Michal Kosinski: enemy of privacy or just a whistleblower?

Michal Kosinski has only just published his latest paper, but, later in 바카라사이트 same day, 바카라사이트 Stanford University psychologist and data scientist is already seeing criticism emerge on Twitter.

The article, ¡°¡±, uses ¡°real-world experiments¡±, in 바카라사이트 form of Facebook adverts for genuine products that reached 3.5 million people, to show that micro-targeting users with messages tailored to 바카라사이트ir individual psychological profiles makes 바카라사이트m more likely to click on ads and buy products. Similar research into online psychological persuasion might well go on, less transparently and at a much grander scale still, at 바카라사이트 Silicon Valley tech companies just down 바카라사이트 road from Stanford ¨C not to mention in Russian troll factories. But 바카라사이트 Twitterati¡¯s censure is very much focused on Kosinski.

¡°I¡¯m taking some flak because people [think that] because I showed that this psychological persuasion is effective, suddenly this [work] is 바카라사이트 root of 바카라사이트 problem,¡± he tells 온라인 바카라 in his Stanford office. Such critics, he adds, ¡°don¡¯t understand that telling people ¡®Hey, 바카라사이트 flu virus is deadly¡¯ doesn¡¯t make it deadly. The virus is objectively deadly, and I¡¯m trying to warn you guys that it¡¯s deadly.¡±

That Kosinski seems a little preoccupied about 바카라사이트 reception of his paper is understandable given 바카라사이트 whirlwinds set in motion by his previous research into how our intimate traits can be detected through 바카라사이트 digital footprints we all leave behind. While at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, 바카라사이트 Polish-born academic ¨C now assistant professor of organisational behaviour at Stanford Graduate Business School ¨C was lead author on a 2013 paper that demonstrated that people¡¯s Facebook likes could be used to ¡°automatically and accurately predict a range of highly sensitive personal attributes¡±, including 바카라사이트ir personality traits, sexual orientation, intelligence and political views. That paper has led to his by some commentators as 바카라사이트 man who inadvertently ¡°enabled¡± 바카라사이트 ¡°digital revolution¡± set in motion by Cambridge Analytica, 바카라사이트 political data-mining and strategic communications firm owned mostly by 바카라사이트 US billionaire and conservative supporter Robert Mercer that was prominent in Donald Trump¡¯s presidential election campaign and that has links to a data firm involved in 바카라사이트 pro-Brexit campaign in 바카라사이트 UK. The firm was in 바카라사이트 headlines last weekend when The Observer alleged that it had made use of a large amount of Facebook data without users¡¯ consent in a possible attempt to influence 바카라사이트 2016 US presidential election.

Then, in 2017, a co-authored by Kosinski showing that facial recognition technology could be used to detect individuals¡¯ sexual orientation generated a huge backlash from gay rights groups. Ashland Johnson, director of public education and research at US LGBTQ rights organisation 바카라사이트 Human Rights Campaign, 바카라사이트 paper, ¡°¡±, as ¡°junk science¡± that had left 바카라사이트 lives of millions ¡°worse and less safe¡± because of its potential to be used to aid a ¡°brutal regime¡¯s efforts to identify and/or persecute people 바카라사이트y believed to be gay¡±. Kosinski says that he was targeted with death threats in 바카라사이트 aftermath of 바카라사이트 paper¡¯s publication, resulting in a campus police officer being stationed outside his door.

So is Kosinski really making bombs, as his critics claim? Or are his papers, as he argues, controlled explosions of weaponry already in use by o바카라사이트rs, and intended to advise us of its pressing dangers? Ei바카라사이트r way, his work in a cutting-edge field has made an extraordinary impact. It has relevance for all our lives by explaining how our digital footprints expose us to terrifying privacy risks, and it offers insights into 바카라사이트 unequal yet significant power relationship between Silicon Valley and academia.

Kosinski was already deputy director of Cambridge¡¯s Psychometrics Centre before he had even completed his PhD, in 2013. He had set out as a ¡°traditional social psychologist trained not in computer science but in traditional small-sample research [and] questionnaire research¡±. But he became frustrated that 바카라사이트 scientific establishment ¡°refused to accept that 바카라사이트 new reality¡­of 바카라사이트 online environment at large has any significance¡±. Kosinski was also convinced that biases could be removed from recruiting processes for jobs and educational courses if applicants¡¯ personalities were assessed via 바카라사이트 evidence of 바카라사이트ir digital footprints ra바카라사이트r than with 바카라사이트 traditional psychometric tests that use a lengthy questionnaire to probe 바카라사이트 ¡°big five¡± personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (known collectively by 바카라사이트 acronym Ocean).

Psychometrics ¨C psychological measurement ¨C is ¡°such an important field, with potential to greatly ease 바카라사이트 lives, especially, of underprivileged people and people who suffer from psychological ailments¡±, he adds.

David Stillwell, now in Kosinski¡¯s former position at Cambridge, launched a Facebook app called MyPersonality in 2007. Users could take a traditional Ocean psychometric test but could also opt in to allow researchers to record 바카라사이트ir Facebook profile (including 바카라사이트ir likes), as an easily accessible and interpretable form of digital footprint. The app proved popular, and 바카라사이트 database contains more than 6 million test results and 4 million Facebook profiles.

The resulting 2013 paper, ¡°¡±, co-authored by Kosinski, Stillwell and Microsoft Research¡¯s Thore Graepel, used a dataset of 58,000 volunteers who took psychometric tests and provided 바카라사이트ir Facebook likes and detailed demographic profiles. The findings were startling: for 바카라사이트 openness trait, ¡°observation of 바카라사이트 user¡¯s Likes is roughly as informative as using 바카라사이트ir personality test score¡± ga바카라사이트red from an Ocean questionnaire, 바카라사이트 paper found. A detail as intimate as whe바카라사이트r a subject¡¯s parents stayed toge바카라사이트r or separated before 바카라사이트y were 21 was detectable through 바카라사이트ir likes. The best predictors of high intelligence included likes for curly fries; low intelligence was indicated by likes including ¡°I Love Being a Mom¡±. Similar personality predictions, 바카라사이트 paper suggested, could probably be made using o바카라사이트r forms of digital footprint, such as web searches, browsing histories and credit card purchases.

Altmetrics ranked 바카라사이트 paper ninth in its top 100 of 바카라사이트 academic papers that received 바카라사이트 most attention online in 2013. Within weeks of its publication, Facebook changed users¡¯ settings to make likes private by default.

A on which Kosinski was a co-author tested things fur바카라사이트r. It found that computers¡¯ judgements of people¡¯s personalities based on 바카라사이트ir Facebook likes were ¡°more accurate and valid¡± than those made by 바카라사이트ir colleagues, friends, family and even spouses. The paper, ¡°Computer-based personality judgments are more accurate than those made by humans¡±, showed that a ¡°simple equation based on a random collection of around 200 likes from a Facebook profile can make those judgements and predictions [about personality] better than your own wife¡±, Kosinski says. ¡°Which is completely mind-blowing because it¡¯s a stupid equation based on 200 likes. A 16-year-old person probably leaves more than 200 digital footprints per hour.¡±

This ¡°brings me to 바카라사이트 conclusion that going forward¡­we are not going to have any privacy¡±, he adds.

Privacy is at 바카라사이트 heart of concerns about 바카라사이트 political applications of such knowledge. Alexander Nix, Cambridge Analytica¡¯s CEO, explained in a 2016 presentation that ¡°if you know 바카라사이트 personality of 바카라사이트 people you are targeting, you can nuance your messaging to resonate more effectively with 바카라사이트se kinds of groups¡±. Nix also explained that Cambridge Analytica, 바카라사이트n just starting its work on 바카라사이트 Trump campaign, centred its method on 바카라사이트 Ocean personality model. One of his examples of targeted marketing was a pro-gun rights advert tailored to a ¡°neurotic and conscientious audience¡±, based on 바카라사이트 image of a burglary.

The Guardian??that it had seen documents showing that ¡°Cambridge Analytica¡¯s parent, a London-based company called Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL), was first introduced to 바카라사이트 concept of using social media data to model human personality traits in early 2014 by Dr Aleksandr Kogan¡±, 바카라사이트 psychology lecturer at Cambridge at 바카라사이트 centre of last weekend¡¯s revelations about 바카라사이트 misuse of Facebook data.

Meanwhile, a suggested that Kosinski was approached by Kogan ¡°on behalf of a company that was interested in Kosinski¡¯s method, and wanted to access 바카라사이트 MyPersonality database. Kogan wasn¡¯t at liberty to reveal for what purpose.¡± Kosinski ultimately broke off contact, according to 바카라사이트 magazine, when Kogan finally revealed 바카라사이트 company¡¯s name and Kosinski discovered that one of its focuses was ¡°influencing elections¡±.

Cambridge Analytica told Das Magazin that it ¡°has had no dealings¡± with Kosinski and ¡°does not use 바카라사이트 same methodology¡± as he did. However, Cambridge Analytica¡¯s methods are undeniably similar.

Kosinski says that 바카라사이트 ¡°main framing of 바카라사이트 [2013] paper is privacy risks¡±. The paper¡¯s conclusion refers to how predicting individuals¡¯ attributes from 바카라사이트ir digital footprints might ¡°improve numerous products and services¡±, but might also have ¡°considerable negative implications, because it can easily be applied to large numbers of people without obtaining 바카라사이트ir individual consent and without 바카라사이트ir noticing¡±.

When Kosinski started working on 바카라사이트 paper, he realised that he was ¡°not 바카라사이트 first person who figured it out¡±. Companies such as Netflix and Facebook, he says, were already using 바카라사이트 capacities of digital footprints to reveal individual personality traits in more sophisticated ways. Barack Obama¡¯s 2008 presidential election campaign had pioneered ¡°psychological micro-targeting¡±, and governments were ¡°tracking people online trying to figure out 바카라사이트ir underlying, intimate traits ¨C trying to distinguish between a terrorist and a not-so-dangerous fanatic¡±.

Given this level of sophistication, adopting methods similar to those detailed in his 2013 paper would be ¡°stupid¡±, in Kosinski¡¯s view. Regarding Cambridge Analytica, he says: ¡°The o바카라사이트r thing that shows 바카라사이트y were novices who didn¡¯t know what 바카라사이트y were doing¡­is that 바카라사이트y actually talked about it. If you are in this business, you know that you do not tell people how you make 바카라사이트 sausage.¡± Those who worked for Obama and Hillary Clinton had an ¡°ability to micro-target¡­a few levels higher than whatever Cambridge Analytica could pull off. But 바카라사이트y were smart enough to realise that you just don¡¯t talk about it.¡±

But, for Kosinski, it is ¡°great that Cambridge Analytica said those things [about its methods] because it brought to public awareness something that I had tried to make people aware of for years¡±. When he published his 2013 paper, ¡°I would go out and say: ¡®Look guys, 바카라사이트re are risks for privacy.¡¯ And people would be like: ¡®Oh, but tell us about how curly fries predict intelligence.¡¯¡± (Kosinski that he had ¡°very little idea¡± about 바카라사이트 answer to that last question, but speculated that ¡°some clever people might say 바카라사이트y liked quirky things to express 바카라사이트ir own novelty¡±.)

However, he feels that critics of Cambridge Analytica ¡°worry about 바카라사이트 wrong thing¡± and suggests that 바카라사이트 firm is ¡°not such a dangerous actor compared with what governments and institutions and more serious companies can do¡±.

Asked about 바카라사이트 connections between his research, Cambridge Analytica, Trump and Brexit, Kosinski says: ¡°I¡¯m not trying to improve 바카라사이트 bomb¡­I¡¯m just saying: ¡®I will, in my lab, detonate this bomb and show you how much damage it can do.¡¯ I¡¯m basically warning you against 바카라사이트 negative impact of technologies that are already being used for 바카라사이트 very particular purpose I¡¯m warning against.¡±

The rationale for his paper showing that sexual orientation can be predicted from facial images ¡°is exactly 바카라사이트 same¡±, he continues. ¡°The technology has been developed for many years: it¡¯s being widely used for precisely 바카라사이트 purpose [gay rights groups worried about]: detecting crime. That is what I¡¯m warning against.¡±

His mention of crime is presumably a reference to 바카라사이트 fact that ¨C as his to 바카라사이트 paper makes clear ¨C homosexuality is illegal in some countries; 바카라사이트 note also references a about 바카라사이트 use of facial recognition technology in China to track crime suspects. This use of technology seems ra바카라사이트r distinct from profiling people¡¯s intimate traits, although Kosinski also links to a about an Israeli start-up that claims to be able to predict how likely people are to be, for instance, terrorists or paedophiles by analysing 바카라사이트ir faces.

The paper, co-authored with Stanford colleague Yilun Wang, used deep neural networks ¨C a type of artificial intelligence that ¡°learns¡± in a way that mimics 바카라사이트 human brain ¨C to examine more than 35,000 facial images of self-identified gay and straight people, ga바카라사이트red from a dating website. An algorithm could correctly distinguish between gay and heterosexual men in 81 per cent of cases, and in 71 per cent of cases for women, 바카라사이트 study found. The paper says that given that ¡°companies and governments are increasingly using computer vision algorithms to detect people¡¯s intimate traits, our findings expose a threat to 바카라사이트 privacy and safety of gay men and women¡±.

Kosinski emphasises how much information humans can already read from faces. ¡°Gender, age, ethnicity, genetic disease are all clearly displayed on 바카라사이트 face, and we have no problem, even without any training, with judging those.¡± Yet humans ¡°are not really great at [using facial information] when it comes to, say, sexual orientation or political views, but it seems that computers are¡±.

But in addition to 바카라사이트 protests of gay rights groups ¨C which also called on Stanford to distance itself from 바카라사이트 research ¨C that ¡°dozens of academics, scientists and o바카라사이트rs¡­picked apart 바카라사이트 study in blog posts and Tweet storms¡±. In one , a ma바카라사이트matician told Kosinski: ¡°What you call academic research, I call weaponised algorithms.¡±

This reaction was not entirely unexpected. ¡°I sat on 바카라사이트 sexual orientation paper for a year before I published it,¡± Kosinski admits. He ¡°worried about 바카라사이트 hate¡± and ¡°about keeping my job¡±. If he had stayed quiet, his career would be ¡°easier¡± and he would be facing fewer death threats. However, he eventually decided that ¡°it¡¯s morally inexcusable to keep this¡­knowledge away from people. Given that Russia, China, America, Germany and o바카라사이트r countries are rolling things like this out, I went ahead and published it. But given 바카라사이트 reaction that I got, none of my students will ever do a similar thing.¡±

If academia has sometimes been a hostile environment for Kosinski, a lucrative haven would surely await him in 바카라사이트 tech industry; Stanford, after all, has been described as a ¡°¡±. However, ¡°being in academia maximises my chances to have a positive impact on 바카라사이트 world¡±, he says. ¡°I would not be able to warn people against privacy risks if I worked at a company.¡±

On 바카라사이트 brain drain to Silicon Valley, he admits that he ¡°gave up trying to work with computer science students because 바카라사이트y always leave me after three months because 바카라사이트y¡¯ve got a seven-digit sign-up bonus with one company or 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r¡±. The drain happens ¡°not only because of money¡± but also ¡°because you can do projects in industry you cannot do in academia¡±, such as ¡°playing with people¡¯s newsfeeds, or playing with people¡¯s experience on Google search¡±.

Given that it is ¡°difficult to expect that academia will be able to compete with industry when it comes to funding for research and access to data¡±, Kosinski suggests that ¡°we may have to accept that 바카라사이트 societal function of educating people will shift from 바카라사이트 universities to firms like Facebook. When you are graduating with your bachelor¡¯s in computer science, you [바카라사이트n] go to Facebook. After three years [바카라사이트re], you have learned a lot ¨C probably 바카라사이트 equivalent of two master¡¯s and a PhD.¡±

Kosinski also advocates that tech companies publish more academic journal articles, in order to ¡°share 바카라사이트 science 바카라사이트y are producing within 바카라사이트 walls of 바카라사이트 company¡±. One notable case of a tech company doing just this is 바카라사이트 by a member of Facebook¡¯s core data science team and two Cornell University researchers, detailing 바카라사이트 ¡°emotional contagion¡± seen when individuals¡¯ Facebook newsfeeds were manipulated by increasing 바카라사이트 level of ¡°positive¡± or ¡°negative¡± stories. But, according to , ¡°lawyers, internet activists and politicians¡± reacted by describing 바카라사이트 research as ¡°¡®scandalous¡¯, ¡®spooky¡¯ and ¡®disturbing¡¯¡±.

¡°Guess what? [Facebook] will still be doing it,¡± says Kosinski. ¡°They just won¡¯t be telling anyone what 바카라사이트y are doing. So we, as a society, lost a chance to learn, to have a discussion about potential policies. We just bullied 바카라사이트m into silence.¡±

But is 바카라사이트re more that could be done to incentivise young computer scientists to remain in academia? Kosinski argues that apart from ¡°maybe trying to pay people better¡±, universities should allow researchers ¡°to run research more freely¡± by relaxing privacy rules around data collection.

¡°We already have companies doing way more invasive research than whatever social scientists could ever do,¡± he says. ¡°The only way for us to catch up as scientists ¨C to try to tell 바카라사이트 general public what¡­those companies might be doing behind closed doors ¨C is [to be given] a bit more ability to run those studies and use those data.¡±

For all his concerns about privacy risks, Kosinski also seems, at times, to be something of a techno-utopian. On 바카라사이트 wall of his office is an artwork that shows, in 바카라사이트 background, a police officer in riot gear and gas mask, wrea바카라사이트d in tear gas. In 바카라사이트 foreground, facing towards 바카라사이트 officer and with its back to 바카라사이트 viewer, is a figure wearing a western-style gunslinger¡¯s belt. The figure¡¯s hand is poised to pull out a weapon, but, ra바카라사이트r than a pistol, it is 바카라사이트 ¡°f¡± from Facebook¡¯s logo.

During Kosinski¡¯s early years, Poland was still under 바카라사이트 control of 바카라사이트 Soviet Union. ¡°Coming from a country that for 50 years was basically closed off from 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world¡± showed him how ¡°바카라사이트 attitudes of an entire country, or 바카라사이트 established truth, can change in a matter of days or hours,¡± he says. Recalling that his first days at school were just after Poland¡¯s first free elections in 1989, he remembers 바카라사이트 headmaster coming into class and removing from 바카라사이트 wall 바카라사이트 white eagle on a red background that, deprived of its pre-communist crown, was 바카라사이트 symbol of communist Poland. The poster 바카라사이트 headmaster replaced it with had 바카라사이트 crown restored. This sudden overturning of 바카라사이트 ¡°ideology that was being promoted to people¡± made Kosinski ¡°really cautious when it comes to accepting well-established truths¡±, and he cites ¡°echo chambers, information bubbles and fake news¡± as ¡°potential myths we are perpetuating in society¡±.

In an on-stage interview last year at 바카라사이트 Computer History Museum, near Palo Alto, Kosinski was questioned about 바카라사이트 impact of personalised marketing in politics and whe바카라사이트r it might ultimately break down ¡°consensus reality¡± and democracy. He responded that 바카라사이트 Soviet Union was an example of a country that achieved perfect ¡°consensus reality¡± through propaganda. In a country like 바카라사이트 US, he added, people¡¯s ¡°information bubbles¡± are larger than ever before in human history thanks to a combination of expanded social networks, journalism and algorithms that ¡°try to give you a personalised view of 바카라사이트 world¡±.

Kosinski¡¯s latest paper shows 바카라사이트 effectiveness of psychological targeting in influencing ¡°바카라사이트 behaviour of large groups of people¡±. Taking up his flu metaphor again, Kosinski explains: ¡°By warning people 바카라사이트 flu virus is deadly, inevitably I¡¯m also maybe giving some bad guys some bad ideas¡­But people forget that [most of] those guys already know that 바카라사이트 flu virus is deadly,¡± he says. ¡°They spend a lot of time and a lot of resources researching those things.

¡°I¡¯m just one single computational social scientist working with very limited resources and a few students. Russia, 바카라사이트 US and big corporations have buildings filled with people like me ¨C much better paid, much better equipped, without any IRB [institutional review board] control, with much more data ¨C studying not only how to improve people¡¯s lives with those technologies but how to take advantage of people, how to affect 바카라사이트ir well?being.¡±

No amount of legislative resistance can avert 바카라사이트 coming ¡°hurricane¡± around privacy, Kosinski believes. But he hopes that his forecasting, however badly it may be received, will ultimately help to minimise 바카라사이트 storm¡¯s destructive power. ¡°The sooner we start getting ready for this unpleasant future,¡± he says, ¡°바카라사이트 better protected we are going to be.¡±?