Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Let the Nsa Keep Hold of the Data
One of the recommendations by the president's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies on reforming the National Security Agency—No. 5, if you're...
From ACM Opinion
Virtual Worlds Are Real
Ever since virtual worlds and online games emerged in the mainstream consciousness around 2005, the media has insisted on framing them as escapist fantasies.
From ACM Opinion
Pretty Good Privacy
Few critics of the NSA will find much satisfaction in President Obama's speech this morning or in the set of reforms that he announced.
From ACM Opinion
It's the 30th Anniversary of the Supreme Court's Monumental Decision About Betamax
Those of us who came of age in the Internet era may not know that they owe their ability to go online to a court decision 30 years ago today about a mechanically...
From ACM Opinion
Why Snowden Won't (and Shouldn't) Get Clemency
I regard Daniel Ellsberg as an American patriot.
From ACM Opinion
The Nsa's Metadata Program Is Perfectly Constitutional
Last month two judges issued two different opinions about the NSA's controversial bulk metadata collection program.
From ACM Opinion
Metadata Isn't Going Away. Here's How to Control It.
It's a good bet that, in the next few weeks, President Obama will impose some serious reforms—and ask Congress to enact a few more—on how the National Security...
From ACM Opinion
Why Obama Still ses a BlackBerry
Barack Obama is the world's most prominent BlackBerry user.
From ACM Opinion
Can You Hack It?
Wherever you're sitting right now, take a moment to note the connected devices around you.
From ACM Opinion
The Evil Genius of Fantasy Football
Watching football means watching young men damage their brains.
From ACM Opinion
In Search of Planetary Intelligence
It is said that Mahatma Gandhi, when asked about Western civilization, remarked, "I think it would be a good idea."
From ACM Opinion
WikiLeaks' Teenage Benedict Arnold
When he met Julian Assange for the first time, Sigurdur Thordarson admired the WikiLeaks founder's attitude and quickly signed up to the cause.
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Can Reportedly Track Phones Even When They're Turned Off
The NSA has a diverse range of surveillance capabilities—from monitoring Google Maps use to sifting through millions of phone call records and spying on Web searches...
From ACM Opinion
The Taming of the Spook
On March 24, 2009, the National Security Agency’s inspector general issued a 51-page draft report on the President’s Surveillance Program, the warrantless authority...
From ACM Opinion
Connecting the Dots, Missing the Story
Could Big Data have prevented 9/11? Perhaps—Dick Cheney, for one, seems to think so.
From ACM Opinion
I Would Have Hired Edward Snowden
I don't know Edward Snowden, but I know his kind.
From ACM Opinion
Why Americans Don't Fear the Nsa
Cybersnooping was always scheduled to be an important topic during President Obama’s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
From ACM Opinion