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Jury finds Facebook liable for deceiving users in Cambridge Analytica case

423 points · 107 comments · pseudolus

  1. shevy-java · · focus · HN ↗
    How about real fines?

    So far all these fines have been "ugh that's one day of net profits only", be it at Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook - you name it. Are there kickbacks involved to keep the fines at a minimum?

    1. marcyb5st · · focus · HN ↗
      Yeah, fully agree. Fines for companies bigger than a certain threshold should be percentages of their global annual income and potentially include jail time for the decision makers that enabled them.

      As long as these are the incentives companies/execs will continue to do this shit

      1. ninalanyon · · focus · HN ↗
        > include jail time for the decision makers

        This is much more important than the fines. But really it should be widened to include not only those who made the decision but also those who implemented it (software developers, designers, project managers) and those who benefited from it (executive officers, shareholders).

        Anyone involved with the company who knew what was going on and did nothing to hinder it is culpable to some degree.

        1. marcyb5st · · focus · HN ↗
          With the rank and file I am not 100% sure. I mean, they get paid a fraction of execs and potentially don't have the whole picture.

          Additionally, it is really hard to draw a line. For instance, I can develop some logic that could take a screenshot of your phone. It is perfectly fine for debug builds or with explicit user consent while using an app to provide some additional context on some issue. The same logic used to spy on users is not.

          I "enable" them, but I won't consider myself responsible or even remotely involved.

          1. mitxela · · focus · HN ↗
            You'd have to individually prove that each person charged knew what was going on, and that could be difficult. And rightfully so.
            1. ryandrake · · focus · HN ↗
              I mean, with few exceptions, most people know what they are ultimately working on. I've never encountered someone in an actual company who could truly say "I just convert protobufs at one layer to JSON at another layer, and have no idea what this code is being applied to..."
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