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Comment by selmnoo | Hacker News Reader

It is strange that I think this isn't a big deal.

At least, relatively speaking, this is peanuts. I mean, really think about what's being collected: <To help build a more personal Twitter experience for you, we are collecting and occasionally updating the list of apps installed on your mobile device>. That's it.

Now, think about the data Facebook has on you. Right. This is a joke in comparison to the wealth of data Facebook has on you. If you're going to express outrage over this, at least dish it out in appropriate amounts to appropriate parties.

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Speak for yourself.

I go to considerable lengths to minimise the data FB has on me. No pictures, minimal interaction on FB (I switch to email to respond to people), no school, employer or detailed location past or present. FB app isn't installed on my phone and I only ever use my secondary browser on the desktop (which I regard as the no-privacy land). FB platform is disabled so I never do FB login with anything.

FB would find more about me from scraping the public web than what I have given them although they may have gained more from ad tracking and correlating behaviour from my IP address.

Based on your friends list and their data they can figure out tons of that stuff without you putting it on there. You probably don't even need to login for them to create a detailed dossier on you if you have connected with enough other people from various contexts.

I know the contacts list gives them a lot on its own but I at least try to make it hard for them.

I know this sort of ridiculous because they are on FB and I don't mind them requesting me but I don't make friend requests on FB because it feels like I am leaking information about them to FB. It is illogical I know but it feels like it would be wrong for me to do it because I understand the information that a friend request reveals but that it is OK for them to do as they don't understand.

I asked for the data that they have on me once but they only give you the information you have entered not all their analysis and tracking data (they must at least do ad tracking) and they certainly track devices you have connected with. I complained to the Irish data protection agency (who have responsibility for FB in Europe) but only got a form response. I should chase again.

You can bet they are create dossiers on non-Facebook users, just like Google is probably creating dossiers on the people who send emails to Gmail users.

It's a big deal. Say you use a specialized app to track your treatment for some medical condition. By analyzing the presence of that app on your device, a 3rd party can now presume that you suffer from that medical condition, and sell that knowledge to anyone willing to pay for that information.

Pol Pot wasn't such a bad guy because he only killed 1 million people, Mao Zedong killed 70 million!

I willingly give Facebook data because I get value from it in return. Twitter is doing something that I purchased an iPhone over an Android device to explicitly prevent from happening.

Forget Twitter. This hole needs to be plugged. As an app developer, I may now be able to identify where you bank. Step 1 to an effective phishing attempt.

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