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subjectPersonal Computing
authorThe Washington Post
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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


The FCC Just Passed Sweeping New Rules to Protect Your Online Privacy
From ACM News

The FCC Just Passed Sweeping New Rules to Protect Your Online Privacy

Federal officials delivered a landmark ruling in favor of online privacy Thursday, limiting how Internet providers use and sell customer data, while asserting that...

Why Apple Can Be Forced to Turn Logs of Your Imessage Contacts Over to Police
From ACM News

Why Apple Can Be Forced to Turn Logs of Your Imessage Contacts Over to Police

When a user sends someone a message through Apple's iMessage feature, Apple encrypts that message between Apple devices so that only the sender and recipient can...

Confused About Those Emergency Cellphone Alerts? Here's How They Work.
From ACM News

Confused About Those Emergency Cellphone Alerts? Here's How They Work.

Many New York-area commuters on Monday were interrupted by this alert on their cellphones: "WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9...

The Science of Smartphone Batteries and How to Keep Them Charged
From ACM News

The Science of Smartphone Batteries and How to Keep Them Charged

Whenever a new iPhone gets announced, there's one feature that every Apple lover is hoping for: improved battery life.

98 Personal Data Points that Facebook ­ses to Target Ads to You
From ACM News

98 Personal Data Points that Facebook ­ses to Target Ads to You

Say you're scrolling through your Facebook Newsfeed and you encounter an ad so eerily well-suited, it seems someone has possibly read your brain.

Tim Cook: Running Apple 'is Sort of a Lonely Job'
From ACM Opinion

Tim Cook: Running Apple 'is Sort of a Lonely Job'

On a sleek white coffee table in Apple CEO Tim Cook's fourth-floor office in late July, beneath framed posters of Robert F. Kennedy, the Rev. Martin Luther King...

Microsoft's President Explains the Company's Quiet Legal War For ­ser Privacy
From ACM Opinion

Microsoft's President Explains the Company's Quiet Legal War For ­ser Privacy

Apple's legal battle over encryption dominated headlines earlier this year, but another tech giant is fighting a quieter legal war over user privacy: Microsoft....

Putin Signs New Anti-Terror Law in Russia. Edward Snowden Is ­pset.
From ACM News

Putin Signs New Anti-Terror Law in Russia. Edward Snowden Is ­pset.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed into law a controversial package of counterterrorism measures, including tougher sentences for extremism and...

China's Scary Lesson to the World: Censoring the Internet Works.
From ACM News

China's Scary Lesson to the World: Censoring the Internet Works.

First there was the Berlin Wall. Now there is the Great Firewall of China, not a physical barrier preventing people from leaving, but a virtual one, preventing...

The Tremendous Ambitions Behind New York City's Free Wifi
From ACM News

The Tremendous Ambitions Behind New York City's Free Wifi

At this very moment in New York City, you can walk up to one of 65 futuristic kiosks, punch in an email address on your phone and instantly receive a wireless Internet...

Fbi May Not Need Apple to ­nlock San Bernardino Shooter's Iphone
From ACM News

Fbi May Not Need Apple to ­nlock San Bernardino Shooter's Iphone

The FBI may have found a way without Apple’s assistance to unlock the iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack, Justice Department...

The Massive New Privacy Deal Between U.s. and Europe, Explained
From ACM News

The Massive New Privacy Deal Between U.s. and Europe, Explained

U.S. and European regulators have agreed to a tentative deal, officials say, that would allow thousands of U.S. companies to continue moving the personal information...

Tech Companies Are Slamming a Proposed ­k Terrorism Law. Here's Why.
From ACM News

Tech Companies Are Slamming a Proposed ­k Terrorism Law. Here's Why.

The world's biggest tech firms—including Apple, Microsoft, and Yahoo—are pressing for changes to a proposed British law aimed at expanding the government's electronic...

Everything You Need to Know About the Vast ­ndersea Network that Makes the Internet Work
From ACM News

Everything You Need to Know About the Vast ­ndersea Network that Makes the Internet Work

Russians submarines and spy ships are "ggressively operating" near the undersea cables that are the backbone of the global Internet—worrying some U.S. intelligence...

With Court Order, Federal Judge Seeks to Fuel Debate About Data Encryption
From ACM News

With Court Order, Federal Judge Seeks to Fuel Debate About Data Encryption

A federal judge in New York is seeking to expand to the courts the hot debate over whether tech companies should be forced to find ways to unlock encrypted smartphones...

Why the Ftc Is Showing ­p at Hackers' Biggest Conferences
From ACM Opinion

Why the Ftc Is Showing ­p at Hackers' Biggest Conferences

The Federal Trade Commission, the de facto federal watchdog for consumers' privacy and data security, knows it needs help.

Inside an MIT Researcher's Grand Plan to Create the Personal Food Computer
From ACM TechNews

Inside an MIT Researcher's Grand Plan to Create the Personal Food Computer

The CityFarm research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab seeks to expand the emerging field of vertical farming. 

How the Country's Top Privacy Cop Is Trying to Protect Consumers in the Digital Age
From ACM Opinion

How the Country's Top Privacy Cop Is Trying to Protect Consumers in the Digital Age

As the digital economy has exploded, tech companies are collecting untold amounts of data on everyday Americans.

As Encryption Spreads, U.s. Grapples with Clash Between Privacy, Security
From ACM News

As Encryption Spreads, U.s. Grapples with Clash Between Privacy, Security

For months, federal law enforcement agencies and industry have been deadlocked on a highly contentious issue: Should tech companies be obliged to guarantee government...

Happy Birthday to Moore's Law
From ACM News

Happy Birthday to Moore's Law

Few revolutions can be said to have lasted for half a century, or to have wrought disruptive change at a predictable pace.
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