Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2016
From ACM Opinion
This One Thing Could Hurt Apple's Case in Washington
Apple's fight with the FBI is widening beyond the courts.
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 the company's own engineers can't break into?
From ACM Opinion
This Is Why People Fear the 'internet of Things'
Imagine buying an internet-enabled surveillance camera, network attached storage device, or home automation gizmo, only to find that it secretly and constantly phones home to a vast peer-to-peer (P2P) network run by the Chinese…
From ACM Opinion
How Tim Cook Aims to Profit from Protecting Privacy
Would you stop buying Apple's products if it decided to help the FBI open a terrorist's iPhone?
From ACM Opinion
If Apple Aids Terrorists and the Fbi Is Big Brother… Whom Do We Root For?
There's been a lot of bluster about the ongoing encryption saga between the FBI and Apple.
From ACM Opinion
Snowden Lawyer: Bill of Rights Was Meant to Make Government's Job 'more Difficult'
Ben Wizner, a top attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, is probably best known for being one of the lawyers representing Ed Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.
From ACM Opinion
How Apple's Stand Against the Fbi Could Backfire
The skirmish between Apple and the FBI is quickly escalating to a battle royal, a fight to the finish over lofty principles and national values, involving not just this company and this bureau but all of Silicon Valley and the…
From ACM Opinion
How to Build an nbeatable Poker-Playing Robot
Each summer, the computer-science researchers behind the world's best poker-playing robots bring their creations together for a tournament.
From ACM Opinion
We Could Not Look the Survivors in the Eye If We Did Not Follow This Lead
The San Bernardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message.
From ACM Opinion
Telegraph to the Iphone: A Short History of Corporate Defiance
The high-stakes stalemate between Apple and the Justice Department isn’t the first time that Washington and Silicon Valley have come to a showdown over security and privacy.
From ACM Opinion
To Keep America Safe, Embrace Drone Warfare
"Are you sure they're there?" the decision maker asks. "They" are Qaeda operatives who have been planning attacks against the United States.
From ACM Opinion
The Plan to Connect Everyone in the World By 2020 Is Already Off the Rails
Without cheaper devices and more affordable broadband plans, universal Internet access won't be possible until 2042, according to a new report.
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 also generated some misinformation.
From ACM Opinion
Let's Include All of Computer Science in 'computer Science For All'
The Computer Science for All initiative will put the spotlight on a certain type of computing professional: the software developer. But there are even more computing jobs available outside of coding.
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Chief: 'paris Would Not Have Happened' Without Encrypted Apps
National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael Rogers warns that encryption is making it "much more difficult" for the agency to intercept the communications of terrorist groups like the Islamic State, citing November's Paris…
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 programs is finally getting a technology adviser who understands…
From ACM Opinion
The Apple Fight Isn't About Encryption
The most striking aspect of Apple's message to customers on Tuesday wasn't the rejection of U.S. authorities' demand that the company help them break the encryption of an iPhone owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, who was involved in…
From ACM Opinion
Eff to Support Apple in Encryption Battle
We learned on Tuesday evening that a U.S. federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to backdoor an iPhone that was used by one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino shootings in December.
From ACM Opinion
Is D-Wave's Quantum Processor Really 10⁸ Times Faster Than a Normal Computer?
We have been following D-Wave's claims about its quantum hardware at Ars for a number of years. Over that time, my impression has oscillated between skepticism, strong skepticism, and mild enthusiasm.
From ACM Opinion
Why Robots and Smart Thermostats Keep America's Spy Chief p at Night
Some people are already used to having their personal information exposed in massive data breaches.
From ACM Opinion
Moore's Law Really Is Dead This Time
Moore's law has died at the age of 51 after an extended illness.
From ACM Opinion
How the Microscope Redefined the Fact
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the inverse is also true: A word is worth a thousand pictures.
From ACM Opinion
Y'all Have a Texas Accent? Siri (and the World) Might Be Slowly Killing It
It was a simple enough question, at least in this part of the world.
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
Congress Starts to Get Serious About Online Privacy
Congress could soon vote on a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to get a search warrant from a judge to obtain emails, photographs and other documents Americans have stored online.
From ACM Opinion
Your Next New Best Friend Might Be a Robot
One night in late July 2014, a journalist from the Chinese newspaper Southern Weeklyinterviewed a 17-year-old Chinese girl named Xiaoice (pronounced Shao-ice).
From ACM Opinion
Searching For the Algorithms nderlying Life
To the computer scientist Leslie Valiant, "machine learning" is redundant.
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 of the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a former cattle…
From ACM Opinion
From Exile to Eminence: How the Alien Hunters Conquered Astronomy
When Jill Tarter first began to look for aliens, she drew looks askance from her friends and colleagues.
From ACM Opinion
To Keep AI Safe—use AI
Software is already pervasive in our society, but artificial intelligence software raises unique concerns even among the technological elite.