Netflix contest privacy concerns a stretch?
Netflix previously held a contest to help improve its movie recommendation system. However, this contest drew quite a bit of controversy after it was discovered that it inadvertently revealed private user information to others.
The contest was highly successful in helping the company enhance its categorization and auto movie recommendation system. Netflix’s movie recommendation system allows users to quickly find movies that they would probably like to see.
Two researchers at the University of Texas released a paper stating that the Netflix contest inadvertently reveals private user information. According to the researchers, the contest anonymously reveals bits of data such as what movies were watched by other users.
Apparently, when all of the anonymous bits of data are put together, it could reveal private information about a specific individual. According to The New York Times, this analysis has resulted in a lawsuit filed by KamberLaw L.L.C. This issue was also brought to the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. Due to the controversy over the contest, Netflix decided to axe the next iteration of it.
Neil Hunt, Netflix’s chief product officer recently posted an update on the company blog about the contest. According to Hunt, the company had “reached an understanding” with the F.T.C. and was also able to settle the lawsuit. Hunt also stated that the company will continue to work with the community in researching ways to improve its recommendation system.
The contest awarded $1 million to the first group that could improve the accuracy of the Netflix movie recommendation system by 10 percent. It really is interesting how the events played out as a result of the contest. I suspect that the privacy concerns raised by the researchers may have been overblown.
Apparently the researchers allege that by knowing a few facts about an individual, they were able to determine private information such as political stance and other sensitive information from cross referencing movie preferences. Isn’t this a bit like saying, “because I know an individual eats at a vegan restaurant regularly and likes to watch Fox News, this person must be a vegetarian and a Republican?” I suppose if this is the case then we may all be guilty of making these assumptions based on a few “facts.”
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