Gadgetory

alright I think it's time we take a bitter red pill and talk about that the essence of this story is not about your loss of privacy you lost your privacy years ago and it's not coming back anytime soon what this is really about is control that's right I'm talking about matrix level control so come with me down the rabbit hole and try and get to at least a little bit closer to the truth okay first the facts back in 2015 a professor named Alexander Cogan was working with a company called global science research using his credentials as a professor and researcher Kogan created and promoted what was then referred to as a personality quiz application on face book admitted many of you took that test well what those two hundred and seventy thousand people likely didn't know was that by agreeing to take the quiz which was delivered by a Facebook app they were inadvertently giving Kogan and global science research access to not only their own user data but also to all their Facebook friends data GSR didn't obtain any passwords or other login credentials but the company now had mountains of data on millions and millions of Facebook users but hold on because it goes deeper Kogan then gave that data to a company called Cambridge analytical if that company's name rings any bells it should the upstart voting profiling company had a huge hand in President Donald Trump being elected in 2016 now when Zuck found out about this data transfer he not only canceled all the Facebook accounts of those individuals and organizations involved but he also demanded that the data be deleted it should have ended there but it didn't meet Christopher Wiley a Cambridge analytic whistleblower and he told the New York Times that the GSR data had never been deleted and that Cambridge analytic I was still using the data for its social media influencing businesses now it should be said here that there was no data breach like we've seen in the past Cogan didn't violate any laws or Facebook policies by creating the app and collecting that data he did violate Facebook's Terms of Service when he transferred that data to Cambridge analytics all right so you may be thinking Jase great that just means we need stiffer more comprehensive laws surrounding how companies collect and use personal data and then the problem solved right because with enough time and resources it is just too easy to access digital data no amount of legislation is going to prevent that to prove that you just have to look at how recently countries like China and Russia have nefariously access peoples user data and use that for their own political purposes so what is the solution you know the answer to that question I don't know I don't have all the answers but I do know this the vast majority of you living in industrialized countries live in a real-world matrix and you don't even know it you see in 2018 the powers that be are not just using this data to create better ads cater to you and sell you more stuff no they're actually manipulating the conversation to effect what you think that's where control comes in we know from what's happened the last 18 months that organizations governments and entities want to use social media and data to manipulate things like election results what you think about climate change a whole number of issues that they have interests in and it only works when you and I fuel the matrix it is of course a way of those things you see when you dump a disproportionate amount of time online into debating or arguing pro-life versus pro-choice pro-gun versus anti-gun climate change versus climate hoax social justice warriors versus the alt-right whatever the issue is you fuel the engine that runs these platforms and those who want to control the data from those platforms what you don't do is produce substantive change it's just very similar to 3540 years ago when big advertisers wanted young people like me to watch four to five hours a day of television because that's how they made their money so they made that really really addictive just like social media today my friends you are part of the matrix and you don't know it you fuel the engine that makes you a slave to this now I'm not saying that these issues are not really important and merit meaningful discussion I am saying that social media does not facilitate meaningful discussion I know I've been creating content for many years now this can either be a tool or it can be a ball and chain it depends on how you use it if you want real change if you care about an issue that you like to debate and fight about online I suggest that you go out and do stuff make your life better make someone else's life better you'll be far happier and you won't be a slave to the matrix now if you want to get serious about branding yourself online our sponsor domain.com is over 300 domain name extension to fit your needs from ComTech club two dots pace and the guys of domain calm love the Android Authority audience so much they're showing their love by giving you 15% off an already really good price for domain names web hosting or email use our coupon code Android at domain.com check out when you think domain names think domain.com you know I really do want to hear what you guys think about this I am looking for meaningful discussion in the comments below or on Twitter right there I gotta tell you this took a long time to shoot I did many many takes because I want to get past the multiple layers of smoke and mirrors I don't have a monopoly on the truth I don't even really know what the truth is but I'm trying to dig past all the nonsense and get there and to do that you have to think deeply about these things and not just read the article or hear a guy in a video and take it all at face value look deeper and let's talk about it