Angela Merkel Asks Major Internet Companies to divulge the secrets of their algorithms: Hello Google and Bing!
While an European Commission is investigating whether Google is using its monopoly of search to further its own business and commercial interest, the German Chacellor, Angela Merkel, has now come out and asked the major Internet companies to come forwards and reveal their algorithms.
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Her reasoning for the call can be summed up by the statement she made:
“I’m of the opinion, that algorithms must be made more transparent, so that one can inform oneself as an interested citizen about questions like, ‘What influences my behaviour on the internet and that of others?’ Algorithms, when they are not transparent, can lead to a distortion of our perception; they can shrink our expanse of information.”
She made this appeal while addressing a media conference in Munich on October 25th, where she held that internet search engines are 'distorting perception' and that that their lack of transparency endangers debating culture.
This to me seems like a debatable topic on its own as we have heard about "transparency" in the past too, but the ramifications of these actions have been disturbing in some cases. Any openness about complex computer codes seems to be lapped-up by people of dishonest ambitions to game the system creating further chaos, so the question is up for debate.
What do you think? Should all major algorithms on the internet be transparent?
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/27/angela-merkel-internet-search-engines-are-distorting-our-perception
- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/13/good-luck-in-making-google-reveal-its-algorithm
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They should all be very transparent.
If you post/search too much on liberals, you stop see conservative posts and visa versa.
Now, if all the major search engines published their code... not 1 in 100 could understand it, and of that, only a small percentage would take any time to look into it. Its a mess! And it is almost completely useless without the data on each person.
Knowing that the govern-cements do not have anyone smart enough to understand these algorithms (they will hire smart people, and they won't understand them either) so this is a ruse for something else.
What does Merkel really want?
lol, exactly! What does she want? because earlier cases of transparency have been used maliciously by some to manipulate or hack systems and looks like governments want to do that too!
Thank you for the comment.
Exactly the algorithm worth nothing without data. I think she doesn't want anything specific, she just doesn't know what she is talking about.
That seems to be the main thing here, data. As you have put it, without data an algorithm is nothing and seeing the codes will accomplish nothing, but the data itself is tangible and could be used for further scrutiny and surveillance! Any Governments ideal!
Thanks.
Google would prefer to leave Europe rather than giving away its data. They can close Google's business operations in EU countries (which is not much the biggest HQ is in UK) but they cannot block access to the website for european people.
We did see something like that with China, and may happen in the EU too. But the fact is the corporations are kings these days, especially the large ones, and they seem to call the shots and win in the end.
EU cannot go the censorship path the way China went. It's probably not constitutional, people won't accept it and the governments are not that powerful to enforce the rule.
even if i agree with aspects of what she has to say, she has so discredited herself that, if she says it, i assume it must be for some reason, nefarious or incompetent.
even the devil can quote scripture.
I get you and do feel the same, and she is trying to get elected for the 4th time too!
Thanks!
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