The document discusses how algorithms and personalization filter the information people see online without their full awareness or control. It notes that over 60% of Facebook users are unaware their News Feed is algorithmically curated. The document also discusses how algorithms can potentially enhance echo chambers and ideologically segregated content exposure. Finally, it provides suggestions for tools that can increase user awareness of algorithms and help take more control over personal data and online tracking.

1. Who is in Charge?
You or the algorithm?
Ansgar Koene
Explorers Fair
11 February 2017
http://unbias.wp.horizon.ac.uk/

2. Algorithms in the news
2

3. • User experience satisfaction on social network sites
3

4. Human attenetion is
a limited resource
Filter
4

5. Good information service = good filtering
5

6. Sacrificing control for Convenience
6

7. Sacrificing control for Convenience
7

8. Personalized recommendations
• Content based – similarity to past results the
user liked
• Collaborative – results that similar users liked
(people with statistically similar tastes/interests)
• Community based – results that people in the
same social network liked
(people who are linked on a social network e.g.
‘friends’)
8

9. How do the algorithms work?
9

10. Machine learning principles
Classifiers
Clustering
10

11. User understanding of social media
algorithms: Facebook News Feed
Of 40 interviewed participants more than 60% of
Facebook users are entirely unaware of any algorithmic
curation on Facebook at all: “They believed every single
story from their friends and followed pages appeared in
their news feed”.
Published at: CHI 2015
11

12. 12
Revealing News Feed behaviour

13. Revealing News Feed behaviour
13

14. Participants indicate desired changes
14

15. E. Bakshy, S. Medding & L.A. Adamic, “Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook” Science, 348, 1130-1132, 2015
Echo-chamber enhancement by
NewsFeed algorithm
10.1 million active US Facebook users
Proportion of content that is cross-cutting
15

16. E. Bakshy, S. Medding & L.A. Adamic, “Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook” Science, 348, 1130-1132, 2015
Positioning effect in NewsFeed
16

17. Switch News Feed mode
17

18. Take (some) control of News Feed priorities
18

19. 19

20. 20

21. The Basics
Be aware that it is practically impossible to achieve full anonymity when you are
online. Consider what you post and what you are comfortable sharing with others.
And then:
 Regularly delete your search history and cookies.
 Activate ‘do not track’ features on your browsers.
 Install a browser plugin to track and block sites which are tracking you (such as
www.ghostery.com or www.disconnect.me).
 URLs that begin with https: are encrypting information that you send them. Be
careful of what you provide to sites without this, and try not to use a public wi-fi
connection for shopping or banking.
Change your search engine
DuckDuckGo does not track you, protects your privacy and avoids
personalized search results, showing all users the same search results
for a given search term.
www.duckduckgo.com
Qwant does not track users or filter posts, emphasising privacy and
security. It runs on a social system based around community input,
including trending stories and top news.
www.qwant.com
Ideas To Stop
Companies Tracking
Your Personal Data
Other things you can do:
This leaflet contains suggestions for tools that can help you
to start thinking about alternatives to the default settings
that allow people to track you online. Many other tools and
solutions are available.
Change your browser
Opera has a built-in ad blocker and a free Virtual Private Network (VPN).
You can change your virtual location and stop sites from tracking you
around the web.
www.opera.com
Firefox and other browsers also offer various VPN plug-ins and other
add-ons to increase your online security.

22. For more ideas and resources go online to http://unbias.wp.horizon.ac.uk/
Don’t Forget Your Mobile!
You can also disable tracking through the Settings options on both Android and Apple
mobile devices through privacy, account, and security options. You can change which
information individual apps are allowed to access, which accounts you link to your
mobile device, and limit ad tracking. Explore these options to make sure you know what
data you are sharing with whom.
Opt-out of tracking by
individual companies
This can be time consuming and tricky
but there are a few tools that will help
you.
The Digital Advertising Alliance
Consumer Choice Page allows you to
block many companies at once:
http://www.aboutads.info/choices
Your Online Choices provides a guide to
‘behavioural advertising’ where you can
control your preferences:
http://www.youronlinechoices.com
Stop companies tracking
you through Facebook
Apps enabled through Facebook may
have access to details you do not want
to share, and ads target you based on
things you like and share. Apps used by
friends can also see your data. Opt out
of ad tracking and remove permissions
in the settings menus accessible
through the arrow in the top right of
Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/settings
Stop Google tracking you
Your Google settings have a tab for Ads Preferences where you can disable
tracking for tailored ads and content:
https://myaccount.google.com/privacy#ads
However, their advertising cookie may still track you. There is a plugin available to
opt-out of this:
https://www.google.com/settings/ads/plugin
You can also stop Google from using your browsing data and search history by
‘pausing’ their tracking:
https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols
Google may also be able to use reviews, likes, follows etc. that you have posted as
endorsements for products. You can turn these off here:
https://plus.google.com/settings/endorsements

23. EPSRC funded UnBias project
http://unbias.wp.horizon.ac.uk/
23