Apart from the many things that Facebook already knows about its users-now, he filed a patent application for what many are calling a highly intrusive technology.
The social media giant has reportedly filed a patent application for a technology that will automatically detect the socio-economic status of users.
Not only will technology help Facebook identify which users are rich or poor, which will help the giant social media segregate users into one of the three class-working classes, middle class or upper class.
Reports have found that, according to the patent, the social media giant wants to build a system that collects users ‘ personal data, such as education, housing and the use of the Internet, in order to predict their socio-economic status.
On Friday, the patent was made public for the first time and suggested an algorithm that could improve the target capabilities of Facebook, helping to serve the most relevant ads for users.
According to reports, the patent said: “In anticipation of the socio-economic groups of users, (Facebook) is able to help third-party users send sponsored content to recipients. Third parties are able to effectively promote their products or services, and the online system can provide you with a more appealing user experience for users. “
Reports explained that as part of the implementation of technology, Facebook would ask users of their age and from there it would hail and launch questions that would seem relevant to users of that age range.
According to reports, “in the presentation, children from 20 to 30 years are asked how many Internet devices they have, while children aged between 30 and 40 are asked whether or not they have a home.“
Until now
However, it is not yet clear whether the patent will actually be used for user orientation.
A report in the Daily Mail noted that the social media giant might also consider other
information including a person‘s travel history, what types of devices the user owns,
how many devices connected to the Internet that Possess and what their highest
level of education, in a to establish their socio-economic status.
Patent claims, “online systems often do not have information on users ‘ earnings,
for example, because users are often not willing to share income information,
which can be sensitive information, in online systems.“
