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Who Watches the Watchers? Big Data Goes ­nchecked
From ACM Opinion

Who Watches the Watchers? Big Data Goes ­nchecked

The National Security Agency might be tracking your phone calls. But private industry is prying far more deeply into your life.

Ordering Google to Forget
From ACM Opinion

Ordering Google to Forget

In a ruling that could undermine press freedoms and free speech, the highest court of the European Union said on Tuesday that Google must comply with requests from...

Our Smartphones Are Making Live Tv Better Than Ever
From ACM Opinion

Our Smartphones Are Making Live Tv Better Than Ever

The history of the Internet is one of lonely ­people trying to find one another.

Glenn Greenwald's Pulse-Pounding Tale of Breaking the Snowden Leaks
From ACM Opinion

Glenn Greenwald's Pulse-Pounding Tale of Breaking the Snowden Leaks

In June 2013, Edward Snowden was sitting in his room at the Mira hotel in Hong Kong, watching the world react to the first of his explosive leaks about the NSA's...

The Peril of Knowledge Everywhere
From ACM Opinion

The Peril of Knowledge Everywhere

Thanks to advances in technology, we may soon revisit a question raised four centuries ago: Are there things we should try not to know?

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains
From ACM Opinion

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains

In a decade, cognitive enhancement may have gone mainstream.

Here's How to Learn How Much Your Data Is Worth to Facebook and Google
From ACM Opinion

Here's How to Learn How Much Your Data Is Worth to Facebook and Google

The anti-virus software company AVG has created PrivacyFix, an app to help you get a handle on just how much you're worth to big-time data players Facebook and...

The Move Toward Computing That Reads Your Mind
From ACM Opinion

The Move Toward Computing That Reads Your Mind

Like many people in this modern world, I struggle with the tension between the conveniences offered by the latest technology and the loss of privacy that comes...

Computer Mice: Still a Thing
From ACM Opinion

Computer Mice: Still a Thing

For decades, the mouse was a key component of how one interacted with a computer.

4 Ways the Political Elite Try (and Fail) to Avoid Leaving a Trail of Incriminating Messages
From ACM Opinion

4 Ways the Political Elite Try (and Fail) to Avoid Leaving a Trail of Incriminating Messages

The most powerful people in the country are just not as good as teenagers when it comes to being discreet. Mostly that’s by design—there are freedom of information...

Can an Algorithm Solve Twitter's Credibility Problem?
From ACM Opinion

Can an Algorithm Solve Twitter's Credibility Problem?

On October 29, 2012, when Hurricane Sandy made landfall, I was in my Brooklyn apartment, refreshing Twitter.

The White House Big Data Report: The Good, The Bad, and The Missing
From ACM Opinion

The White House Big Data Report: The Good, The Bad, and The Missing

Last week, the White House released its report on big data and its privacy implications, the result of a 90-day study commissioned by President Obama during his...

The Secret Messages Inside Chinese ­rls
From ACM Opinion

The Secret Messages Inside Chinese ­rls

An American friend living in Beijing once said she refused to communicate with anyone whose email address consisted of a string of numbers, such as 62718298454@163...

How Cloud Storage Complicates the Supreme Court Debate Over Cell Phone Privacy
From ACM News

How Cloud Storage Complicates the Supreme Court Debate Over Cell Phone Privacy

Should police be able to search the contents of your smartphone without a warrant?

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039
From ACM News

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039

Brain chips mean we are struggling to distinguish our own thoughts from ideas implanted by advertisers.

How to Build a Gesture-Controlled Web Game with Leap Motion
From ACM Opinion

How to Build a Gesture-Controlled Web Game with Leap Motion

Modern smartphones have helped shed a light on the power of user interfaces that are driven by gesture and touch. It’s increasingly clear that touch will play a...

Farewell Nokia: The Rise and Fall of a Mobile Pioneer
From ACM Opinion

Farewell Nokia: The Rise and Fall of a Mobile Pioneer

You never forget your first cellphone.

Putin's Fear of the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Putin's Fear of the Internet

In the mid-nineteen-sixties, Brezhnev's Soviet Union introduced a law aimed at stifling ideological dissent.

Goodbye, Net Neutrality; Hello, Net Discrimination
From ACM Opinion

Goodbye, Net Neutrality; Hello, Net Discrimination

In 2007, at a public forum at Coe College, in Iowa, Presidential candidate Barack Obama was asked about net neutrality.

Robots Are Coming
From Communications of the ACM

Robots Are Coming

Considering the societal implications of the robotics revolution.
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