Data Brokers: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

[@ivandimitrov7994]

I've been one of the people that say "I really don't care, let them go at it" but the argument "domestic abuse victim being findable on a website by her abuser" did me good. Great job exposing, arguing and even finding a solution.

[@cariwaldick4898]

I'm thinking of seniors, vulnerable to targeted scams. Kids who might be home alone. Or....teen girls with self esteem issues. If you can create a demographic, and a location, it's pretty much like shooting ducks in a barrel. What if someone was, say, violently pro-life, searching for women who'd searched online for abortion pills, or how long you have to get an abortion?

[@AggresivelyBenign]

Thank you for being open to change your mind. ☺️☺️☺️

[@spacejunky4380]

Fuck yeah, great example!

[@crazychainsaw007]

Imagine someone buying your data and reading it back to you

[@doctorsweetleaf1399]

Right on, man

[@clfisher10]

I love how John goes straight for the Nuclear option. Doesn't stage a protest, doesn't try to go before congress, doesn't start a petition...nope, he basically goes straight to elaborate attempts to legally blackmail Congress into action.

[@alisa9040]

That's how you get stuff done.

[@TheEFRoommates]

Doesn't give them any chance to bullshit their way out of it

[@TheGotoGeek]

Correct. Making threats is weak. Wreaking vengeance is strong.

[@cirrus645]

I mean, he stopped short of identifying them.

[@fitgirllegbusta2406]

They will just pass a law protecting themselves. National security of highly sensitive individuals or somesht

[@mistytsim]

Let's give a round of applause to the HBO lawyers who help LWT keep these shenanigans going.

[@oxymedia4188]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/apm1fJWofblsftE

[@helena8999]

I can only imagine the emails. Hi law department, this week we’re gonna blackmail congress with Ted Cruz erotica. That sound good and legal? Thanks, J Oliver

[@DKarl75]

@@helena8999 Hi John, after reviewing the laws and precedent we've come to the following judgment: very legal and very cool

[@xplayman]

I would want those lawyers for a traffic ticket

[@Kas_Styles]

Yes! We all thank all of them

[@abacus892]

"Anyway... sleep well!" Never thought I'd see anyone so nonchalantly blackmail the US government, but John Oliver and LWT have pulled it off 😂

[@paulallen3753]

anyone get any updates on this?

[@valentina6715]

@@paulallen3753 I'm curious about this too... Any updates?

[@JohnSmithShields]

Ask Supreme Justice Thomas.

[@n3rdv10l3nc3]

John Oliver using HBO's money to make powerful people sweat is hands down my favorite late night talk show trope. John out here doing the lord's work.

[@googiegress]

Especially if he makes their hands sweat!

[@seededsoul]

Praise be!

[@MichiganFresh]

I want to see it leaked. Forget making their hands sweat, throw them under the frickin' bus and let us start over 😆

[@daveprice5911]

The german equivalent is jan böhmermann and he's just as good hahahaha

[@DSPHistoricalSociety]

Yeah I'm sure they are super-worried

[@TheyCallMeMrMaybe]

If Congress passes laws that John Oliver's demanding to get passed here, then this will be hands-down the best use of HBO's money he's made so far.

[@modothegreat108]

Well, I mean, there was also the one time he ran an anti-smoking campaign... In several countries... That had been bullied by big companies into not passing plain packaging laws. That was a good one too.

[@HoustonRacewayKid]

10 minutes from the end we’re bringing religion in as an argument/justification….he plays both sides of everything and loves to stand as THE POINT….gay

[@arvedui89]

Just second to the Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov horse cake.

[@TheGotoGeek]

Don’t forget the time he bought a ton of medical debt and forgave it.

[@elyssay3157]

If it doesn't work, they can always keep going. Add a couple more ads... get a few more Congress people... hint to us who they are (or tell us. They could just tell us, right?)

[@jlightner86]

If congress passes a law from this, they should call it "The John Oliver Privacy Protection Act" or "JOPPA" for short.

[@apollomars1678]

The John Poliver Protection Creep Act. JOPPCA

[@fcgHenden]

And make a clause where, once invoked, one has to yell "To the JOPPA!"

[@Yggdrasill-X]

I'm all for this xD

[@Noaartetc]

Well, it sounds like "ASSS" in Russian, and I am twisting my mind to understand is this what the joke is. Did our word for жопа became deservingly famous at last.

[@jlightner86]

@@Noaartetc LMAO! I don't know how I missed that. My wife is Russian.

[@LaZodiac]

I'm not gonna lie; shower head settings that just fuckin' beat the shit out of you with solid bullets of water is actually quite relaxing, so he's got a point there.

[@Mech299]

It's called a staccato beat, and I think all shower heads should have it, because I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's like a non-aggressive massage.

[@thearmchairjournalist566]

I’m lying here fantasising about it 😎

[@alykat09]

I actually found out that my husband was about to propose to me before he even got the chance to. He bought the ring online and then a piece of mail came to the house, addressed to him, congratulating him on his engagement and trying to sell wedding party items. And while it’s mostly just a funny story we can tell people, it’s honestly insane when you consider that some random company knew about one of the biggest changes in my life before I did. All of that is to say that this episode was amazing. The team of Last Week Tonight continues to outdo themselves and I’ve never been so happy to yell “holy shit” at my screen at the end of an episode.

[@JeffFrancis4981]

I can't tell, is this story about the dangers of targeting marketing or pre-marital co-habitation?

[@RiceChrispy0527]

Well that's a bummer. Way to ruin the surprise, eh..

[@nursingnotes212]

Yikes! What if you had said no? He would still have been bombarded with wedding ads.

[@jodihallstenlyczak3066]

I've heard similar from others; ruined surprised engagements from marketing campaigns. So sorry.

[@jaffrayburk1]

That's disheartening

[@usageunit]

The best part about this isn't that he collected some mildly embarassing data on potential congressmen, but that he's now put this idea in the heads of millions upon millions of viewers, which it only takes one of to get serious and collect far, far more damaging data than "Haha, you clicked on Ted Cruz erotica!"

[@gorak9000]

I think that's the intention... it's the genie you can't put back in the bottle

[@oxymedia4188]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/apm1fJWofblsftE

[@imSephirot89]

Exactly that. Its not about what can John Oliver do its about oh shit now everyone knows its doable

[@SjSOdJ]

That is, to begin with, some pretty damaging data ewwwww

[@abbaswanjala8830]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g57bgoVnptdpqJY

[@jakemarsing2615]

This is absolutely insanely good journalism. A high point for our society as a whole tbh.

[@wheresmyoscar5543]

🤡🤡🤡

[@trod1772]

You must be a bot...I literally seen the same reply to a CNN video...either that or you are not original

[@Segforever58666]

Jesus is our one and only savior!!! He loves us all, so it pains him to see his followers turn against him!!! Reject 🏳️‍🌈!!!!

[@heyheytaytay]

It's information overload though. It's like he's doing a 20 min infomercial pitch to get us to think about something only to forget how important it is within a week. And he STILL hasn't done anything on Ukraine yet.

[@sirris4330]

@@heyheytaytay It's not exactly easy to do a comedy piece on an international tragedy... give him a break. If he does do a piece on it it will be with all seriousness. It's not what the show is for.

[@iamseamonkey6688]

i'm forever greatful that HBO's business model is forgiving enough to allow john oliver to do whatever without fear.

[@OscarRuffinelli]

the face he made while delivering the line "why would we? when we have already".. pure enthusiasm

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

Joke-gasm. The blissful crescendo of a long build up.

[@FREDDIECASH229]

Stream Young Loud.

[@Gary-And-His-Demons]

But you HAD to know it was coming, with how specific he was about the details leading up to it!

[@heyyou5593]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYuccqZpmppraqs BRAND

[@PaigeWylderOwO]

Not gonna lie, he had us in the first half of that statement.

[@kamcorder3585]

Everything John Oliver does is a beautiful power move, but this takes the cake

[@TheRyndal]

You mean cookie? The cake is a lie!

[@jenniferjohnson1345]

This one made my day. I can't wait to see the news little later today.

[@Anoalekontrieger]

This is the fucking bomb. What a hero, this is next level.

[@natet3345]

completely agree.

[@Dog-Girl-Defect]

I take it you missed the episode with the giant cake?

[@Jolar70]

"Daughter Killed in Car Crash" printed out on a snail mail letter address is the saddest level of non-humanity I've ever seen (yet). Come at me internet, but that robot shit was pretty crushing. I'm so sorry for those parents who had to receive that, randomly, from a sales robot.

[@ainumahtar]

It's not that much more heinous than the people scamming old people who usually have no clue about technology out of their last bit of a pension, which happens on a massive scale.

[@EvilFookaire]

@@ainumahtar As someone who has to prevent elderly relatives and neighbors (age range 70-95) from falling for that crap (or try to mitigate the damage when they do get suckered in) almost every day for the last 5-10 years... yeah, those scammers can go choke on a five-foot barbed cock.

[@debshaw680]

When my dad died in 1985 my mother got a letter from some company he had interacted with addressed to Deceased (last name)

[@Panda_Roll]

My heart goes out to that dad. More so when that envelop came with a (10% off) like... seriously?!?

[@abandonedmuse]

If you mean come at you to agree, then yes. It was horrendous.

[@Heatherhigleydrums]

The amount of times I find myself clicking 'accept' buttons just to do basic things on any website due to it seeming like the choice being 'accept our spies, or no websites at all for you'. The classic illusion of choice.

[@Julia-lk8jn]

Honestly? With the websites I use regularly, I usually know which buttons to click, it takes maybe ten seconds. And if a search leads me to a website that plays dirty and hides the "cut it out with the cookies" option, I just use another one. How often have you googled for something and got only _one_ site as a result? I don't think that declining cookies will solve this whole problem, but I bloody well don't have to roll out a red carpet for data brokers.

[@vffa]

There are add-ons for chrome and Firefox which either automatically decline the cookies, or delete the "cookie information box" from the visible part of the site. Unless your explicitly accept the cookies, they may mustn't collect data.

[@Julia-lk8jn]

@@vffa Oh that's useful to know. Thx :)

[@Dillonkg1]

Who thought that In their lifetime they'd see a TV show tastefully blackmail congress members to enact change to protect the average person. What a time to be alive.

[@221b-l3t]

I think we should first blackmail them on all sorts of other stuff. They will enact privacy laws soon enough. But I'd really like tuition free university and weed legalized by the feds first. So we can blackmail them on that and they will eventually figure out how we knew half the republicans have an interest in Ted Cruz erotica.

[@serendipityshopnyc]

@@221b-l3t The real question is: how many who might be interested in Ted Cruz erotica only wanted it to blackmail Ted Cruz with?

[@221b-l3t]

@@serendipityshopnyc I'm sure we could design adds to filter it more precisely. One that frames it as a scandal and one that frames it as the hottest new republican love story or something like that.

[@petercibulskis]

He blackmailed all 538 of them ... 100% and pretty much everyone in DC. ALSO, the fake ads used to collect clicks were ... still can't stop laughing

[@Bookwright]

@@petercibulskis I belive 144 seats are held by women and a few of the men are under 45, but I get your point.

[@margotpreston]

If you've ever been even slightly concerned about government surveillance, then the amount of corporate surveillance we currently live under should terrify you.

[@abbaswanjala8830]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g57bgoVnptdpqJY

[@tgs7515]

Precisely why many of us were laughing at the anti-vaxxers who were so concerned about Bill Gates microchip trackers. There’s nothing a tracker implanted into your body could tell the government that Google already doesn’t know.

[@tishgrier]

The corporate surveillance is incredibly frightening. especially when there is nothing to stop them from gathering the information, and nothing to stop them from using "neural marketing" to target your neediest psychological points. It's like the abusive parent who's installed all the "buttons" that hurt and we have no recourse.

[@chefjdog]

This guy and his hard working team deserve whatever the highest recognition allowed is. Thanks for having our backs John, and everyone on your staff.

[@DubElementMusic]

a BJ ?

[@melissa10603]

I agree

[@bogmummies24]

unfortunately, the highest award in journalism is being murdered by the government

[@chefjdog]

@@bogmummies24 Sadly, this s true.

[@jokervynehahaha5568]

I think Daniel O'Brien, prince of internet comedy, is still one of the comedy voices behind the scenes. His influence is highly evident in the quips, even if just thru his effect on other writers.

[@DaTux91]

"John, darling, it's 2 am, what the hell are you still doing on that computer?? And don't you lie to me!" "I'll be with you in a minute, love, I'm nearly done setting up these cookies that'll help me blackmail the US Congress into doing the right thing." "... Alright, I thought you were researching pulp shower heads again."

[@iwantlotads]

little does she know, he was doing both

[@allena_jane]

This show should be called “Man describes a depressing/scary aspect of our economic/legal/policy system and exploits a legal loophole to get people to do something about it Tonight”

[@woody_you_want]

I'm surprised he's never used that before lol

[@sims794]

Man describes all the issues of capitalism WITHOUT blaming capitalism tonight

[@flameangel17]

That was the working title, but they had to shorten so it would fit on websites.

[@kyleglaub6394]

Legalized Blackmail Tonight

[@apollo1573]

@@sims794 believe me I’m not saying capitalism is the best in anyway. But what is the best economic system? I feel like a heavily regulated capitalist system with a liberal leaning democracy is the most fair way

[@h8024]

I like that the show not only show the viewer the problem but also is doing something that can help solve it.

[@blossom357]

I'll have to finish this to see if you're correct, but very often he offers no possible solution and just says "haha doesn't society suck?"

[@govindvivekjoshi]

@@blossom357 almost every topic is divided into the three parts, the third often being "how can we fix this?" So I'm not sure what you're talking about

[@gordonng8090]

Honestly, I like the news and jokes but most of all the absolutely beautiful slurry of fuckery.

[@cinemaparadiso5402]

I think spying on commoners is very good for business, intelligence and politics and most importantly: insuring of no public revolt or rebellion in the making. HOWEVER spying on the elites in Washington DC is EXTREMELY ANTI-SEMITIC

[@karenwillough180]

That’s my favorite part as well.

[@____Wolf]

I do sometimes wonder if HBO has enough material to air a show based entirely on the interactions between the Last Week Tonight research team and HBO's legal department.

[@elyssay3157]

And can they write a song about It? Sorry, that "Eat Shit Bob" number was amazing.

[@Zenologia4673]

I would pay good money for something like that

[@siegetech74]

The network behind "The Larry Sanders Show" absolutely WOULD run this, and I think it could be brilliant.

[@tupsicojose]

I'd watch that... but probably on TLC...

[@John_Weiss]

No kidding!

[@maryumfennick9171]

This episode aired quite awhile ago, and I haven't seen anything happen with this information, nor have the privacy laws concerning our dated really changed. Are we ever going to get a follow up episode with whatever happened with this data he collected? It would be a smash hit.

[@mechengr1731]

He's probably worried he'll have to provide the Ted Cruz fanfic. The dude's an ahole, but I want to know what the fanfic is.

[@katalystkatapatheticalyssa5987]

We're too busy with other kinds of corruption.

[@SmllrOutsde]

John Oliver is serving up some very "I have a special set of skills" vibes - I'm definitely here for it.

[@illumitommy]

He never uses his privacy skills for ballistic family protection devices.

[@rockstarmusic1634]

@@illumitommy kzbin.info/www/bejne/inirloeQd62np5I

[@cheriann6461]

lol. Well put.

[@daisykid3]

More like "My production team and I have a very special set of skills..." if we're giving credit where credit is due, and we should. He and his team did some great work for this segment! And I too am here for it.

[@rockstarmusic1634]

@@daisykid3 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX-manubhMl3fbM kzbin.info/www/bejne/inirloeQd62np5I

[@HomemdaFaina]

This. This is peak journalism. I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd say that about an evening show, but that is where we are at right now. Honestly, John Oliver, keep doing the good work. Literally.

[@edgarrodriguez9753]

You're right. It's sad. That so-called comedy shows do better journalism. Than CNN FOX ect.

[@INF1NI73]

A lot of my friends will turn their nose up at literally any MSM late-night host. Their loss.

[@Dr.Spatula]

"Journalism." Most of what they do is collect stories from actual journalists. Pretty sure he even did an episode on it

[@sophiet8939]

@@Dr.Spatula he vigorously insists that his work is not journalism and it is an affront to journalists to call it that

[@KConny]

I believe the part you like is not journalism but rather activism.

[@jkbuckeye1]

This is the most badass thing John Oliver has ever done. It is insane that they even have time to pull all this shit off, but I love that he not only exposes the problem but leads the charge to take it down

[@Zenologia4673]

Gonna say the most badass thing he’s done is “eat shit bob” but this is a close second

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

Hey are you going to the secret meeting this week?

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

There was also the week he set up an automated telemarketing system to call the FCC commissioners continuously until they made robocallers illegal.

[@mostlyimportant4212]

@@AlexandarHullRichter Did that actually work

[@donanthebarbarian5177]

@@mostlyimportant4212 not yet... But I'm pretty sure the robocaller is easy enough to maintain that he's probably still got it running. And thanks to how easy it was for him to find congressmen information this week is probably still reaching the fcc commissioners even if they've changed their phone numbers.

[@altarancho]

Pretty rad how Jon actually took action at the end. I was fully expecting to just feel depressed and hopeless after watching but that is really cool thx jon.

[@RealBenda]

John just legally blackmailed the US government. The chad energy is off the charts!!!

[@SealFormulaMaster]

He didn't blackmail the US Government. He manillamailed them.

[@mgpars01]

No, doesn't matter how he got the information, blackmail is blackmail, he better be careful.

[@FelixUmbra]

@@mgpars01 And? The government SHOULD be afraid of it's people. How else are the people going to get what the people want from the government? The fact that you honestly believe that Blackmailing government officials with their browsing data is so off the deep end that it shouldn't be allowed? (Data that they themselves have likely allowed companies to keep gathering) Welcome to your first fucking steps to the hypocrisy of the US Government.

[@markfisher6404]

@@mgpars01 there was no blackmail, just a painfully funny bit

[@ktheshow4391]

@@mgpars01 Not really. Blackmail is using information that is not widely known, and that is illegally attained. This information here at current, because the powers that be choose, is currently perfectly legal to obtain, and available to anyone to purchase. Really rather disgusting and someone should really do something about it.

[@algebrainz5989]

I love his villain arc, the progression from rat erotica to digitally blacking congressmen was shockingly steady and logical

[@NightZoneDE]

Rat erotica...? I'm concerned

[@AdrianColley]

We can't say we didn't see it coming. Game of Thrones producers, take note!

[@Tinky1rs]

@@NightZoneDE brian sword's surfacing (the art piece in question) was showed on this show in march 2020 I think.

[@Scribbled_Death]

I would also say him doing a whole mini episode hating on Pom Wonderful after reciving a fridge of the stuff was a special step into his villian arch.

[@karinemw]

Less like a villain arc and more like late-stage capitalism Robin Hood.

[@anttimikkonen1870]

John Oliver in 2019: Haha, we baked this huge horse cake to piss off a dictator! John Oliver in 2022: In this dossier, I have the internet search histories of everyone in Congress. Unless they pass a data protection law, I might do something with them...

[@aamirsohail991]

GIGA CHAD

[@boRegah]

Legend

[@SuperSpidey313]

All the men at least. LOL

[@enriquemoranmartunez6736]

This resembles a south park episode with the troll hunter plot 😉.

[@soeloasis1900]

I just don't feel that they went far enough. "We might do something with this information." Do something instead. Congress won't act unless there is something already affecting them.

[@andydyer6591]

21:50 I love just how quickly the audience worked out where John was going with this.

[@TheTherapistGamer]

Sadly John missed one of the most important dynamics of this issue: your data isn't just used to learn about you, it is used to MANIPULATE you. Many ads you see aren't even designed to be clicked on, but rather they exist just to be seen so they can send you a message. If a person keeps seeing ads like "Do you agree with Joe Biden's restrictions on guns?" it sends them a message - even though the underlying premise is completely fabricated, and the ads are never clicked. Come voting season many people have formed opinions about politicians informed purely on BS ads. This was widely seen as being a major tactic of manipulation during the 2016 and 2020 US elections. What's more, foreign hostile governments (such as Russia) are using these kinds of tools simply to sow discord within the US - they want people to be more and more extreme because that leads to societal instability.

[@ktj6796]

Dang you're right. Oh crap. Worst time line, here we come.

[@Rick-Rarick]

Great point!

[@wayfaring_stranger_]

You're exactly right and the manipulation aspect needs to be escalated as a major concern.

[@apollomars1678]

and to create distrust to a politician and to the whole political system in general, by claiming an incorrect claim to be an actual position of people. *The actual danger is the narrative* For example "wokeness". the large majority of people are not woke and even see the whole term with hostility and open hate. It became a scapegoat to call other disliked and potential options to be "woke" to thereby brand these options in general as bad. Wokeness got a bad narrative stamped to this term, maybe just on the internet. Another example would be the actual Russians, who would support the War of Putin in Ukraine. these Russians are stupidly rare, the majority simply don't care about this war and just agree with Russian politics, because they don't want to have a problem, they worry more about a damn sugar shortage in the local supermarket. and even the soldiers right now in Ukraine are often pissed about Putin and his war, while "fighting for him". But the whole subject is a war and thereby enforce an easy to understand NARRATIVE of THESE GOOD GUYS and US and THESE BAD ONES. In reality the Russian people don't want to make an European war, there are just some political influential people in power in Russia, who perverted Russian politics to a degree, that they will invade their neighbour countries. Or a more personal notch. In reality the American people didn't wanted to invade Iraq, there were just some political influential people in power in the USA, who perverted US traditions to a degree, that they were able to lead US soldiers into an invasion of a far away nation in Asia. Narratives are dangerous. social instability is not even close to the narratives and their dangerous effects on humans.

[@haberdasherrykr8886]

Swindling 101

[@Universal_exports87]

"SLEEP WELL!!!!" Legendary quote in a long line of Journalists. Thanks for everything with this to everyone on John Oliver's Team and him himself.

[@Universal_exports87]

@Cassie I really hope he follows up on this, I have the screenshots to prove his case on my own personal level of experiencing this.

[@mickyvionsellinas6743]

hes an obnoxious little toady . end of!

[@paulallen3753]

@@Universal_exports87 watching this a few months later. anyone update on this? maybe it will be revisited at the season finale, but that's wishful thinking

[@Universal_exports87]

#screenshot

[@DrowSorcerer]

I can only imagine how that meeting went. HBO: So, for this episode you need... actually this is not so much money. What's the plan? LWT: To collect data from the congress in order to blackmail them HBO: ...Come again?? LWT: Oh, don't worry, it's perfectly legal *HBO exec looks desperately to the lawyer who just smiles and gives a thumbs up HBO: I don't even know why i ask... Funds granted.

[@juanansi]

😂🤣

[@anne637i]

I wish I could like this twice! 😂

[@tubensalat1453]

@@anne637i 'Can YOU vote twice' ad coming your way.

[@leeks1408]

How long will it take for HBO to be like “I’m not even shocked anymore by your outlandish requests-just take the fucking money.” 🤣🤣🤣

[@goroakechi6126]

HBO’s legal executive had to sign off on the Eat Shit Bob song. He’s in way too deep to say no.

[@emanuels4961]

I can't even stop re-watching these older ones. Absolutely brilliant!

[@wisleylau3149]

John Oliver has reached the level of threatening the US government. And it only took nine seasons and seven episodes to achieve that

[@Marijuanifornia]

If anyone would watch the 1942 USDA video *Hemp For Victory,* all of you would threaten the US government.

[@aserta]

And the void. Don't forget about the void.

[@HowToChangeName]

He can threaten At&t and foreign dictator, of course he can threaten whole US government

[@oliverboisen7475]

I mean when you get a socio-political effect named after you, you know you're doing good 😂

[@mcshadow5000]

He's really opened the floodgates here

[@dmcinnis23]

Between the truckers exposé and now this, I'm convinced Oliver has become the most important muckraker of the 21st century. This is what a solid research team with a show can do.

[@roguebantha7324]

The channel Some More News does roughly the same quality research on similar topics, just less budget and different humor

[@rico76]

@@roguebantha7324 Excellent, Oliver set the example and I'd bet he's not mad others are doing the same thing. Competition keeps everyone sharp here.

[@ximecreature]

I just finished a paper over that very subject from a business law perspective (mainly european law). Sometimes you do something and you get ads for it, but having a Last Week Tonight episode is a whole another level.

[@espnoberg6130]

You’re getting targeted episodes instead of targeted ads :)

[@joshuavissers9139]

What was the paper?

[@timb1990]

I would understand you don't want to share the paper on here due to privacy, but is there a way you can send it to me privately?

[@BeRandom2012]

I'm a little more curious when you're suggested products you've only thought about, and haven't actually talked about that day; how the hell do they do that?

[@DaDunge]

@@BeRandom2012 No idea, but it's the reverse for me. I almost never get commercials I care the least about.

[@vesperiadragon3221]

So sickening that nothing ever came out of this. Our attention span as a collective whole is always so easily exploited.

[@JustAnotherNorthman]

Really, nothing happened? That should be impossible! I have no reason to doubt you, except for for my strong hope that something would and will be done. Maybe LWT will simply have to step up their game on this one.

[@liam6550]

If they de anonymised the congressmen it may have done more

[@geekgirl_luv4262]

@@liam6550That would be doxxing which is actually illegal, so unfortunately they couldn’t have done that.

[@liam6550]

​@@geekgirl_luv4262if you recognise a person from data that was legally sold to you along with what they've done, I wouldn't think that would be considered doxxing

[@CivilWarMan]

Just a friendly reminder that collating massive amounts of publicly available data obtained by brokers and then analyzing that data in order to build user profiles and organize them into specific categories, all for the purpose of identifying a demographic to be targeted by a special program, is literally the villains' plan in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

[@Juscallmemav]

Hail Hydra

[@jaquanpowell4605]

Hail Hydra ✊✊

[@DevilGeneImbued]

LMAO That’s literally the most amazing comment here. Winter Soldier is one of my favorite movies and I just- I need to go watch it again now

[@blackswanmtg]

I'm sorry, what was your name again? Let me just write that down here..... (hail Hydra).

[@EduPotvin]

My freaking goodness, you're right! And it was enough to make Goody Two Shoes Cap begin to distrust his own agency and the government.

[@KurtI2525]

In the old days, there were “crusading journalists.” Jon Oliver is the heir to that. Bravo!

[@narfle]

Did you click any of those 3 ads recently? Do you think the legislators are able to either remember as much, or purchase (for i guess 45 usd) the datasets to see if they did? He ruined his own threat. It almost feels like its bread and circus. Throw some "haha yeah, we got you!" to the masses under foot and they will feel smug and satisfied, instead of rebellious. Why actually SHOW the ads he phished with? Why not say "we ran a large amount of unspecified ads to gain access to entirely legal identifiable information"? The doubt would seal the deal and legislation protecting the citizens would be rushed through faster than a microwave tv dinner. Anyone with any related aptitude should be able to tell you how this "attack" was an entirely performative non-attack, that took a lot of added work to be understood as toothless. Crusade indeed.

[@NawidN]

@@narfle I have the related aptitude. You're wrong. Lucky for me the original assertion, therefore burden of proof, is yours.

[@elyssay3157]

@@narfle but now the people who clicked on those ads (or think they might have) are nervous. John and his crew can always use more ads, in the future. Hell, they probably already are.

[@deggy42]

@@narfle It's important to remember (and I don't think John did a good job of pointing this out, either) that you don't have to have clicked on the ads for the folder to contain your information. They got a list of "users likely to be government officials" and aimed the ads at those people, but the other information included in that list is still available even if they didn't click. Honestly I think the whole segment, while funny, could have been handled better. The Internet tracks you, even if you don't click on dumb funny ads, and de-anonymizing users isn't a thing that happens because the user was careless. Acting like people whose data is sold down the river "just needed to not click sketchy ads" verges on victim-blaming.

[@thomthom6268]

@@narfle you're right. It was a performative nonattack... with a different purpose than attack. Just to demonstrate it can be done. Which he did with great success, in one the most highly educated neighborhoods in the nation.

[@haydenwallis6708]

John is really starting to embrace his anti-hero arc and I'm living for it

[@BenState]

you new here?

[@mickyvionsellinas6743]

journos are supposed to be impartial , and report facts. he does neither ; his ego's bigger 'n a house mind . no wonder he high tailed it outta England sharpish

[@BenState]

@@mickyvionsellinas6743 he's not a journalist. he's a comedian. nice try muppet.

[@olddecimal2736]

The only journalists left today are the “comedians”. Won’t be long before they can’t slip through the cracks anymore either…

[@Mech299]

Anti-hero nothing. This man's a straight up hero, he just doesn't wait for people to do the job for him.

[@Lend630]

This is an absolute gem of an episode. Well done John.

[@suenzhong7891]

I've got nothing but pure admiration for John Oliver and his team.

[@mikek9297]

True. Publicly blackmailing Washington insiders takes some balls.

[@joeyhahm713]

Maybe John Oliver may want to make a venn-diagram for how many of those people looked up Child-Pornography... hmm.... i wonder how many hits.....

[@0m13]

I am embarrassed to say I used to work for one of these companies. Not my proudest moment, but I was also at a low point in my life and desperately needed a change. But I am also proud to say that one of the features I was helping implement was in response to European GDPR and California's CCPA: the right to opt out and be forgotten. They would whine about how expensive it is to implement such things; I helped reduce those costs. Whatever John says here is spot on -- the groups he is talking about are called "segments" (related to market segmentation). These companies know EVERYTHING about you -- while most of the data is "anonymised", security and access control are extremely lax. A motivated, savvy employee could easily find out EVERYTHING about your online behavior. Here's my advice to protect yourself somewhat -- 1. Always disable third-party cookies in your browser settings; Use Microsoft Edge or Firefox over Google Chrome. 2. Prefer Apple (iOS) over Google (Android) -- Google's entire business model is based around targeted ads. 3. Do not give permissions to your app to see your location other than when functionally necessary (e.g. when using maps) 4. Opt in to always clear cookies when you exit the browser. This is slightly inconvenient because you may need to sign into your e-mail every time -- but using a password manager (LastPass, 1Password, etc) makes things easier. Bonus Point: 5. DO NOT SEND YOUR DNA SAMPLES TO 23&ME and other such companies. Your personal health info is guaranteed to be abused.

[@petercibulskis]

Don't be embarrased ... there are MUCH worse jobs. trump's fluffer, lindey's cheeto dust remover, WH janitor on the east wing. I spent all my career at IRI and Nielsen. We know what you bought and how much you paid for it. We know what you watch and for how long. And people pay us MONEY. shrug I prefer the ads that I get because they know me better ... isn't that worth it??

[@skymart9609]

I'm a pretty green software dev that is interested in learning more about how ordinary people could also do similar things to help motivate certain people. Do you know of any educational resources?

[@amaris1147]

Thanks so much

[@JRexRegis]

Another point for 5 - your DNA data can be used to find any potential or undetected genetic diseases you may have. That one is especially fucked up, because these companies will sit on that knowledge until you actually get sick and then use it to play targeted ads for medicine against the known symptoms, which can stop you from going to a doctor in time and lead to your death. For example, if your DNA shows a proprensity for breast cancer, you may begin seeing ads for painkillers or heat pads as the pain sets in and not visit a doctor in time to get the tumors removed before the cancer spreads.

[@amaris1147]

@@JRexRegis oh my god! I sincerely hope that congress or the president puts forward a law to stop these haenus practices, this is a sick invasion of privacy. This also reminds me of the poor elderly religious community that get preyed on by televangelists telling them not to go to the doctor for a life threatening illness because the power of Jesus will save them. (Now I’m Agnostic but I believe that anyone is allowed to believe what they want as long as they are not harming, harassing, or shaming others) but televangelists and these businesses practices are obviously preying on the weak and in informed, so I thank you for your input

[@SuperLadyDanger]

Here's to seeing if the aftermath of this episode gets John Oliver more awards!! It's absolutely fantastic when he ramps things up & ends on a fabulously high note!

[@petercibulskis]

mhmmm cause you KNEW that he did ... you KNEW that he ... got data ... and not just ANY DATA .... but whew .....

[@davidandadamplaygamesphelp3601]

More awards or at the end of a bedsheet. Time will tell

[@RenaRain]

God bless John Oliver's staff. I haven't laughed so hard as I did in the last four minutes of this video in a long time.

[@smzqubadi8371]

I was truly having a blast the last 4 minutes 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@theoconnor2651]

John Oliver needs to win all the awards for Late Night Talk Shows. The others talk about issues, while he is trying to do something about those issues

[@martinrotvig]

He usually already wins everything, have since they started this show.

[@theoconnor2651]

@@martinrotvig that’s true. Well deserved in my opinion

[@blackswanmtg]

He already does, much to Stephen Colbert's chagrin.

[@GreeceUranusPutin]

Except it's not a late night talk show. No pointless interviews with authors, actors or musicians. No promoting other shows or products on the network. Just investigative journalism and exposing crooks and liars, once a week.

[@Notimp0rtant523]

@@blackswanmtg to be fair I’d argue Stephen deserves at least one

[@xxtokenxx]

Years of watching this show there are two take-aways, if you give Johnny money he will 1) buy the most random of things because he can 2) use it to do some creepy, yet somehow legal, stuff and use it to drive home a point or solve a pressing issue

[@ziziroberts8041]

Where there's a will, there's a way. Bravo, John Oliver. Creepy? No. Josh Hawley is creepy.

[@spongeintheshoe]

Usually a point about the creepy stuff in question being legal in the first place.

[@jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491]

no, sweetie: it is not that simple. surely you don't beleive that , dó you ?

[@anthonysaylor8120]

Jesus christ, this is easily the ballsiest stunt John has ever pulled. _And I want to see exactly where this chaos goes._

[@Coolsomeone234]

He legally wouldn't be able to go any further

[@alexcrouse]

@@Coolsomeone234incorrect. He could publish all that data, or even do the work deanonymizing it and then publish, completely legally. There are just ZERO protections in this area.

[@tanek_09]

@@Coolsomeone234 If he can't, how are the other companies able to? Could he, for instance, sell that information on to other advertisers? Let them know which IP addresses in the DC area might be interested in getting bombarded with ads for 50 Shades of Cruz? Could news organizations buy the data and then do their own investigations? If they can't, then the law needs to crack down on the companies that do such things. If they can...well, that would prove the point, no?

[@efuii]

@@Coolsomeone234 you didn't watched the video, did you? Or you are simply functionally illiterate...

[@MobehTaBlues]

@@Coolsomeone234 seeing that millions of companies do it every 5 secs.. what makes you think he cant

[@daniamadrid3657]

I’ll reiterate it AGAIN, I’ve learned SO MUCH - besides laughing myself silly many times - about the scary, even dangerous situations that exist around us that most of us are totally ignorant about. I sustained an irreversible health situation that could have been prevented had I been able to find when I attempted to learn information on a particular doctor. I found nothing and consequently, I lost the vision of my right eye. It was heartbreaking because it was determined to be ‘an innocent mistake’ by that doctor. In fact, I was ‘the innocent person’ of his mistake. Thank you for calling out what ‘others in position to do the right thing’ don’t ‼️Never stop, please ❤

[@mariasato2884]

Weirdly proud of you and your whole team for doing this. Really became a citizen and just said “welp let’s clean up some”

[@Foodgeek]

Isn't that exactly what a good citizen does? That's what we're taught in school here in Denmark :)

[@LucidDreamer54321]

Nobody is safe from this - not even people who don’t use computers, such as Amish and Old Order Mennonites. These people tend to do a lot of their shopping from catalogs (because they often live in rural areas and can’t shop online). The catalog companies sell lists of customer’s names and addresses along with information about what kinds of products each person tends to buy.

[@CaptainOnePocket]

Oh no! The Amish and Mennonites!! As soon as their state representatives find out about that things will certainly be changing! Everyone knows that the Amish and the Mennonites have a huge lobby group in D.C. I'm pretty sure it's 2x bigger than A.L.E.C. (j/k - I get your point... nobody is immune. Good on ya-).

[@laurendoe168]

This tracking began even before the internet, and continues today - customer loyalty cards.

[@ellemarr7234]

Holy h*** I completely forgot about that … this is actually pretty similar to a marketing scheme ran by a Real Housewife although she’s under federal indictment but the lines are very blurred, clearly

[@nickyliu8762]

Great. But how much exactly, you think, is that kinda information worth? If they aren't online, you can't send them targeted ads. You think, someone will pay big time money for the info and hire a door-to-door salesman and try to sell them some small time money item, even though they already do their business with the catalog company? Does a shopping list tell you their political thoughts?

[@robertfry6783]

So that scenario has literally been around 100+ years. Just saying.

[@TheLastWalenta]

John Oliver is an ever-growing legend. National treasure.

[@nemo9540]

I had some idea that I was being tracked online but I never really paid much attention especially to cookies till I watched this episode. I actually scrolled down a list of third party companies from just one online news report and it took me nearly 2 minutes to scroll through them all and click ddcline. I've installed security, a vpn and I now refuse all cookies when I can and delete my history, cookies every day and I've changed my search engine to duck duck go. I feel a little more secure online now so thanks John.

[@BrotherKnowledge.]

I can only imagine how *quickly* HBO got *the entire Legal Department* to comb over this episode before airing it!! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 This is the *greatest episode* they have ever produced!! 🤣🤣

[@Coolsomeone234]

He definitely wasn't allowed to label specific people because of the legal team

[@wolframstahl1263]

@@Coolsomeone234 We all know that he wanted to, and it's not unlikely that he could have.

[@greendragonpublishing]

I did notice he only mentioned 'men' in the congress bit...

[@connorh2215]

@@greendragonpublishing well they only searched for men.

[@NapFloridian]

@@greendragonpublishing Mitch McConnell ?

[@dimitrihondroulis9986]

I love John Oliver, he's shedding light on something we in the IT world have been trying to get people to recognize for a long time.

[@quequotion6862]

For real, at first I was a little disappointed because I have been hopelessly watching people ignore my advice about disabling third party cookies and making even the slightest attempt to understand what they are clicking before they do whatever they think will make the popup go away fastest. Telling people how to solve their problems doesn't work. Giving congress insomnia however, might just get them to do something about it for all the people who can't do anything for themselves.

[@ToyKeeper]

Yeah. I can limit the amount of data I leak personally... but that does nothing for the vast majority of people who don't care or don't know how. This stuff needs to be solved at an architectural level, not a personal level.

[@oxymedia4188]

@@quequotion6862 kzbin.info/www/bejne/apm1fJWofblsftE

[@asiabrew81]

Ah IT guys, the Cassandra's of tech for decades.

[@CoreDump451]

Lol, Stallman has been warning us since the 90s

[@JABRIEL251]

"When Congress's own privacy is at risk, they somehow find a way to act", I'm so shocked...

[@troublemakervillegas2515]

It’s funny how this is pretty much the only way you can get Congress to have bilateral support for any bill. It has to affect the billionaires and multimillionaire for them to do anything for us. Kinda sad. So I hope he lets there data fly. Hell sell it to the next presidential candidate see if we can really get some juicy news out of this!

[@shirleyulmer5290]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYuccqZpmppraqs

[@rockstarmusic1634]

@@annakamura2971 kzbin.info/www/bejne/inirloeQd62np5I

[@gilbertoflores7397]

They took immediate action when congress people were privately recorded against their knowledge to accepting bribes by lobbies and large donors, behind closed doors. Rather than oust the corruption, they passed a bill making it illegal with harsh penalties and making it almost inadmissible in court if they're being recorded doing corrupt things.

[@ronami3176]

Wow! I love that you don‘t just practice investigative journalism but also take action!!! Thank you!

[@wiljamesroe]

I feel like John Oliver should keep gathering more data, expanding on the information collected, and releasing more and more until they feel the same as everyone else and actually do something.

[@alexia3552]

yes, it was only after that congressman got his video rental history exposed that congress did something

[@sydposting]

I mean, that's just the Scientific Method! I sincerely hope they continue to follow through as they have with other "bits."

[@tomiantenna7279]

Maybe we should do that. Apparently data comes very cheap.

[@trevorkopf-johnson5288]

Just keep adding more and more manila envelopes & stack them on the desk like t**** & his folders

[@danielseaburg9763]

i mean, we told you about the clinton emails, we told you about hunter bidens 3 laptops, but you just reee'd ''conspiracy theorist''. The truth is out there, you just gotta stop being pig ignorant about it.

[@mickcollins1921]

This crusade needs to be doubled-down on bigtime. Run all sorts or campaigns and scare the shit out of all of them. This backdoor guerilla lobbying is beautiful.

[@mattfetter4123]

I encourage it!

[@tomiantenna7279]

yeah not so fun when it's *your* back door getting burgled now is it!

[@heidizetzsche8930]

Guerilla lobbying is a beautiful term

[@MountainMan7.62x39]

@@tomiantenna7279 u offering? I'll bring the wine

[@tomiantenna7279]

@@MountainMan7.62x39 I don't swing that way, but hey, free wine is free wine!

[@lauren8135]

In nursing school I googled so many facts about different illnesses that I was getting adds for schizophrenia meds, antivirals, Parkinson’s drugs, and diabetes oral meds, ALS research trial volunteer opportunities and hypertension meds. The bots at that point thought I was probably not long for this world.

[@Onigirli]

The bots really do care :')

[@davidbrown8546]

"Quick, sell her something before she dies!"

[@mhagnew]

@@davidbrown8546 Except life insurance!

[@kaylagonzalez3465]

Respiratory therapist, came to the comments to say the same thing. Pretty sure bots just think I have no lungs at all at this point.

[@Hornswroggle]

I mean... I'd worry if the started showing me ads for caskets...

[@nandobeatsmusic369]

My favorite thing about his show is how he proves to the people that his information is fact and puts it to work it’s truly a form of art

[@cloud__99]

The moment John takes on that calm predatory smile and you realise he’s pulled another masterpiece of a stunt 😂

[@maebandy]

Chaotic greatness grin

[@VicJang]

The best LWT episode ever. Period. This is freaking awesome. John Oliver and his team really did an amazing job in this one!

[@darthsader7089]

I mean I think the episode where he yelled "Fuck you Oprah!" is still the best

[@dinolandra]

idk cuz that SLAPP suit episode with the musical number is unforgettable

[@arttursh8324]

Have to agree. This is a critical issue.

[@twonumber22]

Better than Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption? No way

[@derikderik8063]

Wrong. Not funny.

[@brokenrecords123]

This is my absolute favourite way so far that John Oliver’s given a middle finger to the people who abuse their positions to exacerbate a social issue. I thought nothing could top the Eat Shit Bob musical number or the giant cake with a humiliating drawing on it, but I’m happy to be proven wrong😁

[@asnaghall]

@Frisco Language School only one way to find out, and that's to try

[@bwianeh]

John Oliver is the hero we need and deserve. Thank you 🙂✌💚🇨🇦⛰

[@aelastain3354]

The segment before this was amazing, with John going into why OAN was getting dropped by DirectTV (who is owned by AT&T) and when he said that particular bit of info, said “since AT&T no longer owns us as of Friday, I can say so long business daddy and do this (proceeds to give double birds) and this is two bars more then you’ll ever have.” So epic lmao.

[@username-unavailable]

I'm so fucking happy My parents have direct TV and they watch that garbage on the regular My dab was drunk watching it yelling at the tv when I came over the other day

[@cinemaparadiso5402]

Well, global surveillance is a Semitic dogma and zi0nis t industry .. privacy laws and measures are extremely anti-semitic ..

[@thisisntsergio1352]

Johnny's acting up again!

[@bsbazzman]

Neofascist Vin Diesel 😂😂

[@Dreamprism]

For a moment I was thinking "good thing I get a free HBO subscription through my AT&T account so I can watch that segment", but then I realized if AT&T doesn't own HBO anymore then I might not have that subscription anymore.

[@graefx]

I think it was Edward Snowden that said we have a backwards understanding of privacy. It's not up to citizens to prove to the government why we need privacy, it's up to the government to prove to us why we don't.

[@maebandy]

Yeah, they get so dramatic in presenting their case before the court though. Buying experts, bribing juries, planting fake wmds. Starting celebrity dumpster fires in the back of the courtroom for distraction. Ruining the jury pool with biased media coverage. Hiring copycat terrorists and privacy boogeymen to cause culprit confusion. They use the same law firm that big pharma uses to crush cancer plaintiffs but they do it with our money. I don't need proof of why they rationalize stealing my privacy, I need rationale on why we don't just buy out and breakup the company.

[@heyhorinshi]

That ship has sailed… there’s still time to do something, in most places at least

[@petterolsenpettersen5801]

As much as I admire Snowden; he has an American perspective and background, which is loaded with so much convoluted non sense and political gibberish that it seems better to just do plain speak. Sadly, Americans believe in arbitrary bullshit like the Constitution. You can't seem to wake up to the fact that your so called bill of Rights, is just a bunch of bullshit which was never meant to mean what you think it was supposed to mean. Like seriously, a group of slave owners claiming "all men are created equal". You were fooled by abstractions and ideas which have zero correlation with reality. Instead of making sure people in power are good people, you fight over these made up, bullshit abstractions, which mean nothing in actual practice.

[@maryrosekent8223]

Edward Snowden is an American hero!

[@TimewiseChubert]

We must protect Mr.Oliver at all cost. He’s a national treasure.

[@queenbeezbuzz9038]

100%

[@roryjineffect]

A true American Patriot

[@sagesam1951]

*international? Since he's not actually from here?

[@Demonstraction]

@@sagesam1951 he is a US citizen now

[@zigfaust]

He's a GLOBAL treasure, sir.

[@hobojesus6288]

IF THE SERVICE IS FREE, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT

[@leightonmaarman1721]

Desperate times call for desperate measures. John Oliver is a bad ass.

[@Oscillatemusic]

Yeah Just wish he had confirmed members of congress and released the info.

[@jellyskelly9043]

@@Oscillatemusic well you know the old sayings “You know who you are” and “you know what you did”

Too bad he couldn't become President. 😊

[@elyssay3157]

@@Oscillatemusic saying two ads were clicked from the Capitol building is basically saying they got someone in Congress.

[@Oscillatemusic]

@Removaly and how much does that cost

[@anthonyhuhn3882]

John Oliver is a national treasure, we are never giving him back, we need him way more than the UK does

[@sidarthur8706]

us brits never appreciated him. you deserve him more. cherish him

[@jjcoola998]

The Brit’s have a functional society it appears, or at least can go to a dentist or doctor without missing rent or going broke

[@davidbeppler3032]

@@jjcoola998 I have seen British teeth.... none of you go to the dentist. Don't lie about it.

[@moneymike5549]

@@davidbeppler3032 as I was reading their comment I was literally gearing up to write your comment lol

[@dafphtthedislikeupdater7836]

@@davidbeppler3032 it's just nice to have the option

[@LizFromDecencyUnited]

Whoever approves John Oliver's budget is doing a stellar job!

[@rring44]

It was probably relatively cheap to get all of that info and run those ads.

[@sunray501]

@@rring44 it's not so much the amount as what they allow to count as 'research' or something :) Other episodes have had some ridiculous purchases too But also yes, the data prob was cheap, sadly

[@niklasheuser1706]

This very possibly also never actually happened. Very easy to just draw a circle, add lots of faces and pretend.

[@josue_mejia]

@@niklasheuser1706 r/NothingEverHappens

[@ChipJohnson]

I'm almost positive that at this point HBO just gives him a blank check.

[@DavidMathis-RakuGoku]

We DESPERATELY need a part 2 with them now officially passing the tiktok ban❤

[@krejados1]

I, an EU resident, am profoundly grateful for the opt out opportunities. I click on every single reject option, particularly the long list of legitimate interest options - which, by the way, is another sneaky way harvesters attempt to gain access to your data.

[@fg3ify]

You can use the addon „I don’t care about Cookies“ which automatically clicks the right option for you in the background!

[@steemlenn8797]

@@fg3ify Do they track you and sell you data? If you jave not confirmed that... let's just say it happened.

[@JJ-ze6vb]

Hate that the law is written so open ended that trackers can hide all the options in kafkaesk opt out menues. The law should have stated that “don’t track anything” is the default

[@samokimajglavom]

I've found on some websites that they put only two options - "accept all" and "find out more", but if you click the latter you have a "reject all" so it's literally just one click more but it's hidden behind a button no one is interested in

[@maximilianw4354]

@@JJ-ze6vb That’s actually against GDPR. GDPR says opting out should be just as easy as opting in and slowly most sites are catching up with that

[@MAASamador]

I am so glad he is talking about this! As a data scientist, I tell everyone about this and they are all surprised no one is yelling this from the rooftops.

[@DonOblivious]

It's absurd in a way. Like, it's trivial to get a Facebook ad for a targeted area, which is almost certainly what they did. That's like suuuuuuper low tier targeted advertising. You and I, as consumers, have access to that level of targeting. Facebook will literally let you target that close if you wanted to get more members to join your local Bridge club and play cards. You don't need permission or anything, you can just throw up an ad and be like "only show this Bridge Club ad to people in my city." Companies that are serious about finding ways to reach congress people will literally take out ads on the bus lines congress people use or in the lobby of the airlines they use or place billboards on the route they drive to work. If you're ever in DC and see an ad for like some weird Raytheon weapon system, that's what's happening. They will literally target some congress person on their commute and show the ads to like millions of people in the hope that the single person they are targeting notices it. It literally doesn't matter to them if they pay for 20 million views as long as they get that single vote to authorize the new system in the defense budget.

[@luciflash]

Do you know if it's the same situation in Europe?

[@james_giant_peach]

I agree but most people don’t care because they are not public figures. Like I could care less if someone knew my private search history

[@maxxtrollster4730]

Ya bro if the majority of the population was in cs this wouldn’t be an issue lmao

[@ShayerSUtsho]

They all say you're the one who's crazy and paranoid.

[@Jabrils]

If John Oliver disappears, we all will know why 👀👀👀

[@misterjoey3384]

And if he disappears, his staff will reveal our politicians looking at child porn.

[@SandreXen]

well, he just gave a lot of info how to do exactly the same on a show of high audience... At this point, making him disappear would be of no value. nearly any group a little organised and ready to pay a little thing can do exactly that. regulation is pretty much the only solution, that and "i heard nothing, lalala"

[@roid1510]

Oh hey Jabrils😃

[@chrisprilloisebola]

@@SandreXen it was a joke sweety

[@SandreXen]

@@chrisprilloisebola I love to respond seriously to joke, that is me. Juste wanted to underline the fact that a lot of people can do what he did.

[@Ghargr18]

This is objectively terrifying, but the implications of this getting used in a post-Roe world is horrifying

[@anjsjaafffjs]

How?

[@ShuRugal]

@@anjsjaafffjs This just in, Forida and Texas have teamed up to pass laws making it illegal to research abortion services out of state, and to purchase user data on everyone within their states who has done so.

[@anjsjaafffjs]

@@ShuRugal oh okay I see

[@magimerlyn9596]

@@anjsjaafffjs and even if a person had a natural miscarriage, if they used a period tracking app, a couple of nonexistent cycles followed by a return to regular cycles (oversimplified for sake of argument) looks the same wether someone experienced a horrible tragedy, or just had an illegal abortion, and if the government got that data they could then charge them with terminating a pregnancy

[@ivand0007]

Shut up

[@AdMiKa]

When John says “They [Congress] are not entirely aware of just how easy it is for anyone, and I do mean anyone, to get their personal information”, you can hear a few members of the audience groan, as if to say, “Oh John, what shenanigans have you been up to now?

[@kingturboturtlednoc5722]

At this point any time he calls something "too easy" I just assume they already did it

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

That was presicely when my giddiness kicked in too.

[@quequotion6862]

_Oh, Johnny boy, what have you done now?_

[@kareneDallas]

Reminds me of the “Do Not Call” list, which required everyone to register their phone to say they didn’t want spam robo calls. As if not signing up means you automatically want every car warranty company to call you.

[@katalystkatapatheticalyssa5987]

I don't know why they keep calling me since they refuse to put a warranty on my backhoe. If I can put a license plate on it, they should cover it right?

[@Ramsey276one]

1000% THIS

[@Dave-tn3eo]

You do know they sell that list right ? They now know that Number is real and they dont have to guess numbers

[@flavio4923]

lel we also had a similar one in my country that also didn't do anything

[@thoatran2718]

ok

[@johnchessant3012]

If there's anyone for whom "if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear" actually applies, it's the politicians who keep trotting out that tired line. The truth is we all have things we'd rather keep to ourselves. I hope we won't have to find out what's in that manila envelope, but it is the only leverage we have to encourage them to pass that privacy law.

[@Tunnelenjoyer]

Fuck that gimme the envelope

[@awoedey2k]

talk for your yourself, this episode is not over till we see what is in the envelop

[@prabuddhaghosh7022]

Politicians already have opponents doing oppo research on them. They are probably cleaner than the average Joe as their dirt tends to be brought out by their rivals.

[@musingsbymarco5001]

What are you talking about? That envelope is the tip of the iceberg. There can now be millions of "envelopes" since the idea is out there.

[@jonbongjovi1869]

i not only have nothing to hide, I pray the NSA has BACKUPS of everything I ever did on the web! I WISH there was surveillance cameras on me always! because my life is wild, and I can't afford to film every second of every day!

[@ZoomStranger]

Another gem. Many thanks John and team. And yes, I did find and turn off the tracking option on my phone.

[@squirrel8185]

My god he is still a genius. The pure level of fuckery he gets into! This man is a national treasure.

[@ishotmyboss]

I'm pretty sure he didn't come up with this. He's just a great host.

[@squirrel8185]

@@ishotmyboss idk... i this type of shenanigans i only ever see from him. like i know he has writers, just like say Stephen Colbert, or Seth Meyers. but i don't see them consitenly pull stunts like this. witch tells me that either John Oliver just loves to troll, or that one of his writers is responsibull for all this. but being that he pulls this crap with his twiter a lot to, i think the prank like natcher of his show is his influens. but just a gues.

[@brnery]

I’m sorry, he’s an *international* treasure.

[@Deemo202]

@@squirrel8185 A former Cracked writer is part of the writing team so I’m sure that plays a role lol.

[@squirrel8185]

@@Deemo202 yah that kindof makes since 🤣

[@TimeBucks]

Absolutely perfect

[@তালপাতারসিপাহি]

Nice

[@splitorama7390]

This honestly explains why all my ads and other is so inaccurate. As an artist/writer I end up googling a lot of weird stuff for reference that isn't tied to my personal needs and end up with inaccurate ads. Got ads for ball shaving equipment for months as a woman, haha

[@zehlua]

Tumblr?

[@iloveheltondog2357]

@@zehlua literally thought this exactly

[@mothsfavlamp]

Hello other Tumblr user

[@scottsnelling5610]

What's even worse is when targeted ads are "too late". Like, I decided to buy a chair for my desk. (end result, gaming chair that didn't hold up well, but wasn't a bad buy either). I spent about a day browsing, searching, comparing, and then I hit 'buy' Come around 3 days later, and suddenly - for the next MONTH - I'm getting ads for gaming chairs, office chairs, etc. Just annoyed me. I ALREADY BOUGHT. Leave me alone!!! Definitely was a clear sign how much your search history and site history get used to target you with ads. And why I never browse without ad-block software. So even if I'm being targeted, I can remain blissfully oblivious!

[@sehfisch2350]

yeah that's the way. Flood their systems with wrong data, so they can't get a good read on you/ it becomes harder to de-anonymize you. Basically works like chaffe does against radar. If their data shows that you are a white 25 year old pregnant signle male retiree in a happy marriage who is also a veteran of the vietnam war, was part of the black panthers, led the KKK and flew to the moon in a spaceship you built in your sercret underground base in your backyard then that data is as useless as not having any data at all

[@pagirl913.]

I love John Oliver so much! Keep doing what you’re doing!

[@KadirPeker]

I'm always amazed by the topics John Oliver picks, how he investigates them deeply, and how he presents them so engagingly. But the part that I am most impressed by is how he turns the issue into action, how he always proposes a way forward. And it was again an awesome twist at the end that showed ingenuity will find a way.

[@nicole-me2oj]

Yes, but Oliver is the one who would be (and has been) personally targeted by the parties discussed on his show.

[@Disconnected66]

@@iaonyt "just" the messenger in this is pretty diminishing of the fact that the show wouldn't exist without him. He has a whole team behind him that would drastically alter the contents and capabilities of the show if they were replaced, but you can't replace the face. And that's literally just talking about him in a messenger context. You'd have to willfully be ignorant of the efforts and guidance he provides, as well as pretending that just because writers do the writing that it hasn't evolved into that over actually years due to his actions and it has maintained his tone and personality throughout the entire thing. Like all of this is borderline capitalism simping, but there is ultimately extreme evidence on the side of the top figure being extremely important in most businesses or financial ventures, aka CEO's and faces of shows like this etc. Of course the writers and staff are massively important and do amazing work that he couldn't do by himself. But that is always the case when you expand to the levels of even having more people in the first place. What is not always the case is a consistent head of leadership that remains consistent and supportive both internally and externally to the messaging and intent of said business TL;DR blah blah wording makes it easy to say anything, you could say the writers are the messengers and he's the brains if you just said so, doesn't trade or diminish value on either end though.

[@fangofsilver5537]

@@iaonyt Haha, yeah of course he got a team behind him but! writing an essay about it felt a bit overkill. I read the first sentence and, that´ll do donkey, that´ll do😜 (Shrek ref)

[@Disconnected66]

@@iaonyt I actually do know how these shows work. Your inability to read the length of my comment proves you literally have no idea what you're talking about. Don't invite discussion and then run away from it, actual amoeba.

[@profshad3429]

@@iaonyt I think he knows how the show works

[@viclr33]

Hilarious. Hope John Oliver is safe, healthy, and alive next week.

[@misterjoey3384]

If they come for him, I'm sure he's entrusted staff to leak the info.

[@JohnKimbler]

@@misterjoey3384 Hillary has entered the chat... :D

[@clarapilier]

He will be fine. He is under the prayers of his fake wife Wand Jo Oliver and his real wife is army strong. They will protect their British parrot.

[@Franklin0222]

@@misterjoey3384 gonna be an interesting day if they do release the info… times are changing and I’m glad Johnny stood up against the corrupt establishment and exposed them for the trash they are both side*** both have pockets lined with dirty oil money

[@arttursh8324]

@@JohnKimbler ...hope so.

[@Swebliss]

BEST. EPISODE. EVER. Been warning about data brokers for years! Now we will have a surge of people doing just what Oliver did (and probably way more discriminating..) Politicians, time to act fast now because something tells me you wont like this one bit.

[@hab1b1]

What are some data broker examples?

[@shirleyulmer5290]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYuccqZpmppraqs

[@ToyKeeper]

Suddenly, hundreds of people in Guy Fawkes masks trolling Congress.

[@cheryls3224]

I am amazed that people just don't seem to get it. I try to explain this to those around me and I'm accused of being paranoid or entertaining conspiracy theories !! ACK 🙃 But I continued to pound my head against the wall. Thank you LWT.

[@friedchicken739]

This might be the single best episode so far. I can't believe he went this far. Gotta love John Oliver

[@TheAirwolf89]

Regarding the argument: "I have nothing to hide" Consider this: You don't decide what data you publish, the one who analyses the data decides that. Most of the time, the data about you is incomplete or consists only of meta data. But companies and their algorithms extrapolate data from that. So think about it: What is more dangerous? Something someone knows about you, or something someone thinks is true about you and uses that for god knows which puposes?

[@squidcaps4308]

Very good angle, i will steal this. Thanks.

[@DerDervish]

I watched a great talk from a german data scientist who (as preperation for the talk) just collected meta data about a news site and then showed how he could (with what he could validate afterwards) pretty precisely reconstruct the whole internal company structure, even for news article authors who no longer worked there, as well as make out potential couples in the company. All from just meta data about published news articles. The conclusion of that talk still stuck with me to today, it was something along the lines of "You don't decide what data you publish, that is up for your enemy to decide"

[@ElRegulus]

I HATE this argument. It's usually made by people who have never had the unpleasant experience of being treated like garbage by a powerful person who just decided they were doing something wrong.

[@TheAirwolf89]

@@DerDervish That's exactly where I got this from =)

[@DEVIL-kx4ih]

wonder how many VPN companies are collected data right now .

[@donsanders9675]

Thank you for the addition to my curriculum. I'm a high school IT teacher and during my cybersecurity class I go over "digital footprints". My mantra is, "always assume somebody is watching". They think I'm kidding. You just explained the dangers much better than I ever could.

[@gillyonsteam]

I know someone that is a domestic abuse survivor. She had contacted women haven and somehow, her abuser was able to get that information of where she was located and tracked her down to that site (it’s supposed to be unmarked) and beat the shit out of her while she was walking back there. They believe the attacker got the info from an internet search and paid money. The attacker is in jail now. But - you’d be surprised how easy it is to find you especially if you have family.

[@BangBTS]

As they say, if a service is free, you're the product...

[@kayohwai]

John Oliver can commodify me any day if this is what I get in return!

[@Angie24901]

🤯

[@jasonsmith8726]

@@kayohwai If your service goes through AT&T, TMobile/Sprint or Verizon you are being data mined. You pay for those services.

[@Drummerx04]

I don't see any reason a paid service company wouldn't also sell your data UNLESS maybe they specifically state that they don't... but maybe they are lying.

[@applemauzel]

And... If a service is not free, you're the performance bonus...

[@lordlucius1341]

God damn John just took his shenanigans up to 11 with this one, like legitimately blackmailing members in congress in a legal way, if congress actually freaked out and changed the laws to make what he did illegal John Oliver will become an American hero

[@mattmower6370]

I'd argue he already is an American hero :)

[@maebandy]

Well, I think society is late to the game on realizing blackmail and bribery are the only ways to get movement on the board but it is nice to have it parodied on HBO. The issue is we are chaining ourselves to legality because of virtue and morality when dealing with hardened criminals. So do we change our approach or their rule?

[@moomoodefloof]

For those that don’t care about their information being sold: the least you can do is think about how money these companies make off YOUR personal details. At the bare minimum, you should be demanding a cut of those profits EVERY SINGLE TIME your data is sold. Whether it was anonymized or de-anonymized.

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

Think of it in turms of royalties and taxes and what happens if we dodge paying those. Its like walking through continuous clouds of fucking mosquitoes and being unable to prevent them from sucking blood in any way.

[@FREDDIECASH229]

Stream Young Loud

[@Caterfree10]

Honestly THIS. like, bitch I want a cut of that money! At least when survey hawks at the mall catch me, they'll offer a snack or some shit. Which, ya know, THE BAR IS ON THE GROUND.

[@Arionlappy]

Except the cut of the "profits" you're receiving is just free services. Is it equitable? Absolutely not, but instead of having to pay for a doctor, I get to use webMD to self-diagnose and instead of paying for television or a streaming service, I can just watch youtube, and instead of having to pay a travel agent to search for deals or book my flights and travel accommodations, I can do that all through kayak and expedia. Etc Etc. As the domestic violence victim shows, the cost and worth don't add up, but SUPPOSEDLY the free internet is our "cut."

[@shirleyulmer5290]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYuccqZpmppraqs

[@marypatrick5297]

wonderful, wonderful. I'm an avid fan. You always talk to us as if we're grownups and break subjects down for those of us who are TRYING to be grownups. It reminds me of real old time reporting (Walt Cronkite etc.) Thank you to you and your staff & HBO for backing you up. Continued success to you and your family😊