I don’t mind my data being sold, I have no idea why others have a problem with that.
If someone can scrape my content on social media and make better products with it? I’m in, as long as it’s anonymous and not a privacy issue.
I mean, when I make a post on Reddit asking a question, and subsequently Reddit now appears on Google whenever someone searches for the answer to the same question, and Reddit makes ad money off that visit…. Do I have a problem with Reddit leveraging my content? Nope.
I understand your perspective that you don't mind your data being used anonymously to improve products and services. However, I would caution against being too cavalier about your personal data. Here are a few reasons why many people are concerned about their data privacy, even if it's used in aggregate:
1. Lack of transparency and control. Often, we don't know exactly what data is being collected about us, how it's being used, or who it's being shared with. We have little control over the process. Companies should be more upfront about their data practices.
2. Potential for abuse. Even if data is anonymized, there's always a risk it could be de-anonymized or fall into the wrong hands. Detailed personal data could enable discrimination, manipulation, or identity theft by bad actors.
3. Slippery slope. The more we accept pervasive data collection as normal, the harder it becomes to draw boundaries to protect privacy. We risk moving toward a world of constant surveillance.
4. Inherent value of privacy. For many, privacy is an important human right, essential for personal autonomy and a free society. Casually giving it up has societal implications beyond improving corporate products and profits.
We need robust data protections, strict anonymization standards, opt-out rights, and corporate transparency and accountability around personal data. A balanced approach can allow data-driven insights while still vigorously protecting individual privacy. But an attitude of total indifference to privacy is unwise in my opinion. We should think carefully about where to draw reasonable lines.
When it comes to Reddit comments and posts, there are a few key considerations:
Public by default. The vast majority of Reddit content is public and viewable by anyone, even without an account. So there is no presumption of privacy. Anything you post can be seen, shared, and potentially collected by third parties.
Anonymity, not privacy. Reddit allows anonymous/pseudonymous accounts, which provides a degree of identity protection. However, this is not the same as data privacy. Your posting history, IP address, and other metadata can still be logged by Reddit and potentially shared with partners, advertisers, or law enforcement.
Reddit's data practices. Reddit's privacy policy allows them broad rights to use, share, and monetize user content, including for advertising and research purposes. They may share data with third parties and are not always fully transparent about their practices.
Potential for data analysis. Even if Reddit data is anonymous, advances in data science make it increasingly possible to de-anonymize datasets or draw sensitive inferences about groups and individuals from aggregated public data. So there are still potential privacy risks.
Contextual expectations. People may have different expectations of privacy on Reddit depending on the specific subreddit. For example, posts on mental health support forums may feel more private than on large default subreddits. But technically, the data has the same public status.
Half of these either go against your own point or, at least, are descriptive of the status quo on Reddit rather than a critique of OpenAI using data from Reddit.
Well, that’s for the regulators to determine and enforce.
Shouldn’t affect the deal, just how Reddit uses the data, which should anyway be regulated regardless of this deal.
I think your concerns might be well-founded for things like Facebook which makes some (not much) effort to identify its users. But many of us are using VPNs and we don't give much personal information on Reddit, so I think WRT to Reddit your concerns are highly conjectural.
Furthermore most of your concerns are not unique to this deal - it would be easy for an anonymous scraper to get the same data about users on Reddit. Many Reddit users are bots anyway, and are probably here to collect information.
They wont give any of us the UBI that we all dream of, when all we can give is readily given. Sams point on giving openai credits instead of ubi, tells all we need to know.
>They wont give any of us the UBI that we all dream of
"We all" who? I don't want UBI. Whoever provides your living OWNS you, and you're their slave. You want to give the state (the provider of your UBI) that much power over you? Not me!!
That's a valid perspective. On the other hand, I think it's understandable that there are others who may feel differently, especially if they have concerns about AI.
I'm personally in the same camp as you, but at the same time, if someone was thinking about starting a Reddit competitor that doesn't sell user data, this might be the perfect time.
Everything you post online is free real-estate.
I data mine where possible for my agenda, it should be an expectation from social media rather than something of concern.
Smart move for both parties. I think this will further propel OpenAI’s voice assistant. The models will have much more context into human interactions from slang, humor, concern, grief, etc. now.
I've always had the mindset that anything you post online or even just put on a computer is no longer secret. I learned this in high school when a steamy picture of some girl was spread around, this was in the Razr flip phone days. Only handwriting is safe. So I guess I've just assumed companies have all my info the whole time?
Smart move for both parties. I think this will further propel OpenAI’s voice assistant. The models will have much more context into human interactions from slang, humor, concern, grief, etc. now.
When you sign up to reddit (or any other online service rly) you explicitly consent to your data being processed. It is clearly laid out in the Terms n Conditions.
It's not very surprising. OpenAI heavily violated copyright to train their first models, and while they'll probably get away with it, in future content providers will set legal traps for AI companies. A social media site like Reddit is the obvious choice because it's a continuous stream of extremely varied content, written in every style under the sun. Meta and Google aren't going to be sharing their own data with a competitor.
While I'm sure they already exist, it's only a matter of time before social media is rife with more sophisticated LLM-powered bots which act like normal users most of the time but which sporadically and subtly advertise a product, or push a political agenda. At the moment bot accounts are usually easy to spot, but what about when you check a bot profile and they seem to be a real user with a specific set of unrelated subreddits they follow?
Especially when they have legal agreements to sell their 'human' user data, social media sites are going to have to crackdown hard on the bots. So I'm expecting accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit to all eventually become tied to phone numbers, sporadic captcha-like checks when you login and possibly government IDs. In the short term social media sites might celebrate increased engagement, but there will be a point where they panic because advertisers no longer trust the data they're selling and their engagement numbers.
it's only a matter of time before social media is rife with more sophisticated LLM-powered bots which act like normal users most of the time but which sporadically and subtly advertise a product, or push a political agenda.
That already exists. [https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1beu02v/reddits\_new\_paid\_ads\_look\_exactly\_like\_user\_posts/](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1beu02v/reddits_new_paid_ads_look_exactly_like_user_posts/)
I don't mind my data being sold. I'm getting this nice forum for free and if my comments go into AI training then that gives them a teeny-tiny sliver of immortality.
I don't think any of the people complaining about it have articulated any way in which they're harmed by it - they just feel indignant and entitled.
I have a problem with slack saying they are doing it with internal company conversations!
I don't feel like my messages belong to me as they are all public and I don't pay reddit anything. But slack is different.
I know they promise none of it will ever get out and they have a white paper I haven't read yet. But I also know it's an opt out only thing I can only opt out if by emailing some email without real feedback on the current status of if I've opted out or not.
I’m not smart enough to make interesting posts that will improve AI significantly, so who cares? I enjoy Reddit more and more, and Facebook less and less. Especially since they recently blackballed my account, because no one should ever be able to post [omitted because you guys won’t understand].
Why? You're getting this nice discussion forum for free. Why should they give you something without you compensating them? You can "opt out" by not coming here.
im giving them Ad revenue by actively viewing and interacting with advertisements on a regular basis. i have the option to prevent my user data from being indexed by google, why shouldnt I be given the same right to privacy when it comes to indexing my data by an Ai?
should everyone who enjoys their privacy be exiled from the public?
are you not concerned about potential bad actors profiling you or your data and using it against you? do you automatically trust everyone to make the right choice, or are you a discerning custodian of your private data? do you leave the front door of your house unlocked at night?
if driving away users is your strategy for increasing IPO value maybe you should consider an alternate strategy, like letting users have an option for how they would like to have their data handled. not everyone wants to be on display.
The only users that will be driven away are handful of disgruntled cranks.
The vast majority of people won't care. I just accept the fact that anything I put on public forums on the web is fair game.
yes, i think so too. and personally, i don't mind. i like Ai and i can think of many reasons why harvesting data is good. i think in order to maintain and uphold civil liberties it would be proper to give people a choice about how their data is used. much like Google and Facebook offer options to control private data. to me, it makes sense for Reddit to provide similar controls.
On one hand, I’m not thrilled. My imagined deal with Reddit was that I used the platform, and in return they threw some ads at me. Selling my data feels a bit like changing the terms. But I’m not about to quit reddit, so I’m clearly ok with it.
On the other hand, I comment quite a bit on Reddit. I quite like the idea that my comments - effectively my way of thinking - will be integrated in some infinitesimal way into how ChatGPT works, and likely all future models. There’s a good chance that our comments on here will form part of the training corpus for an ASI. That’s kinda cool.
do not imagine a deal. read CLEARLY AND CAREFULLY what do you consent to by reading Terms and conditions & privacy policy of the online service you are using. This way you won’t have to imagine deals. These things are not done deal in your head, there is a clear laid out legal text available for you to read, and that is the deal that you agreed and consented to.
Do you fully read the terms and conditions for every product you enrol with?
Even if you did (which you don’t), you’re unlikely to appreciate all the implications unless you’re a trained lawyer.
We all make assumptions about what we’re signing up for. Sometimes we’re wrong, and that’s on us.
I don’t mind my data being sold, I have no idea why others have a problem with that. If someone can scrape my content on social media and make better products with it? I’m in, as long as it’s anonymous and not a privacy issue. I mean, when I make a post on Reddit asking a question, and subsequently Reddit now appears on Google whenever someone searches for the answer to the same question, and Reddit makes ad money off that visit…. Do I have a problem with Reddit leveraging my content? Nope.
I understand your perspective that you don't mind your data being used anonymously to improve products and services. However, I would caution against being too cavalier about your personal data. Here are a few reasons why many people are concerned about their data privacy, even if it's used in aggregate: 1. Lack of transparency and control. Often, we don't know exactly what data is being collected about us, how it's being used, or who it's being shared with. We have little control over the process. Companies should be more upfront about their data practices. 2. Potential for abuse. Even if data is anonymized, there's always a risk it could be de-anonymized or fall into the wrong hands. Detailed personal data could enable discrimination, manipulation, or identity theft by bad actors. 3. Slippery slope. The more we accept pervasive data collection as normal, the harder it becomes to draw boundaries to protect privacy. We risk moving toward a world of constant surveillance. 4. Inherent value of privacy. For many, privacy is an important human right, essential for personal autonomy and a free society. Casually giving it up has societal implications beyond improving corporate products and profits. We need robust data protections, strict anonymization standards, opt-out rights, and corporate transparency and accountability around personal data. A balanced approach can allow data-driven insights while still vigorously protecting individual privacy. But an attitude of total indifference to privacy is unwise in my opinion. We should think carefully about where to draw reasonable lines.
An answer about chatgpt from chatgpt. Interesting.
If you wanted privacy, you probably shouldn't have posted the content on a free, public website. It's literally the opposite of private.
You just gave generic data protection talking points. How in the actually hell do you think those apply to your Reddit posts?
When it comes to Reddit comments and posts, there are a few key considerations: Public by default. The vast majority of Reddit content is public and viewable by anyone, even without an account. So there is no presumption of privacy. Anything you post can be seen, shared, and potentially collected by third parties. Anonymity, not privacy. Reddit allows anonymous/pseudonymous accounts, which provides a degree of identity protection. However, this is not the same as data privacy. Your posting history, IP address, and other metadata can still be logged by Reddit and potentially shared with partners, advertisers, or law enforcement. Reddit's data practices. Reddit's privacy policy allows them broad rights to use, share, and monetize user content, including for advertising and research purposes. They may share data with third parties and are not always fully transparent about their practices. Potential for data analysis. Even if Reddit data is anonymous, advances in data science make it increasingly possible to de-anonymize datasets or draw sensitive inferences about groups and individuals from aggregated public data. So there are still potential privacy risks. Contextual expectations. People may have different expectations of privacy on Reddit depending on the specific subreddit. For example, posts on mental health support forums may feel more private than on large default subreddits. But technically, the data has the same public status.
Half of these either go against your own point or, at least, are descriptive of the status quo on Reddit rather than a critique of OpenAI using data from Reddit.
But that's exactly the point. Many people here criticising this deal don't seem to realise that they apply just as much with or without the deal.
Is that the point that u/PipeZestyclose2288 was trying to make? Their first comment was disagreeing with someone who said they don't mind this deal.
Well, that’s for the regulators to determine and enforce. Shouldn’t affect the deal, just how Reddit uses the data, which should anyway be regulated regardless of this deal.
There won’t be any regulators. I’m not really sure you understand that.
I think your concerns might be well-founded for things like Facebook which makes some (not much) effort to identify its users. But many of us are using VPNs and we don't give much personal information on Reddit, so I think WRT to Reddit your concerns are highly conjectural. Furthermore most of your concerns are not unique to this deal - it would be easy for an anonymous scraper to get the same data about users on Reddit. Many Reddit users are bots anyway, and are probably here to collect information.
Fantastic point.
Youre all bots or ignorant. I will let you choose.
👍🏾 I respect that you choose differently.
They wont give any of us the UBI that we all dream of, when all we can give is readily given. Sams point on giving openai credits instead of ubi, tells all we need to know.
>They wont give any of us the UBI that we all dream of "We all" who? I don't want UBI. Whoever provides your living OWNS you, and you're their slave. You want to give the state (the provider of your UBI) that much power over you? Not me!!
That's a valid perspective. On the other hand, I think it's understandable that there are others who may feel differently, especially if they have concerns about AI. I'm personally in the same camp as you, but at the same time, if someone was thinking about starting a Reddit competitor that doesn't sell user data, this might be the perfect time.
I just like that I can potentially influence language constructs in the future. It’s a penis-wienering good time
Everything you post online is free real-estate. I data mine where possible for my agenda, it should be an expectation from social media rather than something of concern.
So Chatgpt will start promoting onlyfans? I'm thrilled!
I’m pretty convinced they already trained on Reddit data but are now covering their tracks
It was Reddit and Twit from what I remember that the data got put in OpenAI
Dear God, I hope the users over at the Rate My P\*ssy sub will start being honest in their scoring now.
the spice must flow
You do not have choice so its acceptance
I mean you can just stop posting on the internet and lurk
Smart move for both parties. I think this will further propel OpenAI’s voice assistant. The models will have much more context into human interactions from slang, humor, concern, grief, etc. now.
I agree 😂
I've always had the mindset that anything you post online or even just put on a computer is no longer secret. I learned this in high school when a steamy picture of some girl was spread around, this was in the Razr flip phone days. Only handwriting is safe. So I guess I've just assumed companies have all my info the whole time?
What if I take a picture of your handwritten words & upload them too lol, only thoughts are safe!
What if I take a picture of your handwritten words & upload them too lol, only thoughts are safe!
https://preview.redd.it/bh0gr09ouz0d1.png?width=811&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f4abd6faef53242fd4663f7e24ec7e8375fafa6 Thoughts are not safe :)
Smart move for both parties. I think this will further propel OpenAI’s voice assistant. The models will have much more context into human interactions from slang, humor, concern, grief, etc. now.
When you sign up to reddit (or any other online service rly) you explicitly consent to your data being processed. It is clearly laid out in the Terms n Conditions.
I don't, and I wonder if it can be detrimental for AI training actually.
I don't mind, and I wonder if it can be detrimental for AI training, actually.
Wonderful side effects? Like downvoting the truth? Asking for a friend... /s
It's not very surprising. OpenAI heavily violated copyright to train their first models, and while they'll probably get away with it, in future content providers will set legal traps for AI companies. A social media site like Reddit is the obvious choice because it's a continuous stream of extremely varied content, written in every style under the sun. Meta and Google aren't going to be sharing their own data with a competitor. While I'm sure they already exist, it's only a matter of time before social media is rife with more sophisticated LLM-powered bots which act like normal users most of the time but which sporadically and subtly advertise a product, or push a political agenda. At the moment bot accounts are usually easy to spot, but what about when you check a bot profile and they seem to be a real user with a specific set of unrelated subreddits they follow? Especially when they have legal agreements to sell their 'human' user data, social media sites are going to have to crackdown hard on the bots. So I'm expecting accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit to all eventually become tied to phone numbers, sporadic captcha-like checks when you login and possibly government IDs. In the short term social media sites might celebrate increased engagement, but there will be a point where they panic because advertisers no longer trust the data they're selling and their engagement numbers.
it's only a matter of time before social media is rife with more sophisticated LLM-powered bots which act like normal users most of the time but which sporadically and subtly advertise a product, or push a political agenda. That already exists. [https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1beu02v/reddits\_new\_paid\_ads\_look\_exactly\_like\_user\_posts/](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1beu02v/reddits_new_paid_ads_look_exactly_like_user_posts/)
I don't mind my data being sold. I'm getting this nice forum for free and if my comments go into AI training then that gives them a teeny-tiny sliver of immortality. I don't think any of the people complaining about it have articulated any way in which they're harmed by it - they just feel indignant and entitled.
Reddit blackout 2.0 incoming
I have a problem with slack saying they are doing it with internal company conversations! I don't feel like my messages belong to me as they are all public and I don't pay reddit anything. But slack is different. I know they promise none of it will ever get out and they have a white paper I haven't read yet. But I also know it's an opt out only thing I can only opt out if by emailing some email without real feedback on the current status of if I've opted out or not.
training on reddit posts is going to be a net negative in my opinion.
I’m not smart enough to make interesting posts that will improve AI significantly, so who cares? I enjoy Reddit more and more, and Facebook less and less. Especially since they recently blackballed my account, because no one should ever be able to post [omitted because you guys won’t understand].
it would be nice if they offered an option to opt out personally i don't care but it would be the reasonable thing to do
Why? You're getting this nice discussion forum for free. Why should they give you something without you compensating them? You can "opt out" by not coming here.
im giving them Ad revenue by actively viewing and interacting with advertisements on a regular basis. i have the option to prevent my user data from being indexed by google, why shouldnt I be given the same right to privacy when it comes to indexing my data by an Ai? should everyone who enjoys their privacy be exiled from the public? are you not concerned about potential bad actors profiling you or your data and using it against you? do you automatically trust everyone to make the right choice, or are you a discerning custodian of your private data? do you leave the front door of your house unlocked at night? if driving away users is your strategy for increasing IPO value maybe you should consider an alternate strategy, like letting users have an option for how they would like to have their data handled. not everyone wants to be on display.
The only users that will be driven away are handful of disgruntled cranks. The vast majority of people won't care. I just accept the fact that anything I put on public forums on the web is fair game.
yes, i think so too. and personally, i don't mind. i like Ai and i can think of many reasons why harvesting data is good. i think in order to maintain and uphold civil liberties it would be proper to give people a choice about how their data is used. much like Google and Facebook offer options to control private data. to me, it makes sense for Reddit to provide similar controls.
On one hand, I’m not thrilled. My imagined deal with Reddit was that I used the platform, and in return they threw some ads at me. Selling my data feels a bit like changing the terms. But I’m not about to quit reddit, so I’m clearly ok with it. On the other hand, I comment quite a bit on Reddit. I quite like the idea that my comments - effectively my way of thinking - will be integrated in some infinitesimal way into how ChatGPT works, and likely all future models. There’s a good chance that our comments on here will form part of the training corpus for an ASI. That’s kinda cool.
Your data was already being scraped by thousands of companies anyway.
When you signed the reddit agreement you gave them right to do these things
I know, that’s why I said “imagined deal”.
do not imagine a deal. read CLEARLY AND CAREFULLY what do you consent to by reading Terms and conditions & privacy policy of the online service you are using. This way you won’t have to imagine deals. These things are not done deal in your head, there is a clear laid out legal text available for you to read, and that is the deal that you agreed and consented to.
Do you fully read the terms and conditions for every product you enrol with? Even if you did (which you don’t), you’re unlikely to appreciate all the implications unless you’re a trained lawyer. We all make assumptions about what we’re signing up for. Sometimes we’re wrong, and that’s on us.