Alan Mislove Associate Professor of Computer and Information Science a.mislove@neu.edu 617.373.7069 Expertise cybersecurity, mood via social media, network measurement tools, social networks, Twitter Alan Mislove in the Press El Pais Alan Mislove, researcher: ‘There are technology companies with an incredible influence on how we speak and think’ Alan Mislove, former White House advisor and professor of computer science at Northeastern University, at the Telefónica Foundation in Madrid. What N.H. losing FITN means for Mass. TRANSITIONS — Northeastern University professor Alan Mislove has accepted a temporary position as assistant director for data and democracy in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. The fight to get tech giants to reveal their data is coming to a head in Congress Another hearing witness, Northeastern University professor Alan Mislove, voiced support for two proposals lawmakers have already introduced: a bill requiring companies to vet their algorithms for bias and resolve any discrepancies, and another mandating that social media companies maintain a detailed ad library that’s accessible to researchers and regulators. The Register Tobacco giants don’t get to decide who does research on smoking. Why does Facebook get to dictate studies? Alan Mislove, Professor and Interim Dean of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, came to a similar conclusion. “Social media platforms do not currently have the proper incentives to allow research on their platforms, and have been observed to be actively hostile to important, ethical research that is in the public interest,” […] Anti-Hacking Law’s Limits Lift Legal Uncertainty for Researchers “It’s been quite uncertain for us to what extent we’re exposing ourselves to legal liability,” said Alan Mislove, a computer science professor at Northeastern University who studies issues like potential discriminatory effects of social media algorithms. Salon Uber and Lyft price-gouge customers trying to flee Seattle shooting In a study “Peeking Beneath the Hood of Uber,” researchers at Northeastern University concluded that “on a micro-scale, surge prices have a strong, negative impact on passenger demand, and a weak, positive impact on car supply.” ProPublica Facebook Ads Can Still Discriminate Against Women and Older Workers, Despite a Civil Rights Settlement One reason for the persistent bias is that Facebook’s modified algorithm appears to rely on proxy characteristics that correlate with age or gender, said Alan Mislove, a Northeastern University professor of computer science and one of the study’s co-authors. “ How Facebook’s Political Ad System Is Designed to Polarize Amid the tense debate over online political advertising, it may seem strange to worry that Facebook gives campaigns too little control over whom their ads target. Yet that’s the implication of a study released this week by a team of researchers at Northeastern University, the University of Southern California, and the progressive nonprofit Upturn. By […] Facebook’s ad tools subsidize partisanship, research shows. And campaigns may not even know it. “Our work shows that just getting rid of microtargeting isn’t going to solve the problem,” said Alan Mislove, one of the paper’s authors and a computer scientist at Northeastern. “Facebook will deliver the ad to the subset of users that Facebook thinks is interested.” Quartz How Facebook fueled a precious-metal scheme targeting older conservatives “Facebook has enough data that it probably knows who the users who are most likely to click on these sort of scammy things are,” said Alan Mislove, a computer science professor at Northeastern University and one of the authors of the paper. Alan Mislove for Northeastern Global News‘You are the role models.’ Northeastern celebrates achievement at 13th Annual Academic Honors ConvocationAcademic achievements of all kinds were highlighted, including two new faculty awards that recognized the university’s global commitment while emphasizing the theme of the day. “This is what we're all about: Impacting the world, being engaged with the world and trying to make it a better world,” said Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun. Facebook’s ad delivery system still discriminates by race, gender, ageFacebook earlier this year promised to change the way it manages certain advertisements to prevent discrimination. But new research by Northeastern computer science professor Alan Mislove shows that it’s still biased. “What our research shows is a complex algorithm at work,” he says. Facebook has already decided how you’re going to voteThe social media giant is wielding significant power over political discourse in the United States, thanks to an ad delivery system that reinforces political polarization among users, according to new research from a team of computer scientists that includes Northeastern professor Alan Mislove. Researchers from Northeastern, MIT, Facebook, Google, Microsoft make a case for the importance of the emerging field of machine behaviorWith intelligent machines doing more of our collective ‘thinking,’ it’s time for an interdisciplinary approach to understanding machine behavior, says a team of researchers that includes two Northeastern University professors. A Northeastern University team tested Facebook’s algorithm and found its delivery of advertisements is skewed by race and genderA Northeastern team tested Facebook’s advertising system with a series of online advertisements. The research showed that the group of users to whom Facebook chose to show ads can be skewed along gender and racial lines, in potential violation of federal laws that prevent discrimination in ads for employment, housing, and credit. He found a privacy breach. Facebook gave him a grant to plug the leak.Malicious hackers can use Facebook’s advertising platform to obtain your phone number and other personal information. Northeastern professor Alan Mislove identified the flaw, and now Facebook has provided him with a grant to fix it. Cambridge Analytica, Facebook data collection a ‘breach of trust’ not securityOver the weekend, The New York Times reported that voter-profiling company Cambridge Analytica had obtained data on 50 million Facebook users—information it used in the 2016 presidential campaign. We spoke to three computer and information scientists about what exactly happened, and how it’s helping shine a light on some of the murkier areas of data collection. No one knew just how many Ubers and Lyfts were out there. Until nowNortheastern researchers Alan Mislove and Christo Wilson created a program that can determine the number of Uber and Lyft drivers in San Francisco, something that could have broad implications for urban planners. Said an administrator with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, “We were in the dark, and this turned the light on.” Researchers challenge federal law in attempt to prevent ‘Big Data’ discriminationNortheastern’s Alan Mislove and Christo Wilson have been researching whether the algorithms e-commerce and other websites use to analyze user profile data, web-browsing choices, and other online information may lead to discrimination. Now the ACLU has sued the government on their and others’ behalf so they can continue to do so without prosecution. Study: some online shoppers pay more than othersA new study co-authored by a team of Northeastern University faculty and students has found numerous instances of price steering and discrimination on many popular e-commerce retail and travel websites. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, they say—so long as the companies are transparent.
El Pais Alan Mislove, researcher: ‘There are technology companies with an incredible influence on how we speak and think’ Alan Mislove, former White House advisor and professor of computer science at Northeastern University, at the Telefónica Foundation in Madrid.
What N.H. losing FITN means for Mass. TRANSITIONS — Northeastern University professor Alan Mislove has accepted a temporary position as assistant director for data and democracy in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The fight to get tech giants to reveal their data is coming to a head in Congress Another hearing witness, Northeastern University professor Alan Mislove, voiced support for two proposals lawmakers have already introduced: a bill requiring companies to vet their algorithms for bias and resolve any discrepancies, and another mandating that social media companies maintain a detailed ad library that’s accessible to researchers and regulators.
The Register Tobacco giants don’t get to decide who does research on smoking. Why does Facebook get to dictate studies? Alan Mislove, Professor and Interim Dean of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, came to a similar conclusion. “Social media platforms do not currently have the proper incentives to allow research on their platforms, and have been observed to be actively hostile to important, ethical research that is in the public interest,” […]
Anti-Hacking Law’s Limits Lift Legal Uncertainty for Researchers “It’s been quite uncertain for us to what extent we’re exposing ourselves to legal liability,” said Alan Mislove, a computer science professor at Northeastern University who studies issues like potential discriminatory effects of social media algorithms.
Salon Uber and Lyft price-gouge customers trying to flee Seattle shooting In a study “Peeking Beneath the Hood of Uber,” researchers at Northeastern University concluded that “on a micro-scale, surge prices have a strong, negative impact on passenger demand, and a weak, positive impact on car supply.”
ProPublica Facebook Ads Can Still Discriminate Against Women and Older Workers, Despite a Civil Rights Settlement One reason for the persistent bias is that Facebook’s modified algorithm appears to rely on proxy characteristics that correlate with age or gender, said Alan Mislove, a Northeastern University professor of computer science and one of the study’s co-authors. “
How Facebook’s Political Ad System Is Designed to Polarize Amid the tense debate over online political advertising, it may seem strange to worry that Facebook gives campaigns too little control over whom their ads target. Yet that’s the implication of a study released this week by a team of researchers at Northeastern University, the University of Southern California, and the progressive nonprofit Upturn. By […]
Facebook’s ad tools subsidize partisanship, research shows. And campaigns may not even know it. “Our work shows that just getting rid of microtargeting isn’t going to solve the problem,” said Alan Mislove, one of the paper’s authors and a computer scientist at Northeastern. “Facebook will deliver the ad to the subset of users that Facebook thinks is interested.”
Quartz How Facebook fueled a precious-metal scheme targeting older conservatives “Facebook has enough data that it probably knows who the users who are most likely to click on these sort of scammy things are,” said Alan Mislove, a computer science professor at Northeastern University and one of the authors of the paper.
