The Boston Diaries

The ongoing saga of a programmer who doesn't live in Boston, nor does he even like Boston, but yet named his weblog/journal “The Boston Diaries.”

Go figure.

Sunday, September 06, 2015

I'm sorry, but I have to unfriend you—you're a credit risk

In short: You could be denied a loan simply because your friends have defaulted on theirs. It’s the kind of digital redlining that critics of “big data” collection have been warning of for years. It could make Facebook a lot of money, and it could make the Web even less safe for poor people. And it could be just the beginning.

Via Hacker News, Facebook Wants to Redline Your Friends List - Pacific Standard

This might warrant further investigation because it's just on the cusp of believability that this could be coming soon. And if it is true (and I'm not saying it is) I have to wonder what exactly the rationale is for denying a loan just because you have a few (or many) deadbeat friends. Because like follows like?

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