back to article Facebook, Instagram: No, you can't auto-slurp our profiles (cough, cough, border officials)

Facebook and its snap-sharing app Instagram have updated their terms and conditions to bar developers from scanning profiles for surveillance purposes. On Friday a report from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) showed that border patrol officers had tried automatically scanning visa applicants' social media profiles …

  1. LeahroyNake

    Hypocrisy at work

    Really, Facebook should take a look in the mirror and have a good talk with themselves!

    Whatever they say is total crap, they have to pass all the data to the US agency that requests it. By blocking developers they just move to goal posts, it's not protecting your data from the real bad guys.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hypocrisy at work

      More likely revenue assurance at work. 3rd party developers should not be allowed to spoil the pricing on existing relationships with 3 letter agencies. Similarly, they should not be allowed to provide "foreign agents" with tools to do what only the 3 letters can do (with or without a FISA order).

    2. Mage Silver badge

      Re: real bad guys

      Like Facebook themselves.

      Parasites providing nothing that can't be done with pre-existing software / platforms more securely.

      It exists solely to rip off personal information and monetise it with adverts. Hence all the fake enticing text & images in the sidebar.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: real bad guys

        Re pre-existing software / platforms: With 57 M&As to date, Facebook just bought them out, and forgot about whatever security they involved.

        1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

          Re: 57 M&A's?

          Nope it was not 57 M&A's as the "M" stands for Merger and Facebork does not merge with anyone.

          57 Varieties of Gobble more likely. I'd normally say 'slurp' but that is reserved for MS.

          Gobble because Zuck likes to cluck about his [redacted]

    3. e^iπ+1=0

      Re: Hypocrisy at work

      "public stance by Facebook is a welcome one in increasingly worrying times for those concerned about internet privacy, or the lack of it"

      Maybe those concerned about internet privacy should not post things they want to remain private.

      Otherwise, move along.

  2. NoneSuch Silver badge
    Coffee/keyboard

    It won't stop them.

    It will slow them down, but not stop them.

    They don't follow the law, they make the law. With baby hands in the White House, it will be easy to get laws into power to change this.

    1. Phil.T.Tipp

      Re: It won't stop them.

      You want a long list of the dark undemocratic foulness Obama scuttled through in office, on his long list of secret Executive Orders and Directives? Including FISA, NSA surveillance, Targeted drone killings etcetera, etcetera?

      http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/14/13577464/obama-farewell-speech-torture-drones-nsa-surveillance-trump

      http://govtslaves.info/comprehensive-list-of-executive-orders-under-obama/

      http://www.booboone.com/obama-executive-order-list/

      Who needs Congress and the Supreme Court anyway?

      1. Mooseman Silver badge

        Re: It won't stop them.

        "You want a long list of the dark undemocratic foulness Obama scuttled through in office, on his long list of secret Executive Orders and Directives? Including FISA, NSA surveillance, Targeted drone killings etcetera, etcetera"

        Secret Executive Orders. So secret that you seem to know all about them. OK. While youre working that out, have a look at the reasons Obama was forced to use executive orders, then look at how many his republican predecessors used.

        1. Eddy Ito
          Paris Hilton

          Re: It won't stop them.

          "... Obama was forced..."

    2. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Unhappy

      "With baby hands in the White House, it will be easy to get laws into power to change this."

      Not even needed.

      THE PATRIOT Act has not been repealed.

  3. Paul Crawford Silver badge

    "But the public stance by Facebook is a welcome one in increasingly worrying times for those concerned about internet privacy, or the lack of it."

    Would any of those users be on Facebook in the first place?

    1. The First Dave

      Yes, some, like me, use Facebook to advertise/manage a sporting club.

  4. Pirate Dave Silver badge
    Pirate

    Lol

    "Developers cannot 'use data obtained from us to provide tools that are used for surveillance.' Our goal is to make our policy explicit," Facebook said."

    That's hilarious. Facebook actually thinks that the folks who disregard large parts of the US Constitution will in any way be bothered by the T&C's of an online website. Thanks, I needed a good belly laugh today.

    1. Steve the Cynic

      Re: Lol

      " Facebook actually thinks that the folks who disregard large parts of the US Constitution will in any way be bothered by the T&C's of an online website."

      Not at all. They are saying that the alphabet soups must develop the tools themselves, because the T&Cs of their sites, at least in theory,(1) bar third parties (not FB, not the soups) from building and selling tools to do it.

      (1) Yes, I'm aware that there's a difference between "in theory" and "in practice".

  5. thomn8r

    Developers cannot 'use data obtained from us to provide tools that are used for surveillance.' Our goal is to make our policy explicit

    ...because we are already selling the data and will brook no competition, thank you very much.

  6. Mark 85

    In theory at least, given the T&C's of most websites, handing over your login data to anyone (and I'm assuming any TLA that asks for it, is a violation and cause for account termination. I doubt that this will ever be enforced as they wouldn't want to lose their product for the advertisers.

  7. FuzzyTheBear
    Black Helicopters

    Best

    move is not to play. Assume that the moment you upload data to the net it's fully public. Do like most people in high places do .. don't use that crap if you want to keep stuff private. Really .. when you think about it well you will have the same conclusion ..don't. In many ways we led better lives , experienced more freedom and were way more secure than before it's proliferation to the masses. This is something that on retrospective should never have proliferated to the public. The idea was nice , but the governments made it into an inferno Dante would have been proud of. Orwell himself would have flipped his lid. Networks and machines are nice , we do fantastic stuff .. it's just what we have done with it , what the Governments have done with it that's the fuck up. Don't blame the machines , blame the humans 18 inches from the screen. lol

  8. J.Smith

    I wonder why government is always labelled the bad actor, as if private companies are any more respectful of human dignity. Corporate or government, six and half a dozen.

    1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      Holmes

      Most companies don't have militaries or police forces. Threats to your privacy are a lot more meaningful when backed by force of arms.

      1. J.Smith

        Indeed, but there are lots of instruments of power, and many more effective than a gun.

        1. Cardinal

          @ J.Smith

          But, as Al Capone said

          “You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.” :

  9. Your alien overlord - fear me

    Since Facebook just wants money, here's how the agencies can get 'targeted' data by claiming they are the following...

    CIA - Crafty Intrusive Advertisers,

    FBI - FaceBooks Ingenious (they might not get away with that),

    NSA - Not Surveillance Advertisers

    They just need to say they're targeting Muslim users (or Mexicans etc.) and Facebook will give them all the data they want.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "But the public stance by Facebook is a welcome one in increasingly worrying times for those concerned about internet privacy, or the lack of it. It won't do much, but every little bit helps. ®"

    I disagree entirely. The purpose of Facebook is to harvest unprecedented amounts of personal information about people and their activities for the purpose of selling to other organisations. Whether Facebook reduces access to this data by government agencies means virtually nothing in terms of improving internet privacy.

  11. Hans 1
    Facepalm

    >PRISM program and similar secret slurping activities

    When's the last time PRISM was "secret" ? Has it ever been ? I mean, the size of equipment at the various sites already says it all, does it not ?

  12. adam payne

    "We depend on social networks to connect and communicate about the most important issues in our lives and the core political and social issues in our country," said Nicole Ozer, civil liberties director for the American Civil Liberties Union in California."

    With all the fake news and stupid pointless status updates on Facebook why would you depend on it for anything.

    1. lukewarmdog

      I think the problem here is the "we depend" bit of Ozers speech.

      If you "need" to communicate about the most important issues in our lives, stop doing it on a third party platform that censors you, that sells your personal information to advertisers, that can track your activists and shares your information with various Government agencies.

      By all means use social media to link to a post on your own website but do not depend on social media to help you out because the second it doesn't you become very, very unimportant. Plus whereas before a group of activists might have come together in a bookshop and the local police would have needed actual surveillance, now Facebook knows who all your friends are and what you're saying to each other. It's a stupid place to do politics.

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