[kictanet] Invitation to an in-person conversation with Facebook

24 Apr 2018

      Dear Listers

Greetings!

Further to the debate on concerns raised around consumer data mining
in Kenya, Ebele of Facebook promised Listers that she would be
available for an in-person conversation on the issues raised around
facebook's role.  

This is to let you know that she will be available to meet with
Listers on Wednesday next week May 2nd. We are still working out the
details of the venue and will share with those who are interested in
attending. Further, we are working on the times but will most likely
settle for an afternoon session or a cocktail event. 

For those who are interested, kindly indicate this through sending an
email to lizorembo@kictanet.or.ke (lizorembo@gmail.com) or to
mwaragichanga@kictanet.or.ke (mwaragichanga@gmail.com).

Asanteni.

Best regards

Githaiga, Grace

On Tuesday, 10-04-2018 at 13:18 Ebele Okobi via kictanet wrote:

It really is unfortunate that Business Daily has printed an article
filled with so many factually incorrect statements, and I am surprised
that they have declined to reach out to me or any of my colleagues
when we are so very easy to find.

We do not require or ask access point vendors to modify firmware to
support 'black box' monitoring of consumers. The normal tech in WiFi
routers does not support zero-rated services, so Express WiFi tech was
developed to support free access and data pack accounting.

I think it might be helpful to have an in-person conversation about
all of this-another ask me anything, this month? I’ll work with
Grace to schedule, if it’s of interest.

Ebele Okobi | Public Policy Director, Africa

m. +44 (0) 771 156 1315 [1]

10 Brock Street | London [2] | NW1 3FG

ebeleokobi@fb.com

On Apr 10, 2018, at 9:29 AM, Lawrence Njogu  wrote:

 Ebele,
Can you explain clearly what's going on here?
https://mobile.nation.co.ke/business/Facebook-deepens-consumer-data-mining-i...

-------------------------
 From: kictanet  on behalf of Ebele Okobi via kictanet 
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2018 5:05:13 PM
To: lnjogu@hotmail.com
Cc: Ebele Okobi
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The case for and against #deletefacebook  

So now that you know how our business works, are you still struggling
to believe that data is not sold? We do not sell data, we sell
advertising. And we have not been accused of selling data in this
case. In this case, an academic used data that Facebook users directly
gave him access to, and passed it on to Cambridge Analytica, against
our rules. We did not sell anyone anything, the data was passed from
the users to the app developer/academic by the user granting
permission. That said-we changed the ability of developers to have
that kind of access by 2015, and as you can see, we have designed and
implemented a whole host of privacy controls since then. 

In terms of believing whether your data is secure-given the number of
Facebook users, and the amount of data we hold, and looking at the
multiple global issues related to data-we, in truth, have first in
class mechanisms for protecting user data, and we consistently learn
and iterate from our mistakes. That said-as Mark said, we recognize
that trust is built by actions, and once lost it must be built back
up. Only you can decide what makes sense for you when you use (or
decide not to use) Facebook or any of the thousands of websites,
platforms, apps, services with which you undoubtedly interact every
day. 

On Mar 28, 2018, at 9:43 PM, Tracy Kadesa via kictanet  wrote:

  @Kivuva yes, your answer does explain well! 

@Ebele  "Which part are you struggling to believe? That it is
securely stored or that it is not sold? "

                Answer: Both

                    Regards

Tracy Kadesa,

LL.B ,University of Nairobi.

 Dip KSL

tracykadesa.wordpress.com [3]
legalwalk.wordpress.com [4]

On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 10:24 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet  wrote:

 Tracy, I'm not holding brief for FB, but I understand your question. 

The main business model for FB is advertisement. If you have ever
advertised on the platform, you would understand the need to build
profiles. So for example, if you are selling ladies handbags, and
diapers, you would tell FB to show the bags to [ladies], in [Kenya],
aged between [21 to 50]. If you cannot deliver to Turkana, you can
say, [living in Nairobi, or Mombasa]. For the diapers, you would tell
FB to show the advertisement to [ladies] between [22 and 40] living in
suburban areas. This is the same for Google too.

In my FB profile, I never see these types of adverts because FB
already has a profile about me, but the ladies within my household see
these adverts.

Since you are probably billed per view, or per click, it is more value
for the advertiser to TARGET the advertisement to the right audience,
otherwise you will loose your advertising capital showing irrelevant
advertisement to those in Turkana.

I hope this helps. 

On Mar 28, 2018 8:03 PM, "Tracy Kadesa"  wrote:

 Dear Ebele 

With what's going on right now, I am struggling to believe this
statement  "Your information is securely stored and we do not sell
this information to third parties. You are always in control of the
information you share with Facebook." And why would fb collect all
this info anyway if it wasn't planning to make use of it! what is the
rationale?

                    Regards

Tracy Kadesa,

LL.B ,University of Nairobi.

 Dip KSL

tracykadesa.wordpress.com [3]
legalwalk.wordpress.com [4]

 On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 6:46 PM, Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet  wrote:

  As Ali has put it before, it's really refreshing seeing that we can
get first level support, and feedback from Facebook. This really is
the advantage of having an ecosystem of engagement which KICTANET
provides. It's refreshing bigly :-)

   On Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 6:06 PM Ebele Okobi via kictanet  wrote:

   Yes-those have been in the works for months, to be launched this
week. The news has understandably overshadowed these announcements.
That said-stay tuned for more details.

On Mar 28, 2018, at 3:59 PM, Ngigi Waithaka  wrote:

  Just seen this as well... 

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-03-28/facebook-updates-priv...
[5] 

Rgds

 On Wed, 28 Mar 2018, 12:31 Ngigi Waithaka,  wrote:

   Ebele,

If that's the case, then I guess what they do is get a 'screenshot' of
your photo and maybe *overlay* it on your newsfeed / timeline. The
*impression* it gives you is that the photo is already uploaded...

Thanks...

On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 12:18 PM, Ebele Okobi   wrote:

Clarification-your photos are not auto-uploaded to Facebook. The app
has access to your photos and essentially shows you your own photo
folder and asks if you want to upload. Your pictures do not get
uploaded to Facebook until you upload them yourself. 
I do think it’s a good piece of feedback for our product teams to
know that a) this feature is confusing to you, and b) that showing
users their photos and asking if they want to upload can be
off-putting/not a good experience.

Best, 
 Ebele   

On Mar 28, 2018, at 10:11 AM, Ngigi Waithaka  wrote:

     Ebele,

Thanks for your update, I will check on the contacts settings as you
have indicated.

I still think though some of the choices we make are not very
*clearly* spelt out when we make them. For instance, I can understand
the need to sync my contacts, but *not* my call & sms history! And
this is especially so for those of use (most of us?) who use our
phones for both personal & official business.

My recommendation, have at least three settings clearly indicating
what you would use them for, if at all!

1. Sync contacts 

2. Sync Call records (***)

3. Sync SMS & Messages (***)

As regards the photos this is what happen(s) / happened. Normally I
would not give FB access to my photos.However, at some point I needed
to upload a certain specific photo on to some FB markets that I
participate in.

Shortly as I was still in the market and as I was scrolling though my
newsfeed I started seeing a number of family photos that I had taken
earlier, already uploaded but kind of greyed out, with FB asking me
whether I wanted to share them.

That is very disconcerting!

Again, if a user gives access to his photo library for a *single*
photo, that should not mean *all* my photos are auto-uploaded to FB,
then FB prompts me to share them...

My recommendation would be to have at least two settings:

1. Upload a single photo

2. Auto- Upload *ALL* my photos

And, I don't consider myself a *pro* FB user, it may very well be that
indeed this is already covered so thanks for being our
'customer-care', appreciate :-)

Regards

On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 11:39 AM, Ebele Okobi   wrote:

Hello!

Answers below-for your first question, it’s VERY important to
clarify that Facebook does not “pick up” your contacts. You have
to expressly agree to upload your contacts. For example, I have never
agreed to this, so my contacts have never been uploaded. If you change
your mind about the permission you have given, or if you accidentally
gave permission, please see below for how to opt back out. Note that
this feature is “opt-in”, so express agreement is required for it
to be happening. 

That is the same for the photographs, so can you please clarify your
question? Are you saying that you granted permission for specific
photos to be posted on your page, and now you want to delete them?
Facebook does not automatically upload any photographs to your page.

	*  Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for
people using Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android. This helps you
find and stay connected with the people you care about, and provides
you with a better experience across Facebook. People have to expressly
agree to use this feature. If, at any time, they no longer wish to use
this feature they can turn it off in settings [6], or here [7] for
Facebook Lite users, and all previously shared call and text history
shared via that app is deleted. While we receive certain permissions
from Android, uploading this information has always been opt-in only.

From:  Ngigi Waithaka 
Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 5:37 PM
To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions 
Cc: Ebele Okobi 
Subject: Re: [kictanet] The case for and against #deletefacebook

Ebele, 

Good to see FB represented here.

Got two questions:

1. Supposing FB has picked up my contacts and SMS and I would like to
delete any prior data that has been uploaded, how would I go about
that?

2. I also noticed that when I allow FB contacts to my PhotoGallery on
Android for purposes of being able to select pictures to upload, by
default, it then would upload *all* new pictures taken and ask me
whether I'd like to share them on my timeline.

Is there a way to also delete any such content that FB has picked from
my phone and auto-uploaded?

Rgds

On Tue, 27 Mar 2018, 19:30 Ebele Okobi via kictanet,  wrote:

This is useful context, below. Please do let me know if there are
additional questions or concerns. I do appreciate how significant an
issue this is, and am happy to answer questions and relay concerns
internally. 

https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/fact-check-your-call-and-sms-history/

 March 25, 2018

 FACT CHECK: YOUR CALL AND SMS HISTORY

 You may have seen some recent reports that Facebook has been logging
people’s call and SMS (text) history without their permission.

 This is not the case.

 OPT-IN FEATURES IN FACEBOOK LITE AND MESSENGER

Call and text history logging is part of an opt-in feature for people
using Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android. This helps you find and
stay connected with the people you care about, and provides you with a
better experience across Facebook. People have to expressly agree to
use this feature. If, at any time, they no longer wish to use this
feature they can turn it off in settings [6], or here [7] for
Facebook Lite users, and all previously shared call and text history
shared via that app is deleted. While we receive certain permissions
from Android, uploading this information has always been opt-in only.

 We introduced this feature for Android users a couple of years ago.
Contact importers are fairly common among social apps and services as
a way to more easily find the people you want to connect with. This
was first introduced in Messenger in 2015, and later offered as an
option in Facebook Lite, a lightweight version of Facebook for
Android.

 HOW IT WORKS

When you sign up for Messenger or Facebook Lite on Android, or log
into Messenger on an Android device, you are given the option to
continuously upload your contacts as well as your call and text
history. For Messenger, you can either turn it on, choose ‘learn
more’ or ‘not now’. On Facebook Lite, the options are to turn it
on or ‘skip’. If you chose to turn this feature on, we will begin
to continuously log this information, which can be downloaded at any
time using the Download Your Information tool [8].

 Image removed by sender.

If, at any point, you no longer wish to continuously upload this
information, you can easily turn this feature off in your settings
[6]. You can also turn off continuous call and text history logging
while keeping contact uploading enabled. You can also go to this page
[9] to see which contacts you have uploaded from Messenger, and you
can delete all contact information you’ve uploaded from that app
should you choose.

 WE NEVER SELL THIS DATA, AND THIS FEATURE DOES NOT COLLECT THE
CONTENT OF YOUR TEXT MESSAGES OR CALLS

 When this feature is enabled, uploading your contacts also allows us
to use information like when a call or text was made or received. This
feature does not collect the content of your calls or text messages.
Your information is securely stored and we do not sell this
information to third parties. You are always in control of the
information you share with Facebook.

On Mar 27, 2018, at 3:29 PM, WANGARI KABIRU via kictanet  wrote:

Facebook harvested phone call and text data from Android users [10]

 FACEBOOK HARVESTED PHONE CALL AND TEXT DATA FROM ANDROID USERS

 Brandon A. Weber

 Have an Android phone or device? You might want to read this.

BIGTHINK might have thoughts similar to your said friend. 

Facebook scraped call, text message data for years from Android phones
[Updated] [11]

 FACEBOOK SCRAPED CALL, TEXT MESSAGE DATA FOR YEARS FROM ANDROID
PHONES [...

 Maybe check your data archive to see if Facebook’s algorithms know
who you called.

Factual or otherwise? Ars Technica makes reference to an FB rejoiner.

It should not be lost that even the most basic loyalty card is for
decision making to serve you the customer better - data by the issuer.

Be blessed.

Regards/Wangari

---
Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are
Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The
Kingdom of God on Earth".

On Monday, 26 March 2018, 08:52:17 GMT+3, Timothy- Coach- Oriedo via
kictanet  wrote: 

See my views from a data science, business model and regulatory
perspective  

Data Breach? What Breach- A Watershed Moment
https://www.linkedin.com/ pulse/data-breach-what-breach-
watershed-moment-big-data- scientist [12]

Coach Timothy Oriedo

Error! Filename not specified.timothyoriedo.coach [13]

Image removed by sender.

On Mon, Mar 26, 2018 at 8:24 AM, Ngigi Waithaka via kictanet  wrote:

Ali,

Facebook was built for and is meant for *sharing*! With time, I have
seen FB make us want to share more and more, recommend to us 'friends'
at every turn and inevitably there will be a clash between the sharing
and our privacy!

Also, there was a time our Newsfeeds were very clean, you'd actually
get to know what your friends were upto, but I do find its now looking
unrecognizable; its become this very noisy marketplace! Or maybe I am
gettitng old :-)

Privacy unfortunately plays 2nd fiddle to sharing. For me, the straw
that broke the proverbial camels back is seeing photos that I had
taken on my phone already auto-uploaded and semi-shared in my
timeline, and with an absent minded click, I would have shared all on
the my timeline!

I got the app off my phone immediately, but kept the web desktop as I
do continue to use it once in a while.

I have also seen that FB has been collecting all our Phone records,
calls + SMS as written about on Verge...
https://www.theverge.com/2018/ 3/25/17160944/facebook-call-
history-sms-data-collection- android [14]

So, I guess if you're still using FB on Android, you gotta be
'strong'!

P.S

Does FB and other Apps synchronize their data policies with those of
the users home country?

Regards

On Mon, Mar 26, 2018 at 6:04 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet  wrote:

Listers

Hope you all had a great weekend. Here’s an interesting article on
the ongoing Facebook fallout.

Excerpt:-

I spent the evening with a friend who is far bolder than me. Having
deactivated his Facebook [15] profile three years ago, he upped the
ante this week by deleting his Instagram account. Even more
drastically, he plans officially to _delete_ his long-dormant
Facebook account—the last vestige of his serfhood in Mr.
Zuckerberg’s fiefdom—sometime very soon, after his girlfriend has
had an opportunity to port its photos elsewhere. (He prefers offline
storage.)

Read on:-

https://view.email.fortune.com /?qs=55840ef3733ec70e7bbf70681
a1fdf4ef688af63cc3bc7eef1a6466 871482204b1da0994a47ddc4eb36e5
5eca2c6a6c64c45c7cb49127419dc5 77951543699845cefb5000f8f8cbb [16]

Regards 

Ali Hussein

Principal

Hussein & Associates

+254 0713 601113 

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.c om/in/alihkassim [17]

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act
but a habit."  ~ Aristotle

Sent from my iPad

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