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Politics & Current Affairs

What it’s Like when the Net Giants ‘Defriend’ You

What would you do if Google, Facebook, Paypal or another site you and your business depend on suddenly decided, on the basis of a fraud detection algorithm, you were dodgy?

What’s the Latest Development?


The growing problem of innocent Web users triggering false positive results in fraud detection algorithms, and the inadequate or inexistent appeal processes they then encounter. Businesses have little recourse–or human contact–when trying to resolve disputes with Google or Facebook that see their pages frozen and paralyze their businesses, write Julian Lee and Ben Grubb.

What’s the Big Idea?

The seemingly faceless net giants write their own rule books. And while their algorithms may be sophisticated and designed to help Web users, they are not perfect and false positives occur. “When Google or Facebook no longer wants you, it can be all but impossible to find out why, as internet entrepreneur Mark Bowyer and others have found to their cost.”

Image: Shutterstock


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