Like all good geeks, I sometimes read patent applications, especially those filed by Google and Facebook. Here is a Facebook – US20180012146A1 – for « sentimental polarity for users of a social networking system. » It`s about how to deduce a web user`s moods by running a website. « User polarity is based on information obtained about the interaction between the user and the page (z.B. How, the report, etc.) and can be based on an analysis of a subject extracted from the text on the page. The system pours a positive or negative polarity from the user to the content of the page, and this polarity can then be associated with a second user interaction or subsequent interaction with the content of the page. It`s surveillance capitalism in action. But this explanation does not really tell the whole story. While some users may not object to targeted ads being displayed to help them choose a new TV, this example reviews the full range of items that are marketed to you based on your data. For example, according to a report by the Center for Digital Democracy, financial service providers have used Facebook to « data mining, targeting and influence consumers and their networks of friends, » and some companies are developing « new directions for their credit and refinancing offerings, » based on user facebook behavior.
In the United States, the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) requires this site or application to publish this legal agreement in a striking manner when personal data is collected by or via users living in the State of California via a website or application. Despite this « search clause, » you may have been surprised to learn that Facebook experimented with nearly 700,000 Facebook users for a week in the summer of 2012. The site manipulated its news feeds to prioritize positive or negative content, and tried to determine whether emotions were spreading contagiously on social networks. There was no age limit for the data, which meant it could be affected by the user under the age of 18. Cornell researchers then analyzed the data from Facebook. The resulting study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that emotional states can be transmitted on social networks.