Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
The Senate's Draft Encryption Bill Is 'ludicrous, Dangerous, Technically Illiterate'
As Apple Battled the FBI for the last two months over the agency's demands that Apple help crack its own encryption, both the tech community and law enforcement...
From ACM Opinion
Feds Set a Risky Precedent By Indicting 7 Iranian Hackers
This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a potentially dangerous precedent when it indicted seven Iranian hackers involved in attacks on the US financial...
From ACM Opinion
Apple's Carekit Is the Best Argument Yet For Strong Encryption
On the eve of his company’s court date with the FBI, where it will defend its right to not weaken the security of its own devices, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage...
From ACM Opinion
Self-Driving Cars Won't Work ntil We Change Our Roads—and Attitudes
Autonomous vehicles will join human drivers on our roads sooner than most people think.
From ACM News
How the Feds Could Get Into Iphones Without Apple's Help
It's a showdown that has the country mesmerized.
From ACM Opinion
Forcing Apple to Hack That Iphone Sets a Dangerous Precedent
Are Apple and other tech companies somehow against America's national security if they create uncrackable encryption software that government investigators or even...
From ACM News
Apple's Fbi Battle Is Complicated. Here's What's Really Going On
The news this week that a magistrate ordered Apple to help the FBI hack an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooter suspects has polarized the nation—and...
From ACM Opinion
The President's Nsa Advisory Board Finally Gets a Tech Expert
It's taken more than a decade, but a critical oversight board tasked with advising the president on the privacy and civil liberties implications of the NSA's surveillance...
From ACM Opinion
Obama's Cybersecurity Plan Is Meant to Secure His Legacy
The end of White House terms are often about trying to shape historic legacies, and President Obama is out to build his in the new area of cybersecurity.
From ACM Opinion
It's Been 20 Years Since This Man Declared Cyberspace Independence
When digital dystopians and critics of Internet libertarians need a rhetorical dart board, they often pull out a document written by John Perry Barlow, co-founder...
From ACM Opinion
Snowden's Chronicler Reveals Her Own Life nder Surveillance
Laura Poitras has a talent for disappearing. In her early documentaries like My Country, My Country and The Oath, her camera seems to float invisibly in rooms where...
From ACM Opinion
Proposed State Bans on Phone Encryption Make Zero Sense
American politics has long accepted the strange notion that just a pair of states—namely Iowa and New Hampshire—get an outsize vote in choosing America’s next president...
From ACM Opinion
Security's Biggest Winners and Losers in 2015
This year, lawmakers surprised us by taking initial steps—albeit, baby ones—to rein in some of the NSA's mass spying and provide better oversight of the intelligence...
From ACM Opinion
Crispr Is Getting Better. Now It's Time to Ask the Hard Ethical Questions
When Chinese scientists announced in April they had edited human embryos using a new genetic tool called Crispr, the headlines blared "designer babies," and the...
From ACM Opinion
How to Baffle Web Trackers By Obfuscating Your Movements Online
Online ad networks and search engines love it when you surf around.
From ACM Opinion
Hackers Make Cars Safer. Don't Ban Them From Tinkering
Virtually every new car sold today has some sort of network connection.
From ACM Opinion
Tech Companies Can Blame Snowden For Data Privacy Decision
A ruling the Europe Union’s highest court yesterday may create enormous headaches for US tech companies like Google and Facebook.
From ACM Opinion
Who Won Science Fiction's Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters
Since 1953, to be nominated for a Hugo Award, among the highest honors in science fiction and fantasy writing, has been a dream come true for authors who love time...
From ACM Opinion