Kosinski and his team continued, tirelessly refining their models. In 2012, Kosinski demonstrated that from a mere 68 Facebook likes, a lot about a user could be reliably predicted: skin color (95% certainty), sexual orientation (88% certainty), Democrat or Republican (85%). But there’s more: level of intellect; religious affiliation; alcohol-, cigarette-, and drug use could all be calculated. Even whether or not your parents stayed together until you were 21 could be teased out of the data. (…)
The process is identical to the models that Michal Kosinski developed. Cambridge Analytica also uses IQ-Quiz and other small Ocean test apps in order to gain access to the powerful predictive personal information wrapped up in the Facebook likes of users. And Cambridge Analytica is doing precisely what Kosinski had warned about. They have assembled psychograms for all adult US citizens, 220 million people, and have used this data to influence electoral outcomes.
Antidote Zine: Trump Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself »
Update, another piece, at Motherboard: The Data That Turned the World Upside Down »
This seriously pisses me off. Not the facts that it’s possible and probably being done – or, it does, but I’m used to it as I’ve known that for many years. But that people don’t believe me or care when I tell them! I’ve been saying this to family, friends and acquaintances for at least five years, probably closer to ten, and they all go “I have nothing to hide”, “I don’t write that much about myself”, or the most common “I’m not that interesting”. The fact that no one listens to us who know, affects us all. Nothing is being done about it, and people are unwittingly sharing information about us too – and more private means of communication, payment and other services are being discontinued every day. Sorry for the expression, but F-CKING IDIOTS!