I was just on Facebook. The website sent me a note. Would I like to “friend” Rachel Blumenthal? They had pre-friended us.
I said, “yes.” Why not? I used to work with her. I like her.
I was bothered by the whole process. This has nothing to do with Rachel.
We’ve been hearing for years about being data tracked in everything we do. Here’s an example of it being used. Facebook has enough knowledge of me to reasonably assume I know Rachel.
It didn’t have to ask either of us. In court this would be circumstantial evidence. It could easily be wrong. With the number of matches Facebook makes it has to be wrong from time-to-time. It’s just the law of large numbers working against the system.
If Facebook can make this inference think what a really motivated operator can derive. All I can think of is that awful Tom Cruise movie about pre-crime, “Minority Report.”
You should not be judged or valued by what you do before you do it.
I find that feature of fb amusing. The guy from school whom you really didn’t like always pops up at the top. fb isn’t THAT smart. Yet.
Circumstantial evidence gets a bad rap. Most courtroom evidence is circumstantial. You can legitimately put bad guys away with it.