Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
Nazis Pressed Ham Radio Hobbyists to Serve the Third Reich, but Surviving Came at a Price
When people have free and unfettered choices of activities, they both entertain and express themselves through their pastimes—whether stamp or coin collecting,...
From ACM Opinion
It's Not My Fault, My Brain Implant Made Me Do It
Mr. B loves Johnny Cash, except when he doesn't. Mr. X has watched his doctors morph into Italian chefs right before his eyes.
From ACM Opinion
How Cambridge Analytica's Facebook Targeting Model Really Worked, According to the Person Who Built It
The researcher whose work is at the center of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data analysis and political advertising uproar has revealed that his method worked...
From ACM Opinion
Cambridge Analytica Scandal: Legitimate Researchers sing Facebook Data Could Be Collateral Damage
The scandal that has erupted around Cambridge Analytica's alleged harvesting of 50m Facebook profiles assembled from data provided by a UK-based academic and his...
From ACM Opinion
sing Blockchain to Secure the 'Internet of Things'
The world is full of connected devices—and more are coming. In 2017, there were an estimated 8.4 billion internet-enabled thermostats, cameras, streetlights and...
From ACM Opinion
Steam Not Stem: Why Scientists Need Arts training
From biotech to climate change, advances in technology raise significant moral questions. To engage responsibly, our next generation of scientists need training...
From ACM Opinion
Could Intelligent Machines of the Future Own the Rights to Their Own creations?
Intellectual property may be the legal term for creations, including literary or artistic, but there is something inherently human about it as well.
From ACM Opinion
Real Security Requires Strong Encryption–even If Investigators Get Blocked
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have been fighting against easy, widespread public access to encryption technologies for 25 years.
From ACM Opinion
How the Chinese Cyberthreat Has evolved
With more than half of its 1.4 billion people online, the world's most populous country is home to a slew of cyberspies and hackers.
From ACM Opinion
The Only Safe Email Is text-Only email
It's troubling to think that at any moment you might open an email that looks like it comes from your employer, a relative or your bank, only to fall for a ...
From ACM Opinion
Tracing the Sources of Today's Russian cyberthreat
Beyond carrying all of our phone, text and internet communications, cyberspace is an active battleground, with cybercriminals, government agents and even military...
From ACM Opinion
End-to-End Encryption Isn't Enough Security For 'real people'
Government officials continue to seek technology companies' help fighting terrorism and crime. But the most commonly proposed solution would severely limit regular...
From ACM Opinion
Editing Human Embryos with Crispr Is Moving Ahead; Now's the Time to Work Out the Ethics
The announcement by researchers in Portland, Oregon that they've successfully modified the genetic material of a human embryo took some people by surprise.
From ACM Opinion
Asimov's Laws Won't Stop Robots Harming Humans So We've Developed a Better solution
How do you stop a robot from hurting people?
From ACM Opinion
AI Could Kickstart a New Global Arms Race; We Need Better Ways to Govern It Before It's Too Late
There is a lot of money to be made from Artificial Intelligence.
From ACM Opinion
Building Privacy Right Into Software code
When I was 15, my parents did not allow me to use AOL Instant Messenger. All of my friends used it, so I had to find a way around this rule.
From ACM Opinion
7 in 10 Smartphone Apps Share Your Data with Third-Party Services
Our mobile phones can reveal a lot about ourselves: where we live and work; who our family, friends and acquaintances are; how (and even what) we communicate with...
From ACM Opinion
Defending Science: How the Art of Rhetoric Can help
Science seems to be under attack in America, so much so that scientists and their supporters are marching in the streets.
From ACM Opinion
Cybersecurity's Next Phase: cyber-Deterrence
Cyberattackers pose many threats to a wide range of targets. Russia, for example, was accused of hacking Democratic Party computers throughout the year, interfering...
From ACM Opinion