Amid controversies, Facebook trumpets massive new supercomputer

Facebook's parent company Meta announced on Monday it was launching one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to boost its capacity to process data, despite persistent disputes over privacy and disinformation.

The US tech giant said the array of machines could process images and video up to 20 times faster than their current systems.

The supercomputer, built from thousands of processors, will be used to "seamlessly analyze text, images, and video together; develop new augmented reality tools; and much more", the firm said in blog post written by two of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers.

They envisage developing AI tools that will, among other things, allow people speaking in several different languages to understand each other in real-time.

Meta said the machine, known as AI Research SuperCluster (RSC), was already in the top five fastest supercomputers and would become the fastest AI machine in the world when fully built in the next few months.

Platforms such as Facebook and Google have long been criticized for the way they process and utilise the data they take from their users.

The two firms currently face legal cases across the European Union that allege data transfers from the bloc to the United States are illegal.

And the AI algorithms that funnel Facebook users towards appealing posts have been criticized for helping to fuel disinformation and hate speech.

- 'Metaverse' hopes -

Facebook has apologised repeatedly about the adverse effects of its algorithms and has long flagged its investment in content moderators and other measures to tackle problematic posts.

The blog on Monday stressed that weeding out harmful content was among the "critical use cases" for its AI development.

The researchers wrote that high-definition video was creating ever greater demand for processing power at the same time as the company was pushing for AI tools based on trillions of examples.

"We hope RSC will help us build entirely new AI systems that can, for example, power real-time voice translations to large groups of people, each speaking a different language, so they can seamlessly collaborate on a research project or play an AR game together," wrote the researchers.

"Ultimately, the work done with RSC will pave the way toward building technologies for the next major computing platform -- the metaverse, where AI-driven applications and products will play an important role."

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has been pushing harder than his big tech rivals to develop the idea of the metaverse, which envisages an immersive 3D internet enabled by virtual reality headsets and sensor equipment.

Facebook has not yet confirmed the location of its supercomputer, telling AFP the information was confidential.

Agence France-Presse

Breaking up (with Facebook) is hard to do: Here’s how

NEW YORK — Every relationship has a breaking point. Even yours with Facebook.

There’s a way out, though the social network will try to win you back with promises to do better. Maybe even flowers.

For some users, though, the past two years of privacy scandals, election manipulation by Russian trolls, executive apologies and even the political disagreements with friends and relatives have become too much.

The latest: an alarming New York Times report detailing the massive trove of user data that the company has shared with such companies as Apple, Netflix and Amazon.

A growing number of people say they are deleting Facebook, or at least considering it.

While Facebook has tried to address some of these problems, it’s not enough for some users.

Hard as it might seem to quit, especially for those entwined with it for years, it can be done.

Mostly.

Goodbye forever

Before deleting your account, rescue your posts and photos.

Facebook lets you download the data you’ve shared with Facebook since you joined. This includes your posts and photos, as well as the “activity log”—the history of everything you’ve done on Facebook, such as likes and comments on posts, use of apps and searches.

The download also includes your profile, messages, list of friends and ads you’ve clicked on.

This process should give you a good—perhaps scary—idea of what Facebook has on you.

What you won’t get are photos other people shared with you, even if you’ve been tagged. You need to save those individually.

And some stuff will remain, including what others have posted about you, your chats with others and your posts in Facebook groups (though your name will be grayed out).

To delete all this, you’ll need to sift through your “activity log,” accessible through your profile page, and delete each item individually.

Once you’ve saved everything and gone through your activity log, sign in one last time. Go to http://bit.ly/198wIoI and click on the blue button. Facebook says the process could take a few days.

Your delete request will be canceled if you log back in during this time. Facebook says it may take up to 90 days for all the data associated with your account to be wiped, but you can’t change your mind after the first few days are up.

If you used your Facebook account for third-party apps and sites, you’ll need new usernames and passwords for each.

Trial separation

If you’re not quite ready for a divorce, deactivating your account is an option. To do this, go to your account settings.

Deactivating means other people won’t be able to see your profile, but if you log back in, the whole thing is canceled and you are “active” again. Ditto if you log into an outside app or site using your Facebook account.

Fomo (Fear of missing out)

Depending on whether you were a full-time Facebook addict or an occasional lurker, the psychological separation could prove harder or easier than the physical one.

Facebook has become a one-stop shop for so many things. You can keep up with friends and family, find out about or create local events, buy and sell stuff, keep up with the news, raise money for a cause or join groups of like-minded people such as parents, porch gardeners and people with a rare disease.

There are other places to do many of these things. There’s Eventbrite for events, Letgo for buying and selling stuff, Peanut for moms to connect, Meetup to find and meet like-minded people, GoFundMe for raising money and Twitter, or, gasp, your local newspaper’s website for the news.

The difference is there’s no single other place to do all these things, and your friends might not be there.

If you find your mind wandering back to Facebook as you go through your day, thinking how you might craft a post about a thought you’ve just had or an article you came across, it’s OK. Let it go. It’s all part of the breakup process.

And while you may not see updates about near-forgotten schoolmates or that random person you met six years ago, the people who matter most will stick around. For them, there’s e-mail, the phone, and meeting in person for coffee.

About those other apps

If your boycott of Facebook has more to do with your view of the company than with tiring of the Facebook service, you might consider deleting Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger as well—they are all owned by Facebook.

Deleting your Facebook account won’t affect your Instagram or WhatsApp account. If you want to keep using Messenger, you can create an account using your phone number instead of your Facebook profile.

source: technology.inquirer.net

ISPs Can Now Sell Your Data: How to Protect Yourself

This spring, Congress and then President Trump rolled back protections for consumers that previously prevented Internet Service Providers (ISP) from collecting and selling personal data. While consumers grumbled, advertisers have celebrated. ISPs can now profit from the sales of data they weren’t previously allowed to collect and personal marketing profiles can be created to boost online sales.

How ISPs can Collect Data

There are several ways that ISPs can now collect data for profit. From basic monitoring of internet activities, ISPs can accumulated data on websites that users visits, how much time they spend there, which links they click, and which products they ultimately buy. To bolster demographic information on potential customers, ISPs can use deep packet inspection to uncover personal information that is often grouped together, like name, age, and location. ISPs can also use beacons, found within mobile data, to pinpoint the exact location of users. You might have noticed that some services have already used this data. Apps can remind us to use a coupon or take advantage of a sale when we’re in close proximity to the store. The difference lies in user opt-in for these services. Under these new regulations, users don’t opt-in and they can’t opt-out. Finally, ISPs can now respond to government requests for personal data. These requests could be used for positive purposes, like stopping a potential terrorist attack, or they could be utilized as yet another source of profit for ISPs.

Will ISPs Sell My Data?

While many people have doubts that ISPs will stick to promises to honor their customer’s privacy, Brian Dietz from the Internet and Television Association told the Washington Post, “"Regardless of the legal status of the FCC’s broadband privacy rules, we remain committed to protecting our customers’ privacy and safeguarding their information because we value their trust.” Time will tell whether ISPs will give in to the temptation to sell out customers’ data for potentially massive profits.

What Can I Do to Protect my Data?

It will be important than ever for users to pay more attention to their online behavior. Whenever possible, use the secure version of websites (HTTPS). ISPs will still be able to collect some data but not as much. A Chrome app can help users remember to use HTTPs whenever possible. VPNs are another way to protect user data. This solution isn’t without problems though because some sites, like Netflix, block VPNs. Many suspect fewer VPNs will be available with China’s demands to pull them from the App Store.

With fewer ways to protect your data online, it’s even more important to guard your offline data. Practice regular backups. If you experience data loss, trust Secure Data’s commitment to complete confidentiality throughout the entire recovery process.

source: securedatarecovery.com