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I See You: The Databases That Facial-Recognition Apps Need to Survive
From ACM Opinion

I See You: The Databases That Facial-Recognition Apps Need to Survive

Privacy concerns have been ignited by "NameTag," a facial-recognition app designed to reveal personal information after analyzing photos taken on mobile devices...

An AI Pal That Is Better Than 'her'
From ACM Opinion

An AI Pal That Is Better Than 'her'

In the movie Her, which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture this year, a middle-aged writer named Theodore Twombly installs and rapidly falls in love with...

5 Questions For Edward Snowden That Aren't Exactly About the Nsa
From ACM Opinion

5 Questions For Edward Snowden That Aren't Exactly About the Nsa

The world's most famous former intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden, is scheduled to answer questions posted on Twitter in an hour-long Webcast on Thursday.

What If Your Autonomous Car Keeps Routing You Past Krispy Kreme?
From ACM Opinion

What If Your Autonomous Car Keeps Routing You Past Krispy Kreme?

On a future road trip, your robot car decides to take a new route, driving you past a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop.

Pretty Good Privacy
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.

It's the 30th Anniversary of the Supreme Court's Monumental Decision About Betamax
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...

When Google Closes the Nest Deal, Privacy Issues For the Internet of Things Will Hit the Big Time
From ACM Opinion

When Google Closes the Nest Deal, Privacy Issues For the Internet of Things Will Hit the Big Time

Google rocked the smart home market Monday with its intention to purchase connected home thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 billion, which will force a much-needed...

How Isaac Asimov Got 2014 Both So Right and So Wrong
From ACM Opinion

How Isaac Asimov Got 2014 Both So Right and So Wrong

In 1964, legendary writer of science fiction and science fact Isaac Asimov visited the World's Fair, where a General Electric pavilion chronicling advances in electric...

'net Neutrality' Ruling Opens Door For Two-Tiered Internet Market
From ACM Opinion

'net Neutrality' Ruling Opens Door For Two-Tiered Internet Market

An "Open Internet" became endangered this week at a time when the U.S. increasingly relies on Internet services to deliver everything from education to entertainment...

A Victory For an ­nfettered Internet
From ACM Opinion

A Victory For an ­nfettered Internet

A federal appeals court in Washington slapped the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday for overstepping its legal authority by trying to regulate Internet...

I Spent Two Hours Talking With the Nsa's Bigwigs. Here's What Has Them Mad
From ACM Opinion

I Spent Two Hours Talking With the Nsa's Bigwigs. Here's What Has Them Mad

My expectations were low when I asked the National Security Agency to cooperate with my story on the impact of Edward Snowden’s leaks on the tech industry.

Why Google Bought Nest: A Theory
From ACM Opinion

Why Google Bought Nest: A Theory

Google is acquiring Nest, makers of a smart thermostat, for a reported $3.2 billion.

Why We Don't Trust Technology Companies
From ACM Opinion

Why We Don't Trust Technology Companies

Last October, T-Mobile made an astonishing announcement: from now on, when you travel internationally with a T-Mobile phone, you get free unlimited text messages...

8 Hypotheses About Tech in 2014
From ACM Opinion

8 Hypotheses About Tech in 2014

If there was a feeling that defined the cultural backdrop for 2013, it was technoanxiety.

10 Bold Predictions For 2014
From ACM Opinion

10 Bold Predictions For 2014

At the beginning of each year, it's possible to make predictions about the future of the tech sector simply by extrapolating from data in the latest Mary Meeker...

When Doctors 'google' Their Patients
From ACM Opinion

When Doctors 'google' Their Patients

I remember when I first looked up a patient on Google.

The Internet of Things Is Wildly Insecure—and Often ­npatchable
From ACM Opinion

The Internet of Things Is Wildly Insecure—and Often ­npatchable

We're at a crisis point now with regard to the security of embedded systems, where computing is embedded into the hardware itself—as with the Internet of Things...

Making It
From ACM Opinion

Making It

In January of 1903, the small Boston magazine Handicraft ran an essay by the Harvard professor Denman W. Ross, who argued that the American Arts and Crafts movement...

Why Snowden Won't (and Shouldn't) Get Clemency
From ACM Opinion

Why Snowden Won't (and Shouldn't) Get Clemency

I regard Daniel Ellsberg as an American patriot.

Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower
From ACM Opinion

Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower

Seven months ago, the world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency's reach into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United...
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