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  Greg Collier 9:07 am on March 28, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: discrimination ( 5 ), Facebook ( 182 ), housing ( 5 )   

  Facebook accused of discriminatory housing ads 

  

  It appears that Facebook is trying to fend off controversy from all sides these days. Not only is it facing lawsuits over the data they’ve been allegedly collecting from Android users, but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify himself before Congress over the purported Cambridge Analytical data breach. Now to compound matters for Facebook, they’re being sued for allegedly allowing certain demographics from seeing certain housing ads.

  Four fair housing groups are suing Facebook claiming that their ad program allows groups such as single parent families, disabled veterans and minorities from to be excluded from seeing housing ads based on users likes and groups. According to the complainants, they created a phony realty firm and Facebook had a preset list of options of who could be excluded from being shown the ads.

  Choosing from a list of preset options, the fictitious landlord was able to exclude people with interests in the “National Association for Bikers with a Disability,” “Disabled American Veterans,” “Disability.gov,” and “Disabled Parking Permit.” Facebook estimated that the ad would reach 1.2 million people, the group reported.

  Facebook denies the charges and says the lawsuit has no merit, however, this isn’t the first time Facebook has come under fire for discriminatory ad practices. Late last year they were accused of allowing job ads to be shown only to a certain age group.

  For all intents and purposes, Facebook is a monopoly as they virtually have no competition in the social media space. If they continue to engage in such practices like they’re being accused of, how long will it be before the government decides to either heavily regulate them or break them up? Considering the unchecked power they wield it can’t come soon enough.

   

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  Greg Collier 9:06 am on March 27, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Andrew Turley, craigslist ( 130 ), FOSTA ( 6 ), personal ads ( 5 )   

  Why you shouldn’t mourn the craigslist personals 

  

  As we posted last week, craigslist shuttered its personals section in anticipation of FOSTA being signed into law. Many in tech circles are lamenting the loss of craigslist personals as if it was some place where wholesome couples would meet so they could attend church and ice cream socials together. What they’re conveniently forgetting is that the personals section of craigslist had a much more sinister undercurrent that not much of the public was aware of.

  For example, recently, 30-year-old Andrew Turley was sentenced to 60 years behind bars for trying to sell his 4-year-old daughter for the purposes of sex on craigslist. According to investigators, Turley would drug his daughter to make her compliant. After police responded to his craigslist ad they found his daughter in a ‘groggy state’ and appeared to be under the influence of some type of drug.

  Sadly, this is not just a one-off occurrence as the Craigslist personals have a long history of this type of activity. This wasn’t even the youngest victim to ever be sold through craigslist as an Idaho man tried selling a 3-year-old girl through craigslist. In either case, none of the ads were flagged by craigslist’s community policing. For those of you who try to say that this will drive the predators underground, that’s the whole point. Without such a platform like craigslist, predators will have one less highly trafficked platform to find their victims and reprehensible parents won’t have the marketplace to sell their kids.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:00 am on March 26, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Android ( 8 ), Facebook ( 182 ), privacy ( 46 )   

  Facebook has been collecting Android user data for years 

  

  While the Cambridge Analytica scandal continues to find its way into the headlines, Facebook is undergoing yet another perceived breach of user trust. Over the weekend, tech news site Ars Technica reported that Facebook has been allegedly collecting data for years from users who use its mobile application on Android devices.

  The report states that Facebook has been collecting information not just on your contacts on Android, but information about your calls and text messages such as who you contacted and how long the call may have been. Facebook tries to defend itself by saying this an optional and voluntary feature, but as the Ars Technica report points out, that particular check box is pre-checked when you install Facebook to your device. Forbes has an article on how you can see how much of your data Facebook has and how to prevent Facebook from gathering this data in the future.

  Even Silicon Valley, which is normally protective of its own, has been coming down hard on Facebook lately. Not only has Elon Musk removed the Facebook pages for Tesla and Space X, but Apple CEO Tim Cook said that “well-crafted” rules toward Facebook privacy may well be needed.

  It’s long been said on the internet that if you’re using a free service as much as Facebook is used, you’re not the customer but the product. With each passing day, Facebook continuously seems to prove that adage correct.

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  Greg Collier 8:59 am on March 23, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craigslist ( 130 ), FOSTA ( 6 ), personal ads ( 5 )   

  Craigslist pulls personal ads ahead of FOSTA signing 

  

  Before the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) could even be signed into law, craigslist has taken it upon themselves to remove the personal ads section from their website. Anyone clicking on any of the personal ad links on craigslist are met with the above message. As is usually the case with craigslist, they’re playing the victim over something they should have done years ago.

  To hear craigslist tell it, they sound like FOSTA is about to kill all romance on the internet. What craigslist isn’t telling you is that their personal ads, like most sections of their site, have long been the home of criminal activity. When craigslist shut down its erotic services section after public pressure, whatever human trafficking ads didn’t move to Backpage moved to craigslist’s personals section. That’s not even taking into account that craigslist’s casual encounters section was often used by child predators looking for their next victim. So while craigslist is acting like some kind of martyr, let it never be forgotten that their personals section has mostly been a cesspool of crime.

  Eight years ago, Geebo decided to remove personal ads from its site. Not because of any public pressure or impending legislation, but because it was the right thing to do. Craigslist has only itself to blame since they failed to monitor their own site for decades.

  Why you shouldn't mourn the craigslist personals | Greg's Corner and Chad Frey are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Chad Frey 1:38 pm on March 23, 2018 Permalink

    Good , Something they should of done years ago. I never met anyone off of personals on craigslist. The only question is this what took them so damn long?

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  Greg Collier 9:29 am on March 22, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: car title ( 3 ), lien, scam ( 22 )   

  Make sure you buy a car with a lien-free title 

  

  Unless you live in a major metropolitan area like New York or San Francisco, it’s almost impossible to get around in our country without a car. This is especially imperative for lower-income families who may have trouble paying for things such as insurance or the many state fees included with car ownership. That’s why you need to be extra careful when buying a used car online. We’ve detailed many used car scams before, but now we’re hearing of a new one that could leave you broke and without a vehicle.

  In Glendale, Arizona, a woman recently purchased a used car from a seller on a classifieds app. The seller had a sob story about how she had to pay for a recent funeral and didn’t even have money for food or their cell phone. The buyer, feeling sorry for the seller, not only bought the car, but bought groceries for the seller and paid for the seller’s cell phone bill. It wasn’t too much longer after the transaction that the car was repossessed and the buyer was then out of her money and no longer had the car. The car had a lien on it from title loan company. Even though the car was sold to a new owner the title loan company had the legal right to repossess the car.

  Whenever buying a used car, always do a history check of the car even if you’re pressed for time in needing a vehicle. Always obtain the vehicle’s VIN number which can be usually found on the driver’s side toward the bottom of the windshield as you look into the car. Many states provide a free or low-cost service where you can see if there are any liens on the car. You can also use the more expensive independent services like Carfax and others to get a more detailed history of the car.

  Not having a car today is a major inconvenience to say the least. To not have a car and losing a big sum of money in the process can be crippling for some families. So please take the time in researching a car before purchasing.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:29 am on March 21, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 70 ), Chris Cox, Communications Decency Act ( 5 ), Human trafficking ( 100 ), Section 230   

  Author of Section 230: 230 was not to facilitate people doing bad things on the internet 

  

  With Congress about to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a number of pundits in tech circles have decried the amendment as the end of free speech on the internet and various other reasons why the sky is falling. However, one of the section’s authors says that Section 230 is not being used the way it was intended. Former Congressman Chris Cox recently said that Section 230 “was to help clean up the Internet, not to facilitate people doing bad things on the Internet.”

  Cox helped wrote the legislation back in 1994 when a financial company tried to sue the platform Prodigy for libel when one of its users had accused the financial company of fraud. Since Prodigy moderated its content for language the courts ruled against Prodigy. Cox wanted protection for platforms like Prodigy from third-party users. The fact that we’re talking about Prodigy, a long dead internet portal, should show you how antiquated Section 230 truly is.

  As you may know, Section 230 is about to be amended to include language that would help prosecute websites and platforms that knowingly facilitate human trafficking such as Backpage is accused of doing. Congressman Cox even says that websites connected to unlawful activity should not be protected by Section 230. Let’s also not forget that we’re talking about real human lives that are being peddled through Backpage and if Backpage would be forced to curtail its activities it would greatly reduce the number of women and children being sold as slaves in the US. Without Backpage, we wouldn’t have every two-bit wannabe pimp thinking they can make themselves some money just by getting some girls and advertising them on Backpage. While it wouldn’t solve the trafficking crisis completely, it would go a long way in keeping a lot of people safe from the life that Backpage gets rich off of.

   
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  Greg Collier 8:59 am on March 20, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 70 ), Communications Decency Act ( 5 ), FOSTA ( 6 ), Human trafficking ( 100 ), SESTA ( 4 ), Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 ( 3 )   

  Anti-Backpage trafficking bill on track to become law 

  

  Late last month, the US House of Representatives passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017, or FOSTA. Yesterday, the US Senate voted almost unanimously to advance their version of the act known as the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, or SESTA. It’s expected to be passed by the Senate later today and then signed into law later this week. SESTA/FOSTA would allow the victims of online sex trafficking to seek damages against sites like Backpage who allegedly knowingly assisted in the trafficking trade.

  As has been mentioned before, SESTA/FOSTA amends section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which Backpage has used to claim that their role in the sex trade is protected free speech under the law. A number of opponents to SESTA/FOSTA claim that this amendment will mean the death of free speech on the internet as we know it, however, that is simply not true. As this piece on political blog The Hill points out, “the legislation requires proof that a website “knowingly” assisted, facilitated, or supported sex trafficking when it entered into a venture with a sex trafficker.”

  All the evidence that has been uncovered by journalists and a congressional investigation seem to point out that Backpage knowingly engaged and assisted sex traffickers by advising them on what to put in their ads. This is and has never been an issue about free speech, but rather the freedom of the women and children who have been trafficked on Backpage. Most arguments against the purported legislation are just fear-mongering and histrionics.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on March 19, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Cambridge Analytica ( 3 ), data breach ( 33 ), Election ( 21 ), Facebook ( 182 ), Steve Bannon   

  50 million Facebook accounts exposed in political data breach 

  

  In a story that seems like it was taken straight from the 1988 sci-fi movie ‘They Live’, a large data firm is accused of allegedly breaching the Facebook accounts of 50 million US voters in order to ‘change audience behavior’. It was supposedly done, once again, to try to influence the 2016 Presidential election.

  Cambridge Analytica is accused of allegedly using a paid survey app that was disguised as a personality test. The app required users to log in through Facebook. After a user logged into Facebook, the app would not only harvest the information of the user, but also data from everyone in the user’s friends list. Trump advisor Steve Bannon was a board member of Cambridge Analytica and, according to the New York Times, “was intrigued by the possibility of using personality profiling to shift America’s culture and rewire its politics.”

  To make matters worse, Facebook allegedly knew of the misuse of the data and did little about it except to ask Cambridge Analytica to delete the information they had. Again, the New York Times claims that the data was not deleted and was discoverable online. So this seems like it is another instance where Facebook supposedly knew of alleged election interference and chose to do next to nothing about it. Many lawmakers are even calling for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress. It’s about high time that he did since it’s obvious he really has little to no control over what’s really happening throughout Facebook and the detrimental effect it has on our society.

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  Greg Collier 8:59 am on March 16, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: advertising ( 11 ), domestic violence ( 2 ), Rihanna, Snapchat ( 13 ), social media ( 89 )   

  Snapchat in hot water over insensitive ad 

  

  Since its public debut, photo sharing app Snapchat has been trying to drag teen users away from Facebook. Since many teens like to follow their favorite celebrities on social media, Snapchat’s business has relied heavily on the activity of celebrities whether Snapchat wants to admit it or not. Now, Snapchat is facing a public backlash after one of its celebrities was featured in a very insulting ad on its platform.

  Recently, Snapchat users were served an ad for a mobile game that asked if you would rather slap R&B singer Rihanna or punch her former boyfriend Chris Brown. If you’ll recall, Rihanna was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Brown. The Grammy award-winning songstress took to Instagram to voice her displeasure over the ad.

  “Now SNAPCHAT I know you already know you ain’t my fav app out there!” Rihanna wrote. “But I’m just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess! I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb! You spent money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to DV victims and made a joke out of it!!! This isn’t about my personal feelings, cause I don’t have much of them … but all the women, children and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven’t made it out yet … you let us down! Shame on you. Throw the whole app-oligy away.”

  Snapchat apologized for the ad, but it was too little too late as their stock took a tumble after the debacle. According to tech blog Recode, this just one in a long line of questionable ads on Snapchat as they are said to run ads for cryptocurrency miners and the infamous Ashley Madison website which supposedly helps people carry on affairs. While those ads may be tasteless, domestic violence is no laughing matter and should not be joked about in such a flippant manner. If this is the attitude Snapchat takes in supposedly curating their ads then it’s no wonder Instagram is beating them at every turn.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:11 am on March 15, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 3d printed home, real estate ( 140 )   

  Could 3D printed homes help the housing crisis? 

  

  It’s no secret that there is a housing crisis not just here in the US but around the world. Too many families worldwide do not have access to affordable or sustainable housing. Now, a proof of concept home has been developed that its developers are hoping to help end that crisis. Recently, at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, two companies joined together to present what they refer to as a 3D printed home.

  ICON is a company that has developed a machine that is basically a 3D mobile printer that lays out a home in concrete. They’ve partnered with a non-profit called New Story whose goal it is to build homes in developing nations. Together, they’ve developed a 600 square foot concrete home that can be built for less than $10,000. The companies are hoping to get the cost down to about $4,000 in future developments.

  While the houses may not be the most palatial they could go a long way in helping people. Shelter is one of the most basic human needs and with a project like this many of those struggling could afford the dignity to be able to call someplace home that’s inexpensive but still sturdy. This endeavor has great potential and more projects like this need to come out of Silicon Valley instead of yet another social app.