cruz fanfiction planted in my brain (as a fan of fanfiction, I still mantain that real people should be excluded as objects). Hopefully something will be done about it. What John mentioned about EU, yes we have had that annoyingly long list of options for some time (I didn't even realize it's not the case everywhere). I always take time to opt out of everything possible, it is one of those things that take only 1-2 minutes, yet are incredibly annoying, which is obviously the point. And it pops out on sites you regularly visit in regular intervals (I think at least once per month). Including this one (always annoying 😒). 

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Another reason politicians wouldn't want to regulate this stuff - look at all the data they were able to use to figure out who to best manipulate with lies and misinformation in 2016 and 2020. Of course they wouldn't want to lose the opportunity to do something that's worked so well for them before. 

Yes, this needs to be highlighted too. It is probably quite easy to sort people's voting preferences if you have 2 parties that are increasingly dividing your country. What a market space for opportunists.

[swanpride]

There is a reason why I find it very satisfying to tell every website I am on "no". Thank you EU, other might think that this is annoying, but I will rather klick the "don't accept" button to the end of my day than being unable to say no at all. 

[JustHereForFood]

3 hours ago, swanpride said:

There is a reason why I find it very satisfying to tell every website I am on "no". Thank you EU, other might think that this is annoying, but I will rather klick the "don't accept" button to the end of my day than being unable to say no at all. 

Sure, but it would be nice if each website accepted "no" the first time and didn't try again. But refusing to accept a "no" is a problem in all walks of life.

[Victor the Crab]

Lumping OANN with Russian state television. Coincidence? I think now! And judging from Ollie's reaction to the news that OANN is suing LWT for libel, he's not the least bit concerned they'll succeed. Because it's nothing but sour grapes on their part.

6 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Sure, but it would be nice if each website accepted "no" the first time and didn't try again. But refusing to accept a "no" is a problem in all walks of life.

If only there was something we could use to tell these sites "JUST WHAT PART OF NO DON'T YOU ASSHOLES FULLY GET?!!"

[Ceindreadh]

Okay, so was that fanfiction written by or featuring Ted Cruz?  Because that's an important distinction...but I think that brain bleach will likely be required either way. 

[wknt3]

On 4/11/2022 at 12:11 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Bravo to the show engaging in this legal fuckery to demonstrate how necessary regulations are. I hope the people clicking on the fan fiction links all lost bets. I'd hate for them to genuinely want to read that shit.

I'd imagine that it was some sort of morbid curiosity plus wanting to find out if it was a joke, Russian PsyOps, or if Ted Cruz had set it up himself. NOBODY actually wants to read that, Even the conservatives. To quote former Senator Al Franken  - "I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz." Actually given their demographic targeting I'd imagine that at least a few of those clicks had taken some medicine 4 hours ago and didn't want to consult their doctor and saw an easy solution. To me the biggest disappointment was that they didn't have solid evidence that Ted Cruz himself didn't click on the link. Because you know they would have shared that if they did. Especially if it was during the confirmation hearings after Googling himself.

[JustHereForFood]

3 hours ago, wknt3 said:

I'd imagine that it was some sort of morbid curiosity plus wanting to find out if it was a joke, Russian PsyOps, or if Ted Cruz had set it up himself. NOBODY actually wants to read that, Even the conservatives. To quote former Senator Al Franken  - "I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz." Actually given their demographic targeting I'd imagine that at least a few of those clicks had taken some medicine 4 hours ago and didn't want to consult their doctor and saw an easy solution. To me the biggest disappointment was that they didn't have solid evidence that Ted Cruz himself didn't click on the link. Because you know they would have shared that if they did. Especially if it was during the confirmation hearings after Googling himself.

I do not like that man, Ted Cruz.

I do not like him, I'm not insane.

Please, no fanfiction about Ted Cruz!

Or I will have to bleach my brain.

[xaxat]

On the first episode aired after Discovery becomes his new overlord, John airs an episode where he hints that he has incriminating evidence on members of Congress.

I love it when John slow plays the big reveal on a stunt the show has done. He sells it so well that, prior to the reveal, I am torn between "They didn't actually do it." and "Of course they did it. It's John!"

[One Imaginary Girl]

I wish John had warned viewers about answering those questions on Facebook from random pages, since they exist to collect info. My sister is aware of that yet apparently can't resist the temptation to announce that our dad was the person who taught her to drive.

[Lantern7]

I'm sure "Ted Cruz Fan Fiction" probably led to a broken page, and all it did was provide John with a notice that someone clicked it. At least I hope that was the case. That's probably a real thing somewhere. The real test is never typing those words into a search engine, with the additional "LIKE, YOU KNOW, FOR REAL."

"Hug a Newsperson Day." In 2022? I'm thinking/hoping the next "And Now, This" will be all about Easter. Especially Peeps. Because if Last Week Tonight is about any one thing, it's exposing evil, and they hate Peeps.

Thinking . . . you think people working at OANN read fiction about Ted Cruz? Or maybe write it? No, I don't want to know. For real.

Tracking stuff is scary if you think about it for too long. A company can say that they would NEVER sell your date to a third party, but there's absolutely no way to be certain of that.

[lasu]

The one local news program (not the one that ambushed the pregnant lady, but the one who was showing all the ailments in different zip codes, that was my local news!  I'm glad we made it for something good and not one of the idiotic segments.  I was starting to sweat though, because they did 27609, 27607, 27606...and I'm 27605.  It just made me laugh because I immediately was like, "wait, that's Monica Laleberty with '5 on Your Side'!"

There is an extremely good documentary, The Great Hack, on Netflix that shows how this data mining was used in the Trump election and the Brexit vote (though it is super clear this could happen on either side).  I don't know if it's true or not, but they claimed that your phone actually ISN'T listening, but that it has so many data points on you it can correctly identify what you are likely to want or need next.  Definitely worth watching if you found this segment interesting/alarming.

[ahisma]

Well, given Ted Cruz’s dirty imagination, I guess that answers whether “Ted Cruz fan fiction” is about him or by him.

https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-mocked-disney-mickey-mouse-florida-1699172

[Annber03]

7 minutes ago, ahisma said:

Well, given Ted Cruz’s dirty imagination, I guess that answers whether “Ted Cruz fan fiction” is about him or by him.

https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-mocked-disney-mickey-mouse-florida-1699172

What the hell is with this guy? Seriously.