Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Tuesday 2 July 2019
Facebook to make jobs, credit ads searchable for U.S. users

BOSTON (AP) — Facebook ad-targeting and delivery.
says it will make advertise- Murphy, the auditor, said
ments for jobs, loans and she thinks the company
credit card offers search- understands it's "going to
able for all U.S. users fol- have to look at the algo-
lowing a legal settlement rithms" behind them.
designed to eliminate dis- The company also faces
crimination on its platform. privacy and anti-trust inves-
The plan disclosed in an tigations in the U.S. and Eu-
internal report Sunday vol- rope over its invasive data
untarily expands on a com- collection practices and
mitment the social medial struggles to police hate
giant made in March when speech globally with some-
it agreed to make its U.S. times lethal repercussions.
housing ads searchable by Facebook is currently in
location and advertiser. talks to create an external
Ads were only delivered oversight board to monitor
selectively to Facebook such issues and its level of
users based on such data independence is one sub-
as what they earn, their ject of debate.
education level and where Sunday's audit update also
they shop. addresses Facebook's ef-
The audit's leader, former forts to shed "harmful con-
American Civil Liberties tent," including a new U.S.
Union executive Laura Mur- pilot program where dedi-
phy, was hired by Face- cated monitors will focus
book in May 2018 to assess on hate speech alone. A
its performance on vital so- few dozen are involved so
cial issues. This March 29, 2018 file photo shows the Facebook logo on screens at the Nasdaq MarketSite in far, the company said. All
Murphy has consulted New York's Times Square. come from the more than
with dozens of civil rights Associated Press 20,000 outsourced content
groups on the subject as moderators who screen the
part of her yearlong audit, millions in the United States. handed approach from Galen Sherwin, senior staff 2.3 billion-user platform, the
assisted by lawyers from Targeted ads tailored to lawmakers. It comes as the attorney at the ACLU and company said.
the firm Relman, Dane & individuals are Facebook's company is facing increas- the group's lead attorney Audit team recommen-
Colfax. Sunday's 26-page bread and butter — ac- ing regulatory pressures. in the case, said making dations include ending a
report , which also deals counting for all but a sliver As part of the settlement the three Facebook da- carve-out for humor as an
with content moderation of its more than $50 billion with plaintiffs including the tabases searchable by exception in hate speech
and enforcement and ef- in annual revenues last ACLU and the National Fair anyone "definitely creates and devising better mech-
forts to prevent meddling in year. It's unlikely that mak- Housing Alliance, Face- greater access to informa- anisms for blocking harass-
the 2020 U.S. elections and ing the ads searchable book agreed in March tion about economic op- ment, which can be espe-
census, was her second up- would have a significant to stop targeting people portunities." cially overwhelming when
date. effect on Facebook's busi- based on age, gender and Civil rights groups are con- automated.
The searchable housing ness. Analysts have cau- zip code and to also elimi- cerned that the secretive, Simply defining actionable
ads database will roll out by tioned, however, that any nate such categories as proprietary algorithms that hate speech — which can
the end of 2019, Facebook restrictions on Facebook's national origin and sexual govern how the company vary by nation, region, lan-
says, and Murphy said she ability to target ads could orientation. steers ads— even when not guage and cultural con-
expects the employment scare off advertisers. The groups had sued claim- consciously targeting spe- text — is a tall order.
and financial product of- The move is likely part of ing Facebook violated anti- cific groups — could still be The report says Facebook is
ferings databases to be Facebook's strategy to discrimination laws by pre- discriminatory. committed to stepping up
available within the next show regulators that is do- venting audiences includ- "I wish we could see into the efforts to fight voting sup-
year. ing a good job policing its ing single mothers and the black box," Sherwin said. pression in 2020 elections
Murphy said she's "very ex- own service — putting it in disabled from seeing many Facebook still faces a U.S. and plans to have ready
cited" about the move she compliance with existing housing ads — while some Department of Housing by fall policies to counter
believes will positively im- anti-discrimination law — job ads were not reaching and Urban Development attempts to interfere in the
pact the social mobility of and doesn't need a heavy- women and older workers. complaint over housing census.q

Facebook mail site evacuated after possible sarin scare

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — evacuated and three There were no reports of "We're just doing verifica- evaporate into the envi-
A Facebook mail facility have been cleared for injuries, Menlo Park Fire tion." ronment, prompting symp-
near company headquar- people to come back in, Marshal Jon Johnston said. The FBI is assisting in the in- toms within seconds.
ters was evacuated Mon- said Facebook spokesman Incoming mail undergoing vestigation, as is common A drop of sarin on skin can
day after a routine check Anthony Harrison in a state- routine processing by ma- in incidents such as this cause sweating and mus-
found mail possibly con- ment. The suspicious pack- chine tested positive for sa- one. cle twitching, and exposure
taining the nerve agent age was delivered around rin, but it could have been The federal Centers for Dis- to large doses can result in
sarin. 11 a.m. to one of the com- a false positive, Johnston ease Control and Preven- paralysis and respiratory
Authorities put the site un- pany's mail rooms, he said. said. tion says sarin is a chemi- failure leading to death.
der quarantine as they "Authorities have not yet "Right now we don't have cal warfare agent that is The CDC says people who
conducted additional test- identified the substance anybody that has any a clear, colorless, odorless are mildly exposed usually
ing. Four buildings were found," Harrison wrote. symptoms," he said. and tasteless liquid. It can recover completely.q