Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies on data protection

What we saw last week of the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg two day testimony in front of nearly a hundred law makers of the United States house and senate was remarkable. The whole discussion centered on privacy and trust, in both the corporations and the governments, as it relates to data. Being in the industry from a technology perspective I was able to interpret the discussion through my introspective lens.

Knowing the history of these types of committees, they have immense authority including the power to regulate or breakup companies that get too much power and wealth. The politicians from both spectrums of the national parties spoke with the same message that there was a choice of government regulation or corporation self-regulation based on where the trust would best be stored and where it best can remain.

This stems from Facebook’s user’s data being provided to third party companies such as Cambridge Analytica who potentially used this data for nefarious reasons, including with the interference of electoral processes.

If the decision is to be government mandated controls, it would be accompanied with other implication such as a class action lawsuit file by as many as 87 million Facebook users whom may have had their Facebook data collected without their permission. Further consequences would be breaking up of the company, mandatory sharing of data for extreme vetting to help ICE in deportation efforts, mandating auditing of third party storage, consequences towards presumed violation of the FTC consent decree placed on Facebook, violation of corporate contribution laws, and even charges of treason as it relates to citizens data heading overseas to potential enemies of the state, referred to as ‘Russians’, and used in electoral interference.

An area Mr. Zuckerberg was reluctant to expose was how many ‘data points’, the term used by the members, Facebook collects on users. The general speculation is that it’s thousands per user, to the point where they know you better than yourself. This is another area of concern for some members who represent predominantly black communicates in which ad targeting was done by segmentation based on race. The main point drawn by Mr. Zuckerberg is that Facebook does not use this data but rather matches users with certain data points to advertisers searching on these specifics. Only upon a successful match does the company earn revenue.

This hearing was insightful in that we got to see the inner workings of the Facebook business model and value chain. In general the more specific data points per user helps the company generate more segments, some of which have greater value than others. What it further seems is that the Facebook algorithms promote a ‘positive feedback loop’ used to coral users into more extreme viewpoints to generate more revenue by creating controversy!

One main concern expressed by the politicians was the silencing of conservative voices. Facebook’s solution towards monitoring speech is to hire individuals who are located throughout the world to police content until the Artificial Intelligence (AI) is able to take over. My main concern is who will provide the rules of the road to this AI? What if it is learning by the current content being blocked, such as those brought up by the members of the YouTube personality stars Diamond and Silk or the Pro-life organizations? This is a very slippery road, and from the US perspective, the first amendment to the Constitution should hold true of freedom of speech. Perhaps a better and cheaper solution would be a more hands-off approach.

Another area of concern brought up by a congressman was regarding a chat application called Whatsapp that is owned by Facebook. The implication made was that messages are, or would be, read by algorithms that then would work with other ad systems without human intervention, yet the perception of users is that their messages were private.

A few politicians had concerns around the implication that Facebook creates ‘Shadow User’ accounts. These are non-users who have a profile within Facebook that was constructed off data collected from individuals in common that have installed the mobile app on their device and gave permission to this app to access their phonebook. Facebook may be able to commoditize these shadow accounts without consent via website targeted ads. The business strategy is great, with the obvious missed step of legal implications, or the thought that the benefit would outway the costs. Steps can get missed if you don’t have an experienced team, which is tough when you’re on the cutting edge.

Because Facebook is trail blazing in areas without precedent, congress was eagerly asking Mr. Zuckerberg to take lead in implementing industry standards. They want to ensure industry and progress isn’t hindered through over-regulation.

The general tone was that the members do not want to regulate so long as Facebook makes major concessions and ‘leads the charge’ towards having other technology companies agree to a kind of code-of-conduct towards privacy and security measures.

There was much legislation mentioned during the sessions, of which included the: Honest ads act, SESTA (Sex and human trafficking), Consent Act, Child Online Privacy and Protection Online Act, Browser Act (Privacy legislation), Secure and Protect Data Act, GDPR, My data act, etc.). If I had to take a broad view at summarizing the points brought as it relates to the legislation, which I’ll call the online Bill of Rights, it would include the following:

1. Platforms should be ideological Neutral as a public forum (First Amendment of the Constitution)
2. Not to engage in harmful content such as racism, nudity, terrorism, violence, sex and human trafficking.
3. Understanding the beneficial owner of political and issue ads using government identity and address verification.
4. Mandatory opt-in and explanation of how their data will be used
5. Readable contracts that have to fit on one page.
6. Users own their data (and can get a portion of revenue it generates)
7. Companies have an information fiduciary to hold personal data in trust
8. No commercial use of biometrics data
9. Targeting ads should be on data authorized to share
10. Not capturing race or gender in their segments of housing, employment, and credit.
11. No discriminatory ads on race, gender, family status, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status using ad targeting
12. No capturing or creating of ‘shadow user’ information or accounts
13. Limit how many data points, or specific data points, per user.
14. Time limit for responding to request to delete a user’s data
15. Delete data after certain period (7 years just like the banks)
16. Users request to be deleted should be applied to third parties who their data was shared.
17. Data stored within the borders of the nation
18. Notifying users when there is a breach
19. Notify users when their data is being shared and allowing to prohibit this sharing
20. Affirmative permission before being used on other networks
21. No cross device tracking
22. No pixel tracking
23. Provide protection for those less than 16 years old by not using their data without permission of their parents
24. All data deleted of users under the age of 13
25. Government access to data in a national security situation such as election interference
26. Not allow sale by online pharmacies (in order to prevent the opioid crisis)
27. Bug bounties to also focus on not permissible sharing of information.

I’m not saying all these points are good, specifically the pixel and cross device tracking, but it was what I have captured. In my opinion these really should scale depending on the size of a company’s user-base. Implementing this type of regulation for a startup would be capital intensive and would burden new entrants into the market. In general users are in some way responsible for what they share on the internet.

I do not blame Facebook for offering targeted advertisements as some people prefer to see ads that are relevant. This isn’t a bad business model, and it looks for the most part that Facebook is being reactive when encountering new unforeseen issues. A lot of methodology is placed on a positive experience for the users in the creation of applications and platforms through the usability experience (UX) stage of development. It is known that companies gauge dopamine reactions of users and for some business models this is great. For example, if applied towards devices that offer health tracking in order to give incentives towards achieving a certain milestones.

Hypothetically, the alternative for these companies, if the majority of users choose not to share their data with advertisers, these companies could potentially be pay-per-play, a subscription service, or an alternative more creative solution.

If the trust was to remain with what they call ‘edge platforms’ through self-regulation, other tech companies that fall into this category would also need to follow suit, such as Instagram, Google, Amazon, Twitter, Netflix, and many others. To be specific, it would definitely affect every Ad-based business models. I suspect that these sessions will continue outside the realm of ‘edge platforms’ as politicians look at technology companies to determine if acts of treason were committed such as in audio being listened to on devices with Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Android.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Facebook. There were incentives presented to Mr. Zuckerberg, such as the Senator from West Virginia who referenced a need for rural connectivity. Mr. Zuckerberg was quite eager and chomping at the bit when presented with these incentives as this is an area the Facebook is actively pursuing using drone technology.

The question remains of who to trust with online governance. On the other side of the spectrum is the Federal government holding this trust. The politicians self-admittedly stated that they did not want to impose government regulations. Also, the track record of the Governments doesn’t seem to be any better in having the trust of the people be broken by tapping phones of ordinary citizens.

I would prefer that Facebook leads this charge towards an online bill or rights, as the strongest power is not ruled by force but by vision.

A Blackberry by any other Name

Recently I got the chance to use the latest Blackberry Z10. I was all enthusiastic for many reasons, including that there was all this hype around the latest model releases, that my own device had just suffered a screen shattering fall, and lastly that it was a Canadian company. This last point was quite important to me as I believe very strongly in the ‘brand Canada’, however to my dismay I was disappointed, or to my compatriots, ‘J'ai été très déçu’.

I’ve listed some of the main reasons that formed by opinion. I must note that I was coming from an Android device.

1. Copying text – I wasn’t able to figure out how to copy a portion of a text message in order so that I could paste it elsewhere. This was so that I could register into the blackberry world (their area to download apps), in which they send you a text message so that you can past the sent code into the registration screen. I asked various people in my office, including someone who owns a Z10, but alas the best I was able to do was copy the whole line and then go in and edit once pasted.
2. Lack of applications – There aren’t too many applications I use, but you would imagine the big ones such as Instagram should be available, even though I’m not a heavy Instagram user. The other significant missing one was the Gmail application. I know I can add it to the regular email, but I would like to have it as an application. (I recognize that I may be biased as I’m coming from an Android operating system which is built by Google who runs Gmail). The last is no support for Swype or Touchpal, but you can read more about this in point number 3.
3. 'Pecking' at the keyboard – I used to have the Blackberry with the built in keyboard and loved it specifically for that reason. I couldn’t bear to give up my keyboard until I discovered the ability to swipe my words. Having to ‘peck’ at the buttons on a keyboard on a touch screen is the most annoying thing in a phone and something that is a deal breaker for me. Swiping is the ability to press on the first letter of your desired word, swipe to each following letter, and then ultimately remove your finger when you’ve reached the final letter. In addition, the removal of your finger adds a space before the next word is typed. Once you get used to this, there’s no substitute.
4. Home screen icons - Deleting icons on the home screens seems as if it’s not possible, except for a select few. There’s no way I’ll need to use all the preinstalled applications, so not having the ability to streamline my searching for apps that I’ll use can be a real nuisance to the functionality of the phone. My advice to anyone creating systems, platforms, devices, etc., is to make it easy for the customers to use, download, configure, or buy your product.
5. Help the Help Section – In trying to figure out issue 1 listed above I went to the help section. This section was really slow at loading to the point where I thought it wasn’t working. The more surprising thing once loaded and I proceeded to search and tried returning to a previous page was that it hadn’t cached that previous page, thus experiencing the same slowness.

As a Canadian it pains me that this was not a positive experience. The device was glitchy and non-logical to use in addition to being large and bulky. It seems the moniker of crackberry will soon be replaced with crapberry. This is already begging to show through the dismal earnings they experienced in the latest quarter. I feel that unless they undergo major changes they will soon be on death watch.

Top 10 Travel Smart Phone Applications

Recently, having spent some significant time away from home while exploring parts of the world, I found the convenience of a smart phone loaded with applications to be paramount. I have created a list from those certain applications that I don't know how I would travel in a strange country without in the future. This list includes:

1. Google Maps, especially the download offline feature where you can continue to explore a city's streets whilst being disconnected from any data connection.
2. Google Translate is especially helpful when ordering food. Often being proficient in a language isn't enough for understanding local cuisine.
3. Skype phone calls have improved significantly since the last time I used them. As long as you have a data connection then this application is great for staying in touch with friends, family, or conducting meetings.
4. TripAdvisor for checking the ratings of hotels, restaurants, and attractions. It is quite accurate and user comments often have tidbits.
5. Hotels.com and booking.com for assisting you in getting the best prices on hotels, besides walking into them and offering cash for the room.
6. XE Currency calculator to understand the different currencies you may be dealing in. This application can store multiple currencies, is easy to use, and updates automatically when there is a data connection.
7. ITA on the Fly is the best free flight search engine to shop for the cheapest days and flight airfares for any itinerary in the world.
8. Built in applications which come standard on any smart phone such as calculator, weather, calendar, alarm clock, international clock, and camera will help you significantly.
9. Dropbox and Google Drive are great for reviewing either your itinerary, or PDF copies of tickets you maybe have registered.
10. A danger zone app that vibrates when in a yellow or even red danger zone area. This could be a life saving app after having scary encounters walking through certain streets on my trip. This is a fictitious application, however I could see the benefits if it were created. The only caveat is that you would need a data connection in order for the application to determine you current location.

Technology Evolution

Technology naturally progresses forward, always improving. There are instances though where significant leaps occur, such as the introduction of the combustion engine sparking the industrial revolution. More recent examples has been the personal computer followed by the internet and even more recent the birth of Google search capabilities. Since this time Google has remained a leader and an innovator, pushing boundaries and creating markets.

Some of the most recent and significant areas where Google is improving technology are in 3D imagery implemented into their mapping service, pushing the innovation and adoption of IPv6, treating Google search results as thoughts, and the introduction of Google Glass.

3D imagery

With the world's most popular digital mapping service, Google has recently included auto-generated three-dimensional images into their service visible in applications such as Google Earth. They are using military grade spy planes to take photos of major cities and communities and integrating them in a 3D manner using their new mesh technology. These 3D mesh buildings have now replaced user submitted 3D buildings from the Geo-modeler community and have a much greater level of detail.

This improvement will now allow for greater uniformity in order to compete with other platforms and fend off competitors such as Nokia maps and more specifically Apple, who has cancelled their contract with Google and started using similar technology towards their own mapping service.

With every technology that pushes the boundaries come certain challenges. In the case of 3D imagery it is the resistance from citizens and government. The new technology is so precise it can recognize an individual’s face from 10,000 feet up. As a result, Senator Schumer has called upon companies using this technology to make some concessions. They include notification of communities before they are mapped, blurring out individuals, letting property owners opt out of mapping, and blurring out sensitive infrastructure details.

IPv6

Just as phones use a system of phone numbers to place calls, every Internet-connected device gets assigned a unique number known as an "IP address". With the proliferation of Internet connected devices the current architecture built on IPv4 (32 bit) has now run out of IP address space.

We have been using workarounds such as special hardware like Network address translation (NAT) devices and accompanying software to extend our ability to use IPv4 and accommodate the decreasing availability of IP addresses. This however has not been ideal as there is a large layer of complexity for the network engineers and the data packets to accommodate for in reaching their destinations.

Google is encouraging adoption the IPv4 sequel through an Internet Society event called the World IPv6 Launch. IPv6 was standardized in 1996 and allows for a lot more IP address space (128 bit). Last month IPv6 was turned however it remains able to work in parallel with IPv4. Vint Cerf, the current Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, and considered as a founding father of the Internet, discussed the next version of the Internet, IPv6, and why we need it.

“World IPv6 Launch marks a watershed moment in Internet history. It breaks the limits of the original address space to open a vast new territory, trillions upon trillions of times larger, and reinforces the end-to-end architecture that made the Internet so powerful at the beginning. Google strongly supports this upgrade. We’re happy to see that everyone is moving to the 21st-century Internet!”

This new capability allows for an 'internet of things', a term coined by Vint, would include appliances, devices, and even light bulbs to the internet world.

Knowledge Graph

You may have noticed recently when doing a Google search that a panel on the right hand side now displays next to the search results. This is referred to them as a Google Knowledge graph.

The Panel results are a composition of collecting information on objects in the real world and forming connections between them with combining information that others find useful from previous positive search results.

These are the first enhancements towards moving from an information engine to a knowledge engine. The results presented will more and more resemble human thoughts as Google will continue to grow the graph and make it richer.

With so much information out there and with so many queries used towards understanding this information Google will better understand the user queries and understand what information is out there on the web. Through time they will connect these queries with the understanding of the information in an intellectual comprehensible manner.

Google Glass

Project Glass is a research and development program by Google. It is focused on the development of an augmented reality head-mounted display that is hands free allowing for displaying of information currently available to most Smartphone users, and allowing for interaction with the Internet via natural language voice commands.

Although head-worn displays for augmented reality is not a new concept, this is backed by Google, running on an Android OS and using their voice search technologies. The first Project Glass demo resembles a pair of normal eyeglasses where the lens is replaced by a heads-up display. In the future, new designs may allow integration of the display into people's normal eye wear or even their contact lenses.

Summary

Google may seem like they are at the forefront of many of the latest internet-based evolutionary technologies, but we can see that this is because these technologies are complementary and reliant on each other.

IPv6 will allow for better ability towards pushing their ever increasing bandwidth intensive service, such as 3D maps, introduction of Google Glass device, and the more elaborate search results. The connection between 3D maps and Google Glass are obvious in that they enhance each other's experiences; Google Earth having more up-to-date imagery submitted via Google Glass while Google Glass viewers having access Street View in a 3D manner due to their 3d mesh technology. People will be conducting searches more frequently and in new manners with the new Google Glass device. They will be submitting voice searches and express their searches as thoughts that will include images and sounds. The results will be these knowledge graphs that are more graphical and more intuitive to those using this device.

There is a symbiotic relationship between all these innovations that drive the others, in which Google seems to be on an upward spiral heading to the future ensuring their place as a leader and an innovator, pushing boundaries and creating markets.

Google Alphabet

For fun I created an alphabet with companies, organization, applications and activities relating to Google. I have attached an image with all the associated logos. Included are:

• Android
• Blogger
• Chrome
• DoubleClick
• Earth
• FeedBurner
• Goggles
• Hotpot
• Internet
• Jaiku
• Knol
• Latitude
• Maps
• News
• Orkut
• Picasa
• Quick Search Box
• reCAPTCHA
• Sites
• Translate
• URL shortener
• Ventures
• Wallet
• X-prize
• YouTube
• Zagat

Call for a New U.S. Privacy Czar

America now has a new level in the hierarchy structure within the US government. The position is that of 'czars' which hawks to the old days of having emperors, except they now are emperors of industrial sectors reporting to the king, err I mean president. Granted the czar title isn't official, but that used by media in reference to executive branches having been President appointed without Senate confirmation.

We have never had as many czars in the US as today that control every aspect of the government, currently 38, with most being appointed by the President. There are 4 new czar positions, which include:

• Climate czar, energy czar, global warming czar - Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
• Security czar, cyber czar - Director of the White House Office of Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Coordinator
• Information czar, infotech czar - Chief Information Officer at the White House
• Stimulus accountability, stimulus oversight - Chairman, Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board

Whether or not this is a constitutionally accepted position is an argument I'll save for another day. In particular though, I wanted to bring attention to the US 'cybersecurity coordinator' position, or the more used euphemism of Information Security Czar. The issue of information security has been on the agenda of the new administration, which now they believe has direction with the appointing of Howard Schmidt for the role.

The position had been turned down by many individuals for valid reasons. One of the main sticking points by those considered is that there is no budgetary authority therefore requiring the role to have a great deal of politicking if agenda items were to be put into action. It is believed that this position won't have the clout to force government agencies to make changes and adhere to policies.

It is interesting to note, from Mr. Schmidt's acceptance speech, which he and the administration deems as five key areas to be addressed. They are:

• Developing a new comprehensive strategy to secure American networks
• Ensuring an organized unified response to future cyber incidents
• Strengthening public/private partnerships here at home and international partnerships with allies and partners
• Promoting research and development of the next generation of technologies
• Leading a national campaign to promote cybersecurity awareness and education

I believe for the most part that these are good goals on the surface. My chief concern is that security mustn’t overlook privacy when it comes to the citizens. If we were to have czars, then you would have to include the new position of a privacy czar to offset some of the other newly created czar positions. We can only wait and see what these new roles will become and how much power they will sway.

It is cheaper to save than produce new energy

I've been noticing in the past few months that Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, has been going around giving speeches and presenting his thoughts on the Environment. It's kind of interesting how a primarily software focused company has dealt with energy issues. But operating a company of its size, they are affected and can make headway in addressing issues.

If you are interested in what their initiatives, please visit www.google.com/energyplan

There are key concepts to take away from his speeches. The main one being that it is cheaper to save than produce new energy. And so the analogy of spending money to make money has changed to spending money to save money. This is an interesting idea in which I believe the thought process of individuals has to adjust accordingly.

The only nota bene I would include is; how long will it last whereby it will be cheaper to save than produce energy? With all the deleveraging occurring in the current markets, we see oil prices being reduced to the mid-fifties a barrel. These prices may not sustain these new energy initiatives.