On Tuesday, the internet was shocked to learn of an unholy alliance between Facebook and POLITICO. The details of the partnership are vague, but according to POLITICO’s announcement, both firms will endeavor to create a “sentiment analysis” of Facebook users to determine their true political leanings. Users will then be served POLITICO stories that mirror their political values.
Facebook will allow POLITICO access to users’ private status updates, messages and “wall” comments. Facebook will also provide POLITICO with demographic information on its users like age, sex and geographic location. Both firms claim that the process is part of an automated algorithm and that no employees will be able to read these private correspondences.
The American Civil Liberties Union has already expressed reservations about the proposal; in a press release, ACLU spokesman Christopher Calabrese said that it is troubling that Facebook would be willing to share with a third party "users’ private political preferences and thoughts, preferences they may have shared only with their closest friend in a private email."
Of course, if you have never had a political thought or expressed a political belief to your friends online, it is doubtful that you will be bombarded with POLITICO stories. That's the good news. Bad news is, you're boring and your friends are equally boring. Go out there and form an opinion on something!
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Don't worry, we'll never be evil with your information
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