April 10, 2018

"Lindsey Graham waved around a thick document he represented as Facebook's Terms of Agreement and asked whether Zuckerberg thought every subscriber actually read it."

"I wish Zuckerberg would have responded by asking Lindsey if he read the entire tax cut bill before he voted for it."

Top-rated comment at "Zuckerberg details 'greatest regrets' as Congress grills the Facebook CEO" (WaPo).

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48 comments:

mikee said...

Mr. Z sells people's freely-provided personal info to any and every buyer.
Sometimes he gives it away free, to Democrats.
Facebook is a business based on selling your personal data to others.
If your use of the platform makes that worthwhile for you, enjoy.
Otherwise, turn off your computer and don't use Android Messenger and maybe stay away from most computers althogether.

Snark said...

LOL at the Turing Test.

D 2 said...

We have to pass the EULA in order to find out whats in it.

Snark said...

As somebody who has four Google Home devices and three Amazon Echo devices in a 900 square foot house in which one person currently lives, I hereby recuse myself from discussion about privacy or any other topic requiring a completely sane attitude towards technology.

Birkel said...

Lindsay Grahamnesty is a sham of a travesty.

mockturtle said...
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Mike Sylwester said...

The Democrats have been focusing their angry attention on Russia's spending tens of thousands of dollars on Facebook and Twitter advertisements, but meanwhile Russia might be spending tens of thousands of dollars on MySpace advertisements now without being noticed.

bolivar di griz said...

Voight kampf but it could be a false positive

mockturtle said...

From what I've seen, Adams is right. But that's pretty much what I expected. Zuckerberg is trying really hard to act humble and contain his natural arrogance but it leaks from every pore.

Mike Sylwester said...

Why is Lindsey Graham making a public ass of himself?

n.n said...

Is Graham the end-user? Maybe. The correct analogy is whether the taxpayers read the bill before it was passed. Probably not. DC likes monolithic Obamacare-style bills that evade scrutiny and comprehension.

mccullough said...

Zuckerburg is a pussy. He deserves what’s coming. Start shorting Facebook. Zuckerburg is going to resign because that’s what pussies do.

CWJ said...

"As somebody who has four Google Home devices and three Amazon Echo devices in a 900 square foot house in which one person currently lives, I hereby recuse myself from discussion about privacy or any other topic requiring a completely sane attitude towards technology."

And yet you use an alias.

Rob said...

Hearing Ted Cruz's questions ought to give pause to those Democrats who want the Government to regulate Facebook. The camel's nose under the tent may start sniffing for ideological bias (though the First Amendment may limit what the nose may sniff).

Watching the senators pile on to the issue du jour is entertaining as blood sport but alarming as civics. Remember issues du jour of days past, like the insane concern over Satanic rituals by preschool operators.

mockturtle said...

Why is Lindsey Graham making a public ass of himself?

He has no choice, Mike. He IS an ass.

mccullough said...

Let’s air drop Graham and McCain into Syria so they can go fight for freedom.

rehajm said...

Ed Markey- “Let’s make more laws!”

Jim at said...

?Why is Lindsey Graham making a public ass of himself?

To ask the question is to answer it.

Bay Area Guy said...

I see no need to defend Zuckerberg, because he is, essentially, a nerdy, unathletic, computer geek, who made it big.

However.

If you spend hours posting all sorts of personal stuff on Facebook, surprise, surprise, you do understand that computer analytical geeks are organizing and reviewing your shit to see how they can target you to sell all sorts of more shit to you, doncha?

Static Ping said...

The Turing Test crack is gold.

Snark said...

"And yet you use an alias."

Huh? No! My mother Snide would be totally insulted.

Mark said...

Lindsey Graham, who in 2015 claimed to have never sent an email.

Old fogeys should not be regulating the technology they do not use.

David Begley said...

Facebook stock up big today. Mr. Market likes the testimony.

Etienne said...
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Etienne said...
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madAsHell said...

As somebody who has four Google Home devices and three Amazon Echo devices in a 900 square foot house in which one person currently lives

I'm so old I remember when people were afraid of having a listening device in their house.

n.n said...

Information posted publicly is an implicit consent to a tap and harvest, and partisan liens. The future is personal servers (a la Water Closet), which are wholly regulated by the end-user.

Paul Zrimsek said...
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victoria said...

Yes, Scott Adams should recognize Zuckerberg failing the Turing test because he does, all the time.

No one, even attorneys, don't read all the information. Anyone who posts all of their personal information on any social media site is an idiot and gets what they deserve. The Republicans need a whipping dog, so they are using Zuckerberg as their whipping dog.

Vicki from Pasadena

Anonymous said...

Ed Markey is as worthless as Ted was.

William said...

I saw a fair chunk of Z's testimony. He sounded earnest and sincere and totally bland. I don't know how much of that was coached, but he definitely doesn't appear to be a Bond villain. The Facebook stock is way up so he did something right......I read the Chernow biography of John D. Rockefeller. John D. was not only the richest man alive, but the richest man who will ever live. Like all wealthy men, he attracted a lot of negative attention. John D. didn't give a shit. He felt insulated from public opinion. He had a full golf course on one of his estates....... The negative publicity took its toll though. He was universally and enduringly regarded as a skinflint who routinely engaged in predatory business practices. The legislators came after him, and he was made to break up Standard Oil.......Much of Rockefeller's private life was above reproach. He went to church every Sunday, never cheated on his wife, and endowed many colleges and institutions, including the Rockefeller Institute which cured or eradicated several major diseases. Didn't matter. He was reviled and demonized. Mr. Burns in The Simpsons is his legacy......After the example of Rockefeller, all these billionaires have fell in line. They mouth the right platitudes and take the trouble to appear humble and respectful before the public.

Gojuplyr831@gmail.com said...

The Rockefeller Institute also funded Mengele's research on race before he went to Auschwitz.

Qwinn said...

Usually when I see those Twitchy "X ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED Y" links, I roll my eyes a bit. It's usually a semi-decent gotcha but rarely is Y actually "destroyed".

Not today. Ted Cruz pretty much did destroy Zuckerberg. That was brutal, in a very good way.

And, people buying Facebook stock right now are idiots. Zuckerberg just opened Facebook up to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of lawsuits with 8 little words:

"I agree that we're responsible for the content."

I'll be surprised if the company survives that statement.

MadisonMan said...

The Rockefeller Institute also funded Mengele's research on race before he went to Auschwitz.

Not quite the way to write it. Mengele worked in a lab -- von Verschuer's -- that received funding.

(Disclaimer: a relative whom I never met worked for the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1920s and 1930s)

Gk1 said...

Oof, you weren't kidding. Cruz beat Zuck like a rented mule. Looks like Ted has some great t.v campaign spots to use this fall. Zuckerburg is a puss, he will resign like all the other gormless technolibs out in silly valley.

walter said...

"It’s not enough to just connect people, we have to make sure those connections are positive."

Oh..there's clear criteria. Like clamping down on two black women for wrong-think.

David said...

It's not Zuckerberg. Lt. Data is giving the testimony.

reader said...

Once upon a time, when we had a house phone, I would get calls from the police, fireman, and veterans for donations. I always gave. Then, after a few years I started getting calls from different organizations that I had no contact with. Someone had sold my name and phone number. Upon that realization when I got my next round of calls from the police, fireman, and veterans I declined to give and I told them why.

If they think they can make money off of your information they will make every effort to do so.

MayBee said...

Zuckerberg did well yesterday.

My favorite was Markey, trying to get Zuckerberg to say "yes or no" about whether he supported a bill to protect users and children. When Zuck said it depended on the details of the bill, Markey basically said "Assume it's a well written bill. DO you support it? Yes or no". Hilarious

I also have been amused by the observation someone here had, the Ms Lean In has been leaning out of this one.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

"Assume it's a well written bill. "

LOLOLOL

SF said...

I dunno, I think Nick Gillespie's theory this is a power-play by Facebook seems disturbingly plausible. If Facebook has grown about as big as it reasonably can, then a logical next move is to get the government to pass a bunch of regulations on social media -- things that might be a nuisance for Facebook directly, but will seriously hamstring any potential new competitors which might crop up.

MayBee said...

SF- A Senator brought that up yesterday. That big businesses like regulations when it hurts the competition more.

Jim at said...

The Republicans need a whipping dog, so they are using Zuckerberg as their whipping dog.

You're not very bright.

It's the Democrats who are mad at Zuck for allowing the 'wrong' person to win via Cambridge Analytica. Not the Republicans.

mikee said...

1. No mention of free data mining to Obama's campaign.
2. Not under oath.

Conclusion: Kabuki is amusing but meaningless other than as entertainment.

LilyBart said...


Ann seems decidedly pro-Zuck.

For myself, I think his private company can discriminate as it wishes, but its a mystery to me why anyone would continue use it. It always struck me as an inferior platform, and for this reason, I've never signed up for an account. And now that we know more about this company (their data selling habits / their discriminatory practices), I'd think the wiser people would walk away from it.

LilyBart said...
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LilyBart said...


Senator Kennedy (LA) was my favorite questioner.

JAORE said...

Zuck might be wise to sell off a few million shares while the price is up.