Your Personal Data = Facebook’s Intellectual Property

October 12, 2011RobotPirateNinja Uncategorized Leave a comment

Claiming that certain aspects of your personal data is “a trade secret or intellectual property of Facebook Ireland Limited or its licensors” seems pretty extraordinary. Schrems is not letting things rest there, though, and has contacted the Irish Data Protection Commissioner to pursue the matter further. Meanwhile, Facebook has released a statement on the matter:

We are cooperating fully with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner who will come to a view on Mr Schrems’ complaint in due course.

I can hardly wait for that view – and for Facebook’s response if it requires the release of some “proprietary” data.

via Facebook Says Some of Your Personal Data Is Its ‘Trade Secrets or Intellectual Property’ | Techdirt.

I’m not sure how this is going to end, but “well” is not much of an option. And the thing is….Europe has about 10x the privacy protections that U.S. citizens have. It won’t be until this data is massively abused that anyone will say anything, and will probably be too late by that point any way.

Once we allowed credit companies to sell data about our personal spending habits to others, and have to buy them back ourselves, we were already lost.

Frank shows Newt the oh snap

Barney Frank Slams Newt Gingrich For Calling For His Imprisonment | Election 2012 http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/newt-gingrich-barney-frank-and-chris-dodd-should-be-in-jail.php?ref=fpb

“It’s interesting, the charge is failure to stop Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay from deregulating,” he said. “This notion we caused the problem that started while they were in charge even by Gingrich’s standards is very odd.” Added Frank: “I wish I knew that he was willing to listen to my advice, I would have given him some: I would have told him not to impeach Clinton, I would have told his successors not to go to war with Iraq, and I would have told DeLay not to go on the dance show.” Frank speculated that Gingrich’s comments were borne out of frustration with his campaign. “He’s been having a bad year, you know —this self-styled intellectual leader of the free world struggling to stay ahead of Michele Bachmann in the polls is unsettling him so he talks even sillier than he sometimes does,” he said

Joke I Made Yesterday Gets Literal

October 12, 2011October 12, 2011RobotPirateNinja Uncategorized Tags: blame Obama, filibuster, Republicans Leave a comment

Obama to GOP: We won’t take no for an answer http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/10/obama-to-gop-we-wont-take-no-for-an-answer/1

Alexandra Franceschi,a spokesman for the Republican Party, said that, while the national unemployment rate is 9.1%, the jobless rate for Hispanics is 11.3%; the GOP spokesman blamed Obama’s “failed economic policies.” “President Obama seems determined to pander to Hispanics, while ignoring the need to put Americans back to work,” he said.

You really can’t make this up. All you need to do to make Republicans sound like totally disingenuous douchebags is accurately report both what they do and what they say.

That link is here.