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Zuckerberg is Sitting on More Data About What People Want To Do Online Than Anyone Else in the World, Former Facebook Chief Security Officer Says (cnbc.com) 52

Former Facebook executive Alex Stamos explained how Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is able to consistently make decisions that only make sense with the benefit of hindsight. From a report: "Mark Zuckerberg is sitting on more data about what people want to do online than anyone else in the world," said Stamos, who was speaking at the Washington Post's technology and policy conference on Wednesday evening. He cited the acquisitions of private messaging WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion, and photo-sharing service Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion, as examples of bets "that people think are insane but turn out to be prophetic because he knows the direction the world is going," Stamos said. Further reading: Facebook Used Its VPN App To Track Competitors, Documents Reveal.
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Zuckerberg is Sitting on More Data About What People Want To Do Online Than Anyone Else in the World, Former Facebook Chief Secu

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  • I'll bet Google knows even a bit more about what EVERYONE wants to do online.

    But I'd grant that Facebook is probably second in line.

    Facebook does probably know more about how everyone REACTS to various things online...

    • I think that those overlords would like to have everyone think that they know more about you than they really do. Even more so, they'd like their paying customers to think the same.

      But yes, they do have access to lots of data on us all.

      • I think that those overlords would like to have everyone think that they know more about you than they really do.

        I agree, what they have is a lot of raw data - and as we can all see by the ads we are served, a lot of bad assumptions about who we are. Algorithmically they probably do not know as much as many think they do.

        But the potential is there, especially if they chose to target individuals for more careful analysis... that's what makes them more potentially dangerous I think, especially Facebook might

  • I bet there's a lot of people who would like him to take all that data he's sitting on and shove it ... you get the idea.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I bet there's a lot of people who would like him to take all that data he's sitting on and shove it ... you get the idea.

      Leave the android alone. It's just trying to understand human emotion.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by rnturn ( 11092 ) on Thursday March 28, 2019 @05:13PM (#58350578)

    ``...but turn out to be prophetic because he knows the direction the world is going.''

    What a crock. I was forced to use WhatsApp while I was working on a project a while back. We all knew it was connected to Facebook, didn't want anything connected with them on our phones, and tried to suggest an alternative (Signal was what we lobbied for at the time) but were told "Management has spoken". As soon as the contract ended, everyone I worked closely with on the project deleted it. As for Instagram: what a time sink that is. If that's where the world's going, we're all in it. Deep.

  • Google first (Score:4, Insightful)

    by enriquevagu ( 1026480 ) on Thursday March 28, 2019 @05:50PM (#58350760)

    Facebook knows how you want everyone to see you.

    Google knows what you really desire.

    • They both know that.

      - They both track you all over the web, so they know which websites you visit.
      - They both get fed with data from mobile apps your use.
      - They both have access to text you write and photos you upload, which are a feeding ground for algorithms that analyze your interests, intelligence, psychological profile and much more.
      - They both have access to your (social) calendar to some degree.
      - They both buy data from data brokers to 'improve' the profile they've built about you.

    • So true, I would mod you up if I had any points.
  • The fact that these "genius" think they "know more about people than anyone else," is yet another mind game for the analytical thinkers among us. What does he know, exactly? Can he make reliable sociological predictions with this newfound power? Oh, that's right. No one can. So far they can't feed me ads that are interesting to me. It seems like if they knew who I was, they'd be able to assemble adds that spoke to my interests. There's a lot of unjustified bravado flowing around in Tech. I've been in tech f
  • I don't use Facebook
    I WON'T use Facebook
    I always use an Ad Blocker and I do not allow cookies to be set.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Zuck has an enormous number of data points on like, a billion people. So?

    All that means is that he knows the same thing as everyone else does about everyone else.

    They download porn and jack/jane off to it. They watch video compilations of people getting injured in embarrassing and (therefore hilarious) ways. They order pizza and dildoes and copies of the Complete Works of Steven King. They open a private or incognito-mode browser instance, and read about how to treat disgusting repulsive skin lesions an

  • Every day on /. there seems to be some new outrage about Facebook. And every day I'm delighted that I don't have a Facebook account.
  • Why does the article fail to mention the duds of Zuckerberg's acquisitions? For every WhatsApp or Instagram there are Facebook's disaster bets like:

    MailRank, Nextstop, Spool, ParaKey, Snaptu, FriendFeed, Octazen, Divvyshot, ShareGrove, Zenbe, Chai Labs, Hot Potato, Drop.io, Rel8tion, Beluga, RecRec, DayTum, Sofa, Push Pop, Friend.ly, Strobe, Gowalla, Caffeinatedmind, Tagtile, Glancee, Karma, Acrylic, Threadsy

    Zuckerberg insight? More like a ton of expendable cash, no consequences for using it, and the

  • With all the money he's got, tell him to get his lazy ass up and by a decent chair. Quit sitting on the data storage box.

  • He used the benefit of his data trove to know this post was going to be made on Slashdot...

  • This article is just out to kiss Zuckerberg's ass. As a counterexample we have the Oculus acquisition, distinctly unprophetic. No, the world is not planning to do all its interpersonal interaction wearing head mounted displays. Reminds of of "Grand Architect Gates" where Gates was held up as somehow visionary, despite evidence to the contrary. Result: the Longhorn fiasco.

    Zuckerberg is just a dickhead voyeur with PHP skills who won the lottery.

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