Alex StamosVerified account

@alexstamos

Teaching and researching safe tech at Stanford. Recovering FB CISO. “Less diplomatic on Twitter...” - DigiDay "Minor celebrity Facebook executive..."-Politico

San Francisco, CA
facebook.com/alex.stamos
Joined May 2009
125 Photos and videos Photos and videos

Tweets

You blocked @alexstamos

Are you sure you want to view these Tweets? Viewing Tweets won't unblock @alexstamos

  1. Pinned Tweet
    4 Dec 2018

    The crappy part of freedom is other people having it.

    9 replies 46 retweets 211 likes
    Undo
  2. Retweeted
    12 hours ago

    As 2018 winds down I have one wish for the coming year of 2019. I sincerely hope that my brothers and sisters learn to build each other up rather than tear each other down. We can rise above. Let’s do this.

    9 replies 35 retweets 202 likes
    Undo
  3. 31 Dec 2018

    37,133 people were killed by human-driven vehicles in the US in 2017.

    Waymo self-driving vans have been the target of nearly 2 dozen attacks by the public in Arizona
    8 replies 92 retweets 252 likes
    Undo
  4. Retweeted
    29 Dec 2018

    Me ten years ago, on seeing a poorly designed interface “Wow, what idiot designed this?” Me, today: “What constraints were the team coping with that made this design seem like the best possible solution?” Empathy trumps fundamental attribution errors.

    197 replies 6,464 retweets 29,316 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  5. 29 Dec 2018

    A good piece, well done ! I'm glad you discussed the risk of human infiltration by US adversaries into Silicon Valley companies. Probably the most difficult threat from RU/CN for the tech giants to prepare for.

    My latest: The United States is under siege from foreign governments and malicious hackers. And Silicon Valley’s products are the battlefields where the war is being fought.
    6 replies 30 retweets 96 likes
    Undo
  6. 29 Dec 2018

    I have been wondering whether the Mueller indictment had impacted the ability for the troll farms to recruit new hires with better English. Wondering no longer.

    6 replies 14 retweets 114 likes
    Undo
  7. 29 Dec 2018

    Yes, has some great initial books and they are beautiful in your hand. Kudos, .

    Underhyped new book publisher: . The books are *gorgeous* - the layout, the use of color and attention to detail. They look good on your table. Initial books are 👌 - 's book is the most "SV" but 's and both have fantastic works out there.
    Show this thread
    3 retweets 44 likes
    Undo
  8. Retweeted
    29 Dec 2018

    I actually think OSINT is the future of investigative journalism. More like the present, actually. In combination with data journalism. That said, having been both a reporter and an analyst, I know that journalism and intelligence gathering are close cousins.

    Is OSINT the future of intelligence gathering? I honestly think that whoever designs the AI algorithm to capture and learn from the various threads of OSINT will master the future of intel gathering.
    5 replies 33 retweets 97 likes
    Undo
  9. 28 Dec 2018

    Michal’s diagnosis of the reasons the big tech companies fall down on security/privacy is spot on.

    Thread: there are countless urban legends and misconceptions about the practices of tech companies such as Google and Facebook. In my experience, they take extremely good care of your data; they guard it with zeal that's unmatched by most other players in the industry. (1/9)
    Show this thread
    5 replies 32 retweets 127 likes
    Undo
  10. Retweeted
    28 Dec 2018

    My wish for 2019: legacy media learns to credit smaller, scrappier outlets when they deserve it.

    This is a really impressive story: One impressive part is that it doesn't mention that broke most of this ground, and more, in a massive story four months ago:
    Show this thread
    1 reply 6 retweets 37 likes
    Undo
  11. Retweeted
    28 Dec 2018
    Replying to

    Radiolab podcast covered this topic in August and honestly it did a much more nuanced deep dive into it and I really enjoyed it

    1 retweet 20 likes
    Undo
  12. 28 Dec 2018

    You will never get away from incredibly complex rules for everything in the middle, but I think we would collectively be better off if we allowed certain speakers/speech to exist while focusing on eliminating their access to amplification tools.

    7 replies 5 retweets 69 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  13. 28 Dec 2018

    On the other hand, when a small* group of people who know one another engage in a group chat willingly, there is the least technical amplification and the most concern for privacy. I think it’s reasonable to say that you won’t police these for hateful speech. *defining is hard

    4 replies 2 retweets 20 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  14. 28 Dec 2018

    Advertising systems are the most dangerous because they allow you to amplify your message and to put it in front of potentially vulnerable people who *did not ask* to see it. They also pose the fewest free expression concerns. Easy to prevent hate speech at this level.

    3 replies 4 retweets 30 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  15. 28 Dec 2018

    (Most dangerous amplifiers up top, most privacy issues down below) Advertising Recommendation engines Public non-personal pages Public personal profile posts Private groups Non-public personal profile posts Small-group chats Consensual 1:1 chats

    2 replies 12 retweets 49 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  16. 28 Dec 2018

    I think we need a new mental model that teases out the various parts of these products based upon the amplification each component gives individuals, and to apply rules to each level in a way that balances individual freedoms. A first-order disassembly of the Facebook *product*:

    Replying to @alexstamos
    I apologize if I don’t know this but do you have a clear recommendation on hate speech that devalues or dehumanizes certain groups and contains a plausible risk/threat of real violence?
    3 replies 15 retweets 66 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  17. 28 Dec 2018

    If we ask tech companies to fix ancient societal ills that are now reflected online with moderation, then we will end up with huge, democratically-unaccountable organizations controlling our lives in ways we never intended. And those ills will still exist below the surface. FIN

    22 replies 157 retweets 350 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  18. 28 Dec 2018

    We need an overarching framework for what platform responsibilities are, but also what restrictions should be placed on their power and how they should deal with governments around the world.

    1 reply 19 retweets 69 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  19. 28 Dec 2018

    I am glad to see the Times look into the challenges of content moderation at billion-user scale, because perhaps they will start to understand that every time they write “We saw this content on social media and don’t like it” the response is the creation of one of thos PPT decks.

    2 replies 25 retweets 82 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  20. 28 Dec 2018

    Each of these stories builds, brick by brick, a permission structure for Facebook to respond to government requests and drop encryption, make more money and to call it the “only responsible option”. That would be the end of E2E as a technology deployed by large US platforms.

    3 replies 42 retweets 89 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo
  21. 28 Dec 2018

    It is totally right to discuss those challenges, but when you read the reporting about them in the NY Times, Buzzfeed or the FT there is very rarely any mention of the benefits of giving individuals privacy from powerful corporations and governments.

    4 replies 34 retweets 116 likes
    Show this thread
    Show this thread
    Undo

@alexstamos hasn't Tweeted yet.

Loading seems to be taking a while.

Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

    You may also like

    ·