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Facebook 'Likes' can reveal secrets - including politics, IQ and drug use

Your Facebook page could reveal more about you than you realise - including your sexuality, your IQ and even whether you abuse drugs.

By Rob Waugh | Yahoo! News – Mon, Mar 11, 2013

Your Facebook page could reveal more about you than you realise - including your sexuality, your IQ and even whether you abuse drugs.

Simply looking at all of a person's Facebook 'Likes' can reveal everything from a person's race to a person's political views - with up to 95% accuracy.

Distinctive patterns of 'Likes' correspond very strongly to different personality traits, say researchers at the University of Cambridge who studies the patterns of 58,000 volunteers' 'likes'.

Facebook users were warned that this information could be visible even on accounts with high privacy settings - possibly alerting employers to details users might wish to be private.

Users were more likely to have a higher IQ if they liked 'Mozart', 'The Godfather' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.

People who liked 'I Like Being a Mom' and 'Harley Davidson' were more likely to have a lower IQ, the research found.

People in a relationship liked pages including 'Weight Watchers' and 'Scrapbooking' while singletons followed sports stars such as Usain Bolt and Maria Sharapova.

Heavy drinkers tend to like pages such as 'Tattoo Lovers' and 'Getting A Text That Says I Love You'.

The statistical research method proved 88 per cent accurate for determining male sexuality.

It was 95 per cent accurate for distinguishing race and 85 per cent accurate in determining political views.

Christians and Muslims were correctly identified in 82 per cent of cases, and accurate predictions were also achieved for relationship status and substance abuse.

Even personal details such as whether users’ parents separated before that person reached the age of 21 were accurately predicted to 60%.

The researchers were able to work out their conclusions without relying on obvious 'Likes'- for example only five per cent of gay men and women liked a Gay Marriage page.

The researchers said the observation of 'likes' alone was now believed to be as informative as a personality test.

But worryingly they warned all of the information needed for the telling analysis is readily available to the public - even if your profile adopts the highest privacy setting.

Michal Kosinski, Operations Director at Cambridge University's Psychometric Centre, said: "Given the variety of digital traces people leave behind, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for individuals to control.

"I am a great fan and active user of new amazing technologies, including Facebook.

"I appreciate automated book recommendations, or Facebook selecting the most relevant stories for my newsfeed.

However, I can imagine situations in which the same data and technology is used to predict political views or sexual orientation, posing threats to freedom or even life.

"Just the possibility of this happening could deter people from using digital technologies and diminish trust between individuals and institutions - hampering technological and economic progress.

"Users need to be provided with transparency and control over their information."

David Stillwell from Cambridge University added: "I have used Facebook since 2005, and I will continue to do so. But I might be more careful to use the privacy settings that Facebook provides."

The research was carried out at Cambridge’s Psychometrics Centre in collaboration with Microsoft Research Cambridge and published yesterday (Mon) in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

Researchers said their findings could signal the beginning of a revolutionary method of psychological assessment.

Thore Graepel from Microsoft Research said he hoped the research would contribute to the on-going discussions about user privacy.

He said: "Consumers rightly expect strong privacy protection to be built into the products and services they use and this research may well serve as a reminder for consumers to take a careful approach to sharing information online, utilising privacy controls and never sharing content with unfamiliar parties."

7 photos that reveal what families eat in one week

In a new series of photos, families worldwide pose with one week’s food supply.

How much food does your household go through in a week? What are your go-to family meals? And how much do you spend on food? You can get a glimpse of how others answered these questions in Oxfam’s new photo series, which depicts people from around the globe with one week’s food supply for their families.

Building on an idea that originated with 2005′s Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, the new images feel especially timely now, when reports about half of the world’s food going to waste vie for space with news about rising global food prices. According to a recent article accompanying some of the photos in the UK Independent, “There is deep injustice in the way food is grown and distributed … the world’s poorest people spend 50-90 percent of their income on food, compared with just 10-15 percent in developed countries.”

As you can probably guess, the families’ diets differ depending on where they live. But if if there’s one common thread that links these images, it’s that we all have to eat. We all face challenges and successes when it comes to feeding our families. And we can all help to make the food system fairer for everyone.

So check out seven highlights below. Then tell us in the comments: What does your week’s food supply look like? How does your family measure up?

Shahveller, Azerbaijan

Photo: David Levene/Oxfam
Mirza Bakhishov, 47, his wife, Zarkhara, 37, and two sons, Khasay, 18 and Elchin, 15, own a small plot of land where they grow cotton and wheat as well as animal feed. “Our small cattle and poultry [are] everything for us. All our income and livelihood is dependent on them,” said Bakhishov.

Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Photo: Abir Abdullah/Oxfam
Selvern, 70, far right, and her daughters have been members of Oxfam’s local dairy cooperative for four years. Her youngest daughter Sukitha, second from right, works at the cooperative and is also trained as a vet. Selvern gets up at 5:30 every morning to help her daughters milk their cows; she sends most of the milk to the co-op with Sukitha and uses the remainder to make cream and ghee for the family.

Mecha, Ethiopia

Photo: Tom Pietrasik/Oxfam
A week’s food supply for Wubalem Shiferaw, her husband Tsega, and 4-year-old daughter Rekebki includes flour, vegetable oil, and a paste of spices called berbere. Tsega works as a tailor, while Wubalem follows a long local tradition and supplements her income with honey production. An Oxfam-supported cooperative helped Wubalem make the transition to modern beekeeping methods, which produce greater yields.

Yegeghus, Armenia

Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos
The Josephyan family from with their weekly food supply, which includes wheat flour, dried split peas, sugar, and cooking oil. The family supplements their diet with eggs laid by their chickens and wild greens from the fields.

London, UK

Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam
Ian Kerr, 30, with his family and a week’s food supplied by a charity food bank. Ian left his job to become a full-time carer to his disabled son Jay-J, 12. Also pictured are his daughter Lillian, 5, and mother-in-law Linda, 61. Kerr says the family’s favorite food is spaghetti Bolognese, but Lillian says her favorite is Jaffa Cakes.

Kaftarkhana, Tajikistan

Photo: Andy Hall/Oxfam
BiBi-Faiz Miralieba and her family, from left to right: son Siyoushi, 11, niece Gulnoya Shdova, 14, and children Jomakhon, 6, Shodmon, 9, and Jamila,13. Like many women in rural areas of Tajikistan, Miralieba is now the head of her household as her husband has migrated to Russia to find work.

Gutu, Zimbabwe

Photo: Annie Bungeroth/Oxfam
Ipaishe Masvingise and her family with their food for the week, which includes grains and groundnuts as well as fruits like pawpaw and oranges. Masvingise, a farmer, said she sells extra grain from her harvests to pay for school fees and medical costs, and to support members of her extended family who don’t own their own land.

Beautiful Pictures

towering red dust storm gathers over the ocean, ahead of a cyclone approaching Onslow, West Australia, on January 9. The remarkable photo was captured by tug boat worker Brett Martin, 25 nautical miles from the town of Onslow. (AFP)

Killer whales surface through a breathing hole on January 9. The creatures were trapped under sea ice in Canada's Hudson Bay. Up to a dozen whales were feared to be stuck, however winds later pushed the ice away from the coast. (Reuters)

Snowfall at the ruins of the Roman Temple of Bacchus in the historic town of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on January 10. An unusual chill swept across the Middle East recently, bringing heavy snow and freezing conditions in Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Palestine. The weather has claimed at least 17 lives across the region (Reuters)

Tammy Holmes and her grandchildren clutch each other as they seek refuge under a jetty on January 4 after wildfires consumed their home in Dunalley, Tasmania. The photo was taken by their grandfather, Tim Holmes. The family survived but their house, which Mr Holmes built himself, was destroyed. (Sky)

A twilight view of London from the top of the Shard, the tallest building in western Europe. The skyscraper, which is 1,013ft tall, opens to the public on February 1. Visitors will be able to reach the 72nd floor of the 78 floor building. (Reuters)

A 'lion' caused panic in Virginia, America when it was spotted loose on the streets. When police investigated it turned out to be 'Charles the Monarch' - a labradoodle whose fur had been shaved to look like a lion (SWNS)

Unexplained readings from the Cassini probe, which orbits Saturn, hint that blocks of ice might bob on the surface of the lakes of liquid methane on Titan. NASA believes that life could lurk in the ice - but it would be very different from life on Earth as the lakes are composed entirely of liquid ethane and methane. (NASA)

Andrejus Rascinski, aged nine, from Birmingham, waits to perform in the under-14s competition at the European Elvis Championships on January 6. Over 70 Elvis impersonators, decked in sequins and well-groomed sideburns, flocked to Birmingham to take part in the competition. (PA)

Photographer Reinhard Dirscherl took this extraordinary snap of a whale shark, which looks like it is about to eat a diver in Indonesia. The 47,000lb shark is not dangerous to humans, instead preferring to snack on plankton (Caters)

Hackers reveal 10 PC security mistakes we ALL make
Yahoo! News – Thu, Sep 13, 2012

Anonymous supporters: But we all play into the hands of hackers, by making elementary …No one knows security mistakes better than hackers - because for them, tiny errors in security are the ‘keys’ that allow access to home PCs and office computer systems.

And hackers are clear about one thing. Computer users make mistakes all the time - and often the same ones, over and over again. Two hackers - one ‘ethical hacker’, who tests computer systems by attempting to break into them, and one ex-hacker who now works in security - lay bare the ten errors that crop up most often.

‘People are too trusting,’ says Tom Beale, who has worked as an ‘ethical hacker’ for 10 years, protecting corporate and government systems by finding weaknesses.

‘The human element is always the weak link in the chain. People are very easily distracted - and particular attackers prey on that.’

‘People are just getting more and more stupid,’ says Cal Leeming, an ex-hacker who was convicted for a cyber crime, but now works in computer security.

‘They want their stuff to be protected, but they expect someone else to do it for them. People don’t want to know. Even for companies, computer security isn’t a priority, because it’s not a primary source of income. It’s only once the company’s been hit that they realise, "Oh we should have paid more attention than that".’

1. Don’t use the same username everywhere
‘People often upload photos of themselves to an online library, say,’ says Cal Leeming, a former hacker who works in security at Simplicity Media, ‘But they use a username they use on other sites. They don’t realise that people can use Google to connect them across all the different worlds they visit, and then work out a way in.’

2. Don’t trust public wi-fi
‘When you go on a public wi-fi network you have no way to determine whether it’s a real network run by a reputable company, or a fake run by a spotty guy next to you,’ says Tom Beale of Vigilante Bespoke. 'The problem’s particularly bad on mobile, where you really can’t tell if you’re on a fake network set up to steal your data. If you’re going to use public networks for business, use a laptop, because the browser will warn you of security breaches - your phone won’t.’

3. Be careful about who you friend on Facebook
‘Facebook has been basically forced to implement privacy settings,’ says Cal. ‘But people still get it wrong. They randomly friend other people, not realising they are giving away information that could be useful in a cyber attack - for instance names of pets or family that might be a password or security question.’

4. Don’t trust people you don’t know
‘I always tell people to do an ‘offline test’ - ie would you do the same thing if you were offline? So for instance, if you’re chatting to someone online, and you tell them some information, would you give that information to someone you’d just met in a bar?,’ says Tom. ‘Online, you’re even LESS safe - because you may not be talking to who you think you are. People just seem to lose all concept of reality when they’re on a PC.’

5. Use two-factor passwords when you can
‘People resist this except when they’re made to do it - like by their bank,’ says Tom. ‘But it does add that extra layer. It does offer protection. People accept that their bank will use tokens or keycard readers, but when other sites add it, people resist it - they just want quick access.’

6. Don’t re-use your email password
‘This isn’t going to be a problem that goes away any time soon,’ says Cal. ‘People don’t realise what are the risks of using the same password. If you reuse your email password, you’re handing out the keys to be hacked and breached - giving hackers access to the information they’ll need to hack your bank account and other networks you use. People use simple passwords for convenience - memorising too many is just a pain.’

7. Don’t be fooled by ‘cries for help’
‘Some of the most effective attacks are "cries for help" from friends - sent by email from a compromised machine. It’s incredible how many people respond to that,’ says Tom. ‘If it’s someone who travels a lot, and their email is hacked, it’s more convincing when you get an email saying that they are stranded abroad, and need money. They target people with a scattergun approach, but when they find someone who IS abroad a lot, it’s very effective.’

8. Use antivirus software
‘I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t run AV software,’ says Tom. ‘It’s not a Holy Grail, but it helps you to deal with most known problems. Browsing without it is like driving without a seatbelt. It’s your first layer of defence, whether you’re using PC, Mac or Android.’

9. Remember that funny videos can be very unfunny
‘Facebook’s system doesn’t filter for malicious links, so they can be very dangerous. Often a ‘video’ link will try to fool people into visiting an infected site or downloading something in the guise of video software or fake antivirus software. Your only defence is to think, ‘Would my friend really post that?’ so be careful about people you only half-know. Facebook and Twitter need to inform users better.’

10. Set everything to auto update
‘Attackers will be actively looking for vulnerabilities - not just in your operating system, but in your browser, in plug-ins such as Flash and Java. Be sure that all of those are up to date,’ says Tom. ‘If you don’t, you are leaving security holes. Most updates don’t add functions, they just fix holes, and if you don’t get them, you still have the holes.’