Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s comments that early users of his social network were ‘dumb f***s’ for trusting him with their data have re-emerged.
Zuckerberg made the shocking remark during an instant messenger conversation with a friend at the age of 19, shortly after launching the site.
First picked up on by the media in 2010, his comments have now re-surfaced in the wake of a privacy row involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.
The firm is reported to have bought data from 50 million Facebook users that was obtained without their permission.
This information is said to have been used to help elect President Donald Trump in the US, as well as to boost the Brexit campaign in the UK.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s comments that early users of his social network were ‘dumb f***s’ for trusting him with their data have re-emerged. Zuckerberg made the shocking remark during an instant messenger conversation with a friend at the age of 19 (stock)
The leaked conversation was published in a Medium blog post by journalist Maria Bustillos.
Ms Bustillos it shows that Zuckerberg has a long history of disregarding the privacy expectations of users over handling of their data.
The conversation, which has since been discussed widely on social media, ran as follows:
Zuckerberg: Yea so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard, just ask. ‘i have over 4000 emails, pictures, addresses, sns
Friend: what!? how’d you manage that one?
Zuckerberg: people just submitted it. i don’t know why. they “trust me”. dumb f***s.
Cambridge Analytica is the firm currently centre of a scandal over alleged misuse of Facebook users’ personal data.
First picked up on by the media in 2010, the Facebook founder’s comments have now re-surfaced in the wake of a privacy row involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. The firm is reported to have bought data from 50 million Facebook users obtained without permission
Cambridge Analytica, a communications firm based in London, was hired by the team behind Donald Trump’s successful US presidential bid.
An affiliate of British firm Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), Cambridge Analytica has offices in London, New York, Washington, as well as Brazil and Malaysia.
The company boasts it can ‘find your voters and move them to action’ through data-driven campaigns and a team that includes data scientists and behavioural psychologists.
‘Within the United States alone, we have played a pivotal role in winning presidential races as well as congressional and state elections,’ with data on more than 230 million American voters, Cambridge Analytica claims on its website.
Speaking to TechCrunch in 2017, CEO Alexander Nix said the firm was ‘always acquiring more’ data.
‘Every day we have teams looking for new data sets,’ he told the site.
This information obtained by Cambridge Analytica is said to have been used to help elect President Donald Trump in the US, as well as to boost the Brexit campaign in the UK. CEO Alexander Nix has said the firm was ‘always acquiring more’ data
As well as working on the election which saw Trump reach the White House, Cambridge Analytica has been involved in political campaigns around the world.
In the US, analysts harnessed data to generate thousands of messages targeting voters through their profiles on social media such as Facebook, Snapchat, or the Pandora Radio streaming service.
British press have credited Cambridge Analytica with providing services to pro-Brexit campaign Leave.EU, but Nix has denied working for the group.
Globally, Cambridge Analytica said it has worked in Italy, Kenya, South Africa, Colombia and Indonesia.
Cambridge Analytica stole information from 50 million Facebook users’ profiles in the tech firm’s biggest-ever data breach, according to the New York Times and the Observer.
This was designed to help them create software that can predict and influence voters’ choices at the ballot box.
University of Cambridge psychologist Aleksandr Kogan created a personality prediction test app, thisisyourdigitallife, which was downloaded by 270,000 people.
The tool allowed Kogan to access information such as content Facebook users had ‘liked’ and the city they listed on their profile, which was then passed to SCL and Cambridge Analytica.
WHAT DOES FACEBOOK KNOW ABOUT YOU?
Facebook uses personal data it collects on members using their on-site activity, location settings and internet connection to target its ads.
The firm uses 98 data points to create ‘complete consumer profiles’.
Some of this data is taken from your Faebook profile information, but the social network watches online activity for the rest.
It can ‘see’ virtually every website you visit if you are logged into Facebook.
The 98 data points it tracks are:
1. Location
2. Age
3. Generation
4. Gender
5. Language
6. Education level
7. Field of study
8. School
9. Ethnic affinity
10. Income and net worth
11. Home ownership and type
12. Home value
13. Property size
14. Square footage of home
15. Year home was built
16. Household composition
17. Users who have an anniversary within 30 days
18. Users who are away from family or hometown
19. Users who are friends with someone who has an anniversary, is newly married or engaged, recently moved, or has an upcoming birthday
20. Users in long-distance relationships
21. Users in new relationships
22. Users who have new jobs
23. Users who are newly engaged
24. Users who are newly married
25. Users who have recently moved
26. Users who have birthdays soon
27. Parents
28. Expectant parents
29. Mothers, divided by “type” (soccer, trendy, etc.)
30. Users who are likely to engage in politics
31. Conservatives and liberals
32. Relationship status
33. Employer
34. Industry
35. Job title
36. Office type
37. Interests
38. Users who own motorcycles
39. Users who plan to buy a car (and what kind/brand of car, and how soon)
40. Users who bought auto parts or accessories recently
41. Users who are likely to need auto parts or services
42. Style and brand of car you drive
43. Year car was bought
44. Age of car
45. How much money user is likely to spend on next car
46. Where user is likely to buy next car
47. How many employees your company has
48. Users who own small businesses
49. Users who work in management or are executives
50. Users who have donated to charity (divided by type)
51. Operating system
52. Users who play canvas games
53. Users who own a gaming console
54. Users who have created a Facebook event
55. Users who have used Facebook Payments
56. Users who have spent more than average on Facebook Payments
57. Users who administer a Facebook page
58. Users who have recently uploaded photos to Facebook
59. Internet browser
60. Email service
61. Early/late adopters of technology
62. Expats (divided by what country they are from originally)
63. Users who belong to a credit union, national bank or regional bank
64. Users who investor (divided by investment type)
65. Number of credit lines
66. Users who are active credit card users
67. Credit card type
68. Users who have a debit card
69. Users who carry a balance on their credit card
70. Users who listen to the radio
71. Preference in TV shows
72. Users who use a mobile device (divided by what brand they use)
73. Internet connection type
74. Users who recently acquired a smartphone or tablet
75. Users who access the Internet through a smartphone or tablet
76. Users who use coupons
77. Types of clothing user’s household buys
78. Time of year user’s household shops most
79. Users who are “heavy” buyers of beer, wine or spirits
80. Users who buy groceries (and what kinds)
81. Users who buy beauty products
82. Users who buy allergy medications, cough/cold medications, pain relief products, and over-the-counter meds
83. Users who spend money on household products
84. Users who spend money on products for kids or pets, and what kinds of pets
85. Users whose household makes more purchases than is average
86. Users who tend to shop online (or off)
87. Types of restaurants user eats at
88. Kinds of stores user shops at
89. Users who are “receptive” to offers from companies offering online auto insurance, higher education or mortgages, and prepaid debit cards/satellite TV
90. Length of time user has lived in house
91. Users who are likely to move soon
92. Users who are interested in the Olympics, fall football, cricket or Ramadan
93. Users who travel frequently, for work or pleasure
94. Users who commute to work
95. Types of vacations user tends to go on
96. Users who recently returned from a trip
97. Users who recently used a travel app
98. Users who participate in a timeshare
