> Autonomous cars

Let me stop you right there, because that's the difference.

An autonomous car, one would presume, or its builder would find themselves here too, is not permanently scanning every object it finds, tagging it, coalescing it into a giant database, and cross referencing that with an enormous amount of individually identifying information.

The autonomous car doesn't know you're "Jonaldo Stevensmith of Braunschweiger, Texas, 28 years old, working for Brogrammer Inc" nor what you've been doing for the last ten years. Its capability goes only as far as knowing you're one of ten living (human) things it must not run over.

Instgram/Facebook do know who you are. Fb/I have shown time and time again that they aren't capable of securely managing user data. Nor do they make it explicit what they will do with your data long-term, because they themselves do not know.

Let me illustrate the problem further, if I understand things correctly Instgram works primarily on phones. Mobile phones for the last five years by and large have amazing cameras, with sensors ranging from 8 megapixels all the way up to "100 megapixels" in some current flagship models. Instagram, if I understand things correctly, allows you to upload any resolution of photo and stores the original in perpetuity BUT it will only show you very low resolution versions (even of your own photos).

Meaning, Instagram will not show users their original upload and only offers scaled down versions; all the while, performing biometric analysis on the originals. I don't think most people would upload photos if they knew, that their faces were being scanned at in extremely high resolutions and permanently attached to an already unfathomably deep profile. Even if they were okay with a few I don't think most folks would be okay once they realize the scale and true size. It's very likely every photo anyone has taken of you (and uploaded), whether you've been tagged or not (or as someone just in the background) Fb/I will know you're in it. I'm sure that wasn't clearly stated by their terms of service.

Truly, what's happening here could only end even worse for everyone, with an even larger lawsuit(s) than this... I'd wager a even a near company shattering fine of $150bn now would be a deal. Why?

An unfettered quest for growth would leave them blind to what they're creating. By Identifying people using biometric and superficial data and then attempting to predict human behavior combining them-- they will end up creating a fucking racist machine. The machine won't be based on science as a result of its dataset; it's going to be based on "AI" trained from incomplete bullshit data. It will be asked to predict things it is unable to, but the researchers will not be able to discern fact from fiction because there's too much noise. "It fits the curve, it must be right."

The more opaque the machine stays, the longer it will remain hidden, and the more racist it will be become feeding off of itself.

The lawsuit to stop that devil would be end-game for Facebook. I suspect, there would be no recovery, because the dual passage of antitrust and discrimination laws preventing, dismembering, and disemboweling such a wretch would leave only an unrecognizable corpse.

Do I think it's Facebook's intention to create a giant racist fucking machine? Fuck no. I do think it's entirely possible to repeat history, stupidly, and accidentally. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.