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Facial Recognition Tech Is Creepy When It Works, And Creepier When It Doesn't
From ACM Opinion

Facial Recognition Tech Is Creepy When It Works, And Creepier When It Doesn't

For the last few years, police forces around China have invested heavily to build the world's largest video surveillance and facial recognition system, incorporating...

Chinese-American Elites Lament a Brewing Trade War
From ACM Opinion

Chinese-American Elites Lament a Brewing Trade War

It's not easy to promote closer US-China ties these days.

AI Can Help Cybersecurity, If It Can Fight Through the Hype
From ACM Opinion

AI Can Help Cybersecurity, If It Can Fight Through the Hype

Walking the enormous exhibition halls at the recent RSA security conference in San Francisco, you could have easily gotten the impression that digital defense was...

When John Doerr Brought a 'Gift' to Google's Founders
From ACM Opinion

When John Doerr Brought a 'Gift' to Google's Founders

On a fall day in 1999, in the heart of Silicon Valley, I arrived at a two-story, L-shaped structure off the 101 freeway. It was young Google's headquarters, and...

Why Police Should Monitor Social Media to Prevent Crime
From ACM Opinion

Why Police Should Monitor Social Media to Prevent Crime

In February, the ACLU of Massachusetts released a damning report detailing prejudice in social media surveillance efforts by the Boston Police Department (BPD)....

The White House Loses Its Cybersecurity Brain Trust
From ACM Opinion

The White House Loses Its Cybersecurity Brain Trust

Today, the White House confirmed that cybersecurity coordinator Rob Joyce will head back to the National Security Agency, where he previously ran the nation's top...

The Questions Zuckerberg Should Have Answered About Russia
From ACM Opinion

The Questions Zuckerberg Should Have Answered About Russia

Over the last two days, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was questioned for more than 10 hours by two different Congressional committees. There was granular focus on...

The Next Cold War Is Here, and It's All About Data
From ACM Opinion

The Next Cold War Is Here, and It's All About Data

The headlines about the trade wars being touched off by President Trump's new tariffs may telegraph plenty of bombast and shots fired, but the most consequential...

The Blockchain Solution to Our Deepfake Problems
From ACM Opinion

The Blockchain Solution to Our Deepfake Problems

Blockchain has always seemed to me like a solution looking for a problem, which isn't a criticism.

The FCC Should ­se Blockchain to Manage Wireless Spectrum
From ACM Opinion

The FCC Should ­se Blockchain to Manage Wireless Spectrum

The technology at the heart of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin—blockchain—has captured the world's attention, much as the internet, peer-to-peer file transfers, apps...

Med Students Are Getting Terrible Training in Robotic Surgery
From ACM Opinion

Med Students Are Getting Terrible Training in Robotic Surgery

If you think your on-the-job training was tough, imagine what life is like for newbie surgeons.

In ­S v. Microsoft, a Decades-Old Law Leaves Few Good Options
From ACM Opinion

In ­S v. Microsoft, a Decades-Old Law Leaves Few Good Options

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in United States v. Microsoft, a case that many observers believe could have significant ramifications for how...

The Limits of Explainability
From ACM Opinion

The Limits of Explainability

When we look at a stack of blocks or a stack of Oreos, we intuitively have a sense of how stable it is, whether it might fall over, and in what direction it may...

How Trump Conquered Facebook, Without Russian Ads
From ACM Opinion

How Trump Conquered Facebook, Without Russian Ads

It's not every day that a former work colleague gets retweeted by the president of the United States.

How Snapchat Is Sending #MeToo Down the Memory Hole
From ACM Opinion

How Snapchat Is Sending #MeToo Down the Memory Hole

If you have something personal or private to communicate, you know where to turn.

Mourning John Perry Barlow, the Bard of the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Mourning John Perry Barlow, the Bard of the Internet

When I first met John Perry Barlow, we became instant soulmates. While that sentence is true for me, it also applies to probably 10,000 other people.

Want Awesome Robots? You'll Have to Best These Challenges
From ACM Opinion

Want Awesome Robots? You'll Have to Best These Challenges

We are living in the midst of a profound technological restructuring of human society. The machines that once only frolicked in science fiction have begun to infiltrate...

Remembering ­rsula Le Guin, Imaginer of Difficult Worlds
From ACM Opinion

Remembering ­rsula Le Guin, Imaginer of Difficult Worlds

Ursula Le Guin imagined the future for a living, but her most prescient statement may have come in a speech.

Forget the Robot Singularity Apocalypse. Let's Talk About the Multiplicity
From ACM Opinion

Forget the Robot Singularity Apocalypse. Let's Talk About the Multiplicity

For a species that's conquered Earth and traveled through space and invented the Slapchop, we humans sure are insecure when it comes to technology.

Congress Renews Warrantless Surveillance, and Makes It Even Worse
From ACM Opinion

Congress Renews Warrantless Surveillance, and Makes It Even Worse

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency was legally collecting millions of Americans' phone calls and electronic communications—including...
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