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0 pointsjudge20203y ago0 comments

'National security risk' is all the FCC is arguing; they're not arguing that these data collection practices are bad in themselves, only that they're bad if it happens in a way that strengthens a foreign government.

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6 comments · 2 top-level

moralestapia3y ago· 2 in thread

If the data exists 99% of the work is already done though.

It is extremely easy for a government to infiltrate into these organizations and get their hands on it, it has happened at Twitter [1], for instance.

So, yes, the problem IS data collection in the first place.

1: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/former-twit...

staticassertion3y ago

It doesn't have to be extremely easy, and it isn't extremely easy at every company. Twitter's security was bad, worse than it should have been for their size/ data footprint.

I do agree that data collection is at the core of the problem, but Twitter really should have done a better job.

moralestapia3y ago

Read the article,

No amount of "security" is enough for an actor who wants to do this and has privileged to the data. This is almost impossible to out-engineer, if you think a company like Twitter cannot solve "such an easy problem" you're being naive.

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mywittyname3y ago· 2 in thread

The "nationality" of a company is basically irrelevant here. Foreign governments could obtain this data from an "American" company in numerous different ways.m The most obvious vector would be a subpoena, but they could also negotiate payment for the data or infiltrate the company.

There's a shitload of data for sale from brokers. So foreign governments might not even need much from a company like FB. Perhaps just enough to confirm the validity of data purchase from other sources.

staticassertion3y ago

It's not irrelevant to the FCC, a United States federal organization. I don't think any brokers are selling "execute code on 10s of millions of US citizens' phones" to foreign entities, and if they were I suspect the FCC would have something to say about it.

mywittyname3y ago

Data brokers are absolutely, 100%, verifiably selling data collected by large american tech companies and selling them to foreign actors. See: Emerdata for one example. Yeah, the FTC makes attempts to take on these companies, but only if they find out about their activities, and even then, only years after the fact.

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6 comments · 2 top-level

moralestapia3y ago· 2 in thread

If the data exists 99% of the work is already done though.

It is extremely easy for a government to infiltrate into these organizations and get their hands on it, it has happened at Twitter [1], for instance.

So, yes, the problem IS data collection in the first place.

1: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/former-twit...

staticassertion3y ago

It doesn't have to be extremely easy, and it isn't extremely easy at every company. Twitter's security was bad, worse than it should have been for their size/ data footprint.

I do agree that data collection is at the core of the problem, but Twitter really should have done a better job.

moralestapia3y ago

Read the article,

1 more reply

mywittyname3y ago· 2 in thread

staticassertion3y ago

mywittyname3y ago

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j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse