The Risks of Public Data
A desire for convenience and openness has left local and state public records easily available for mining, combining, and abuse.
Surveillance and the Limits of Law
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Surveillance and the Limits of Law
Section 215 of the Patriot Act is set to sunset. New legislation would kill it entirely. But how much do intelligence agencies follow the law anyway?
Book Review: Re-Engineering Humanity
Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger warn that real freedom of will and human agency will require the ability to be “off.”
“Billion Dollar Bully” Yelp Keeps Pressure On Businesses
Despite bad publicity and lawsuits, Yelp continues to tank ratings in order to punish those who won’t advertise.
WeChat: From Medium to Mediator
China’s omnipresent app regulates much of society. Will it be a blueprint or cautionary tale?
E. M. Forster’s The Machine Stops (excerpts)
Excerpts of E. M. Forster’s 1909 futuristic dystopia The Machine Stops
The Prescience of E. M. Forster
Compared to 1984 or Brave New World, E. M. Forster’s 1909 futuristic novella The Machine Stops was, in some ways, the most eerily accurate prediction of our current technological milieu.
Cryptocurrency Helps the Poor? Don’t Bank on It
Despite marketing spin, Facebook’s Libra, like any cryptocurrency, would have done nothing to address poverty.
Tell Alexa You’re Busy Driving
The Amazon Echo Auto promises only further distraction in a place where distraction is deadly: behind the wheel.
Google Becomes Evil
Counter to its positive mythology, Google manipulates search results to suit its own corporate purposes, quashing free access to information on the Web.