Mediaboss Marketing

The Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) has filed a series of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) complaints against LGBTQ+ social networking app Grindr and a number of online advertising companies, alleging that they have engaged in comprehensive illegal collection and indiscriminate use of personal data.

The complaints come in the wake of a new report compiled by the NCC alongside cyber security company Mnemonic, entitled Out of control, which again highlights how advertising technology companies receive personal data about app users interests, habits and behaviour, ostensibly to profile them for targeted advertising, but which can also lead to discrimination, manipulation and exploitation.

These practices are out of control and in breach of European data protection legislation, said Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council. The extent of tracking makes it impossible for us to make informed choices about how our personal data is collected, shared and used.

This massive commercial surveillance is systematically at odds with our fundamental rights and can be used to discriminate, manipulate and exploit us. The widespread tracking also has the potential to seriously degrade consumer trust in digital services.

Max Schrems, founder of European privacy non-profit NGO noyb, said: Every time you open an app like Grindr, advertisement networks get your GPS location, device identifiers and even the fact that you use a gay dating app. This is an insane violation of users EU privacy rights.

In the case of Grindr, a social networking app that has largely supplanted traditional cruising for gay men by facilitating casual sexual encounters more easily, concerns over the ethicality of personal data collection and targeted advertising are amplified by the fact that many of its users live in jurisdictions where gay people are still legally persecuted.

If data on Grindr users was to leak or be exposed in some way, this means that what might be merely embarrassing for a user in Norway or the UK becomes a potentially lethal threat for a user in Russia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Besides Grinder, the NCCs complaints under section 77(1) of the GDPR concern five advertising companies Twitters MoPub, AT&Ts AppNexus, OpenX, AdColony and Smaato.

In a response to requests from the NCC and Mnemonic, Grindr said it collected numerous data points on its users. These are chat message text, images (potentially explicit), email addresses, display names, age, height, weight, body type, favoured sexual position, ethnicity, relationship status, tribes (bear, twink, jock, trans, etc), looking for (chat, friends, right now, etc), gender, preferred pronouns (he, they, etc), HIV status and testing details, profile pictures, linked Facebook data, linked Twitter data, linked Instagram data, location data, IP address, and device ID such as Google Advertising ID.

It shares personal data points including Google Advertising ID (if allowed by user), age, gender and location data.

As an example, Twitters MoPub was observed to collect device identifiers such as Google Advertising ID and IP address, location data either through GPS or inferred from IP address, age, gender, detailed device hardware information, app usage information, and information about ads served. In technical testing, it was also found to receive information about device operating systems, the name of the app and the hardware of the device, probably through its software development kit (SDK) integration into Grindr. Computer Weekly understands that Twitter has now disabled Grindrs MoPub account, pending an investigation.

Note that the linked complaints also contain information about the data collection practices of the other companies involved.

Legal analysis conducted by the NCC and Mnemonic with assistance from noyb (which plans to file its own complaints in Austria soon) suggest that Grindr and the ad companies involved possess data without a valid legal basis that contravenes sections six and nine of the GDPR. Section nine covers special categories of data, which includes information on sexual orientation.

Ala Krinickyt, a lawyer at noyb, said: In the case of Grindr, it seems especially problematic that third parties do not just get the GPS location or device identifiers, but also the information that a person is using a dating app that is described as being exclusively for gay/bi community. This obviously reveals the sexual orientation of the user.

James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, said: It is difficult in today's society with social media applications for people to actually read the privacy or end-user agreements and to understand what is happening with their name, address, pictures, contacts and GPS location once the data is entered into, or collected by, an app.

On a lot of social media apps that are not charging users for their service, the users are undoubtedlythe product. Their informationis collectedand sold off to third-party organisations for revenue for the social media app.

Some organisations such as Twitter are taking a step in the right direction when it comes to protecting their customers by disabling plugins that violate their privacy terms and are blocking the sharing of information to third parties without permission.

The NCC urged companies that rely on digital advertising to look towards alternative technologies that rely less on widespread sharing and collection of data.

The situation is completely out of control, said Myrstad. In order to shift the significant power imbalance between consumers and third-party companies, the current practices of extensive tracking and profiling have to end.

There are very few actions that consumers can take to limit or prevent the massive tracking and data sharing that is happening all across the internet. Authorities must take active enforcement measures to protect consumers against the illegal exploitation of personal data.

Computer Weekly contacted Grindr for comment but had not received a response at the time of going to press. The apps full privacy and data protection policy can be read here.

Originally posted here:
LGBTQ+ social app Grindr accused of breaching GDPR - ComputerWeekly.com

Northern Ireland schools warned as man uses Snapchat to target more than 200 children

BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Parents have been informed that a man has been targeting more than 200 children at 30 schools in Northern Ireland on the social media platform Snapchat.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-schools-warned-as-man-uses-snapchat-to-target-more-than-200-children-38871384.html

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/49f2b/38871373.ece/AUTOCROP/h342/bpanews_536569ea-fcfc-4e7d-a5c0-d4118acac0a3_embedded242141783

Parents have been informed that a man has been targeting more than 200 children at 30 schools in Northern Ireland on the social media platform Snapchat.

One of the schools affected, the all-girls Glenlola Collegiate Grammar in Bangor, Co Down, released a statement to warn of the dangers of online grooming but also reassure the school community that in this case the PSNI had apprehended the individual concerned.

It said: The PSNI have been in contact with the school to inform us that a man has been in communication with approximately 200 pupils from 30 schools via Snapchat using the name pastpapersolutions.

He has been arrested and therefore no longer poses a risk but we feel it is important to remind everyone that they must be extremely cautious online when using social networking sites.

Our advice is that if your daughter has been in contact with this individual they should block this immediately. Further advice and guidance is available from the school internet policy available on the school website.

Snapchat is a mobile app that allows users to send and receive self-destructing photos and videos called snaps and Snapchat uses the devices camera to capture snaps and send them.

The PSNI told the Belfast Telegraph on Friday that the man involved in the case was before the courts and charged with breaching an order by using the social media app to contact school children.

A spokesman said: A man who had been given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order breached the order by contacting school pupils on Snapchat.

The man was arrested and charged and appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court on 6th December and remanded. Police made schools aware and are sending out letters to parents.

It is not the first time in recent months that the PSNI have had to taken action regarding schools and the Snapchat social networking app.

It comes after last month the PSNI warned children and parents over inappropriate and threatening Snapchat accounts that are being set up with fake details.

Police in Co Tyrone said that they had received reports from various schools and parents in Omagh regarding the accounts.

A PSNI spokesman said at the time: All Snapchat details have been collected regarding these fake accounts and police will be conducting investigations given the concern across the community.

Police are keen to remind children and parents who use social media sites to be mindful of who they are friends with online and for parents to keep an eye on their childrens online activity.

Glenlola Collegiate Grammar was also contacted by the Belfast Telegraph on Friday to ask them if they wished to say anything further in relation to the matter but they declined to take up the offer.

Belfast Telegraph Digital

Continued here:
Northern Ireland schools warned as man uses Snapchat to target more than 200 children - Belfast Telegraph

OLD National Bancorp IN decreased its position in shares of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,864 shares of the social networking companys stock after selling 21,105 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp INs holdings in Facebook were worth $11,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FB. Price Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Facebook by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Price Wealth LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the social networking companys stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Facebook by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 5,750 shares of the social networking companys stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Facebook by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,394 shares of the social networking companys stock valued at $1,107,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Affiance Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Facebook by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 6,261 shares of the social networking companys stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Facebook by 126.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,185 shares of the social networking companys stock valued at $1,269,000 after buying an additional 3,452 shares during the last quarter. 63.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

In other news, VP Jennifer Newstead sold 260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.40, for a total transaction of $51,324.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,717 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,325,935.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Susan J.S. Taylor sold 1,133 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.58, for a total transaction of $224,991.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,505 shares in the company, valued at $298,862.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,220,900 shares of company stock worth $231,834,951 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 14.53% of the companys stock.

Shares of Facebook stock opened at $221.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 4.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $632.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.05. Facebook, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.52 and a 1-year high of $222.38. The firms 50-day moving average price is $206.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.86.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $17.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $17.35 billion. Facebook had a net margin of 27.08% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Facebook, Inc. will post 8.48 EPS for the current year.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FB shares. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $260.00) on shares of Facebook in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Facebook from $247.00 to $240.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank upped their price objective on shares of Facebook from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nomura upped their price objective on shares of Facebook from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Facebook and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, forty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $238.04.

Facebook Profile

Facebook, Inc provides various products to connect and share through mobile devices, personal computers, and other surfaces worldwide. The company's products include Facebook that enables people to connect, share, discover, and communicate with each other on mobile devices and personal computers; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and messages; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, groups, and businesses across platforms and devices; and WhatsApp, a messaging application for use by people and businesses to communicate in a private way.

Featured Article: What is an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)?

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB).

Receive News & Ratings for Facebook Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Facebook and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

See the original post:
OLD National Bancorp IN Has $11.26 Million Stake in Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) - Riverton Roll

Working in the music business is unique in many ways, but like many jobs, people skill are a huge part of what it takes to be successful in a business where networking and your personal brand are paramount

Guest post by Michael Hahn of Landr

Almost every bedroom producer has dreamed of quitting their day job and devoting themselves full-time to their passion.

Those who take on the huge effort and risk to make their dream a reality sometimes have to make surprising adjustments to be successful.

Dont worryIm not about to bore you with cautionary tales of losing your passion to professional practice.

But just like any job, theres a strong social component to success as a producer that can make a bigger difference than your gearor even your skills.

Heres my hard truth for today: people skills are an essential part of success as a musician.

Its not meant to be discouraging.

The upside to this hard truth is that you can improve your prospects of getting hired simply by paying attention to basic social skills.

Heres how to do it in six steps.

Many musicians dont ever step into the world of mixing and production. That can make the recording process feel incredibly intimidating.

Theyll be much more comfortable if you consciously try to be friendly and approachableespecially when it comes to technical topics.

Nobody likes an engineer thats unwilling to help them understand whats going on.

Sessions always go smoother if everyone in the room can grasp the basic reasoning behind your production decisions.

Make an effort to be open to questions, concerns and feedback from your collaborators.

Make an effort to be open to questions, concerns and feedback from your collaborators.

You might have to spend a little extra time explaining a concept or along two the way, but its worth it.

Just make sure you do it in a way thats respectful and helpful for the session!

Even if youre not getting paid for your work yet, you should make sure people enjoy working with you.

Its much more likely that youll get called back for more work if everyone had a great time at the session.

Its not too hard to create an environment where people can enjoy themselves while making music.

Keep your workflow light and fun and try to respond to your collaborators enthusiasm with good will.

Technical difficulties can strike at any time, but the more knowledgeable and confident you are with your tools, the less likely your collaborators will be stuck with boring downtime.

Be a problem solver and try to keep all aspects of the session running smoothly.

Be a problem solver and try to keep all aspects of the session running smoothly.

One of the main roles of a producer is to act as a mediator.

The other side of making your sessions fun is to keep everyone on track and focused.

Doing this tactfully with emphasis on helping everyone get their best results is an art, but try your best.

Knowing when to keep pushing, take a break or move on to something else is a great example.

Youd be surprised how much people value a producers ability to get results from a disparate group of people without seeming like the dream police.

By now everyone is used to hearing how important networking is to success as a musician.

But if you think of networking as a boring chore that involves handing out business cards to strangers, you probably need an attitude adjustment.

The only useful kind of networking is forming actual relationships with people. Trying too hard to recruit them is always a bad look.

All you have to do to network effectively is make yourself available and put appropriate effort into creating and maintaining real relationships within the music community.

That shouldnt be too much to ask!

Speaking of availability, youll never get hired if youre not easily to get in touch with.

Im not saying you have to be on your email day and night ready to respond to every single message instantly.

Just be intentional about your communication and do your best to respond in a timely fashion.

Sometimes all it takes to get the gig is being the first person to respond to an email.

And youre much more likely to build the connections you need to spread to word if youre diligent in how you communicate with collaborators.

You can do a lot for your chances of getting recognized for your work simply by being present in your local music community.

You can do a lot for your chances of getting recognized for your work simply by being present in your local music community.

Ive touched on the benefits of taking your music promotion offline before, but you dont even need to be promoting a particular release to take advantage of this strategy.

Do your best to attend events and shows when you can. Its easy to underestimate how much a familiar face can make an impact for people you might work with one day.

Plus, many producers fall into the trap of only interacting with music in the studiodont let it happen to you!

Being a successful producer is about more than just gear, skills or a signature sound.

You have to be the type of person that musicians want to work with. That may sound intimidating, but in reality all it takes is some basic social skills.

After all, its easy to have a good time making musicjust follow that impulse and youll be fine.Michael Hahn is an engineer and producer at Autoland and member of the swirling indie rock trio Slight.

Original post:
Hard Truth: Social Skills Are Key To Success In Music - hypebot.com

While many may vow to do more networking in the New Year, some dont know where to start while others avoid it altogether as something distasteful or dishonest. But Inga Carboni says that networking is something we all already do and is beneficial to everyone involved.

Carboni, an associate professor at Williams & Mary's Raymond A. Mason School of Business, is the author of 2019s Connect the Dots How to Build, Nurture, and Leverage Your Network to Achieve Your Personal and Professional Goals. Her research focuses on networks and networking, diversity and inclusion, building and managing relationships and leadership. Her research was most recently featured in an article on The Secrets of Successful Female Networkers that appeared in the November-December 2019 issue of Harvard Business Review.

W&M News recently talked with Inga Carboni about a way to think about networking that can minimize peoples concerns and empower them to mingle more.

Networking is building relationships. It is building, nurturing and eventually leveraging those relationships, and it's something that we all do. But few of us do it thoughtfully or like to think about it. It's incredibly important because so much of your work, your physical health, your social and emotional well-being all comes through the relationships that you have in your life, so it's critical. We know that the impact of your social network on your mortality is greater than the combined impact of cigarette smoking and obesity.

I think people have this idea that networking is schmoozing, that its using people. The truth is it should be reframed as building relationships, which we all do all the time. And when you build your relationships, you're building mutual relationships.

Very few of us stay in relationships where there isn't give-and-take and there arent things that we enjoy going both ways. I think once people start reframing networking as relationship building, then they start thinking just like they might in their personal relationships. It is not about getting something. It's about how can you start a mutually giving relationship, and the best way to do that is to start by giving, whether it's an insight, it's gratitude, its energy all different kinds of things.

Another thing I hear from people is that they think networking is cheating, that you're trying to get by on who you know, rather than on what you know. What I say to that is if you ever want to take a leadership role in your professional life, you need to lead. To lead, you need to influence people. To influence people, you need to have relationships with them to be able to work with them. So if you can't build those kinds of relationships, you can't lead. In other words, it's not like a shortcut to success. Knowing how to build relationships that help you lead is a leadership skill.

One thing is to get a little outside of their comfort zone. If we're left to our own devices, we will naturally build relationships with people who are just like us and see the world very similarly. We should think about how we can create opportunities to connect with people outside of our usual patterns. For instance, join a task force or serve on panel for a topic that you are coming at from a different industry or different area of study. Take these opportunities to meet people whom you may have something in common with but who are not just like you.

That's a very simple way, and it's most effective when you do it related to things that matter to you. This is precisely why a lot of people get onto boards of nonprofit organizations. They do it because they're passionate about the nonprofit, and it's also a great opportunity intersect with other people they might not ordinarily intersect with and who share a passion for this. People see each other working together, and you get to know each other. So think about being strategic about giving yourself those kinds of opportunities.

This is when social media is quite helpful. This is when LinkedIn is very good, where you can push out information for the most part and post occasional thoughts or events in your life and keep up with other people. A colleague here who's a digital marketing expert says 10 minutes a day is probably all you need to do to that, and you can probably bundle that into one hour a week or something like that if you wanted to. So that's a super easy way to do it, and then that offers opportunities to have just a quick note on someone's birthday or when they accomplish some kind of milestone.

And I know other people I admire them for this because I just never do it send handwritten notes, not just when they go for a job interview, but whenever someone's helped them or benefited them or gone out of their way.

I'll talk about one that sort of faces all underrepresented groups. By underrepresented, we mean that there are other groups that are overrepresented in positions of power and status and influence and have access to resources. If we follow our natural tendencies, we hang out with people who are like us and feel just a little bit more comfortable with people who are like us. If you're from an underrepresented group, you're much more likely to be connected to people who are lower in power, and that's a huge disadvantage. And if you're from an overrepresented group, then you are much more likely to be connected to people who are in power.

I think it's worth sharing that insight with people, not just for the people from underrepresented groups to understand that that's an invisible disadvantage that they face and that there are steps that they can take to reduce that disadvantage. But I also think it's very useful for people who are overrepresented because I think they often just kind of lack of awareness because you're not thinking about it. You're thinking about who you like to talk to and who you see in the halls and who you stick your head into their office. You're not sort of thinking to yourself, well, Ive got to make sure I hit three women and two people from minority groups and that kind of thing. But sometimes if you reflect, you might find, oh, well, when I look around me and I look at who I socialize with they look remarkably similar. When we're providing opportunities, am I looking at people and seeing their accomplishments and what they're doing? Or am I just going with what I'm a little bit more comfortable with?

For women in particular, which is where my research is mainly, they have a heightened disadvantage in that people are more likely to judge them negatively if they are perceived to be building professional relationships. Because they're not supposed to do that. Theyre just supposed to be nice, right? Theres this classic thing that women have to do of balancing appearing competent and being liked, because the more you're liked, the less competent youre perceived as. The more competent youre perceived as, the less liked you are its very hard to sort of balance both. But what women can do is leverage what is our often strong relationship-building skills to communicate warmth. Warmth and competence are a lot easier to search for than being liked and competent. And when you do that, you're generally getting a more positive reception to perceptions that you are relationship building.

Well, if you reframe networking as relationship building that theyre mutual, two-way relationships that's not really so much of a problem. I tell the story about a student that I had years ago who was horrified by the idea of networking, and I started talking to her, and I asked her what she was doing for the summer. She told me she was going to be waitressing at her boyfriend's mother's restaurant. And I asked her where she was living, and I find out that her roommates sister had a friend that she was going to be living with that person for the summer. I said, so you're using your boyfriend and you're using your roommate to get these things? And she's like, no, no, no, no, no. They wanted to.

If you've built your networks correctly, people want to help each other. If you think about your friends calling you and asking you if you can you recommend a good computer person or something like that, you want to help them. So it's not really a dichotomy: I'm going to either use you or I'm going to have a good relationship. Instead, its I'm going to have a good relationship where we share resources and we benefit each other in ways that we can.

Go here to read the rest:
Q&A: Inga Carboni on networking in the New Year - William & Mary News