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
Why the Html5 Standard Fight Matters
Today, EFF announced that it was making a formal objection to including consideration of digital rights management (DRM) in the First Public Working Draft from...
From ACM Opinion
Apple Has More Game-Changing Tech in the Works, Says Ceo Tim Cook
Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook spent a lot of time answering questions about how Apple would be different from what it was under Steve Jobs, and just how he would...
From ACM Opinion
Government Plan to Build 'back Doors' For Online Surveillance Could Create Dangerous Vulnerabilities
Recently, the FBI has been attacking the "going dark" problem—that is, its inability to read all electronic communications—from both legal and technological angles...
From ACM Opinion
Meet the Man Who Sold a Month-Old App to Dropbox For $100m
When Mailbox sold itself to Dropbox for a reported $100 million or so this March, the month-old iPhone app wasn’t even available to the public.
From ACM Opinion
Thoughts on Pew's Latest Report: Notable Findings on Race and Privacy
Pew Internet and American Life Project (in collaboration with Berkman) unveiled a brilliant report about "Teens, Social Media, and Privacy." As a researcher who's...
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Propaganda: Sean Gourley on Big Data and the 'war of Ideas'
In 2009, Sean Gourley, an Oxford-trained physicist, gave a TED talk called "The Mathematics of War."
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft's T.j. Campana
The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit has been spearheading botnet takedowns and other anti-cybercrime operations for many years, and it has had remarkable success.
From ACM Opinion
Will Giving the Internet Eyes and Ears Mean the End of Privacy?
The Internet has turned into a massive surveillance tool.
From ACM Opinion
Welcome to Google Island
I awoke aboard a boat, just before daybreak, which was weird.
From ACM Opinion
'big Brother' Is Big Business?
The odds are you are not just a face in the crowd any longer.
From ACM Opinion
Calea Ii: Risks of Wiretap Modifications to Endpoints
I join a group of twenty computer scientists in issuing a report criticizing an FBI plan to require makers of secure communication tools to redesign their systems...
From ACM Opinion
At Google Conference, Cameras Even in the Bathroom
The future came crashing down on me this week at the Google I/O developer conference while I stood at a bathroom urinal.
From ACM Opinion
Google Glass Isn't Lame
I've spent the last few weeks lowering my expectations for Google Glass.
From ACM Opinion
Strongbox and Aaron Swartz
Aaron Swartz was not yet a legend when, almost two years ago, I asked him to build an open-source, anonymous in-box.
From ACM Opinion
Stanford Professor (former Nasa Official) Explains How Nasa Might Revive the Kepler Space Telescope
NASA officials announced Wednesday, May 15, that the Kepler space telescope—the agency's primary instrument for detecting planets beyond our solar system—had suffered...
From ACM Opinion
A Multi-Screen and Conversational Search Experience
Search has always been about giving you the best answers quickly, regardless of what device you use.
From ACM Opinion
Nicole Ozer, Tech Policy Director For Aclu of Northern California
If you think you're hearing about privacy all the time, you're probably right.
From ACM Opinion
4 Big Problems with Social Security Numbers
A Social Security number is like a skeleton key, able to unlock a kingdom of untold riches for identity thieves.
From ACM Opinion
Measuring the Benefits of Tech Tools
When I was a young reporter we could not afford cellphones.
From ACM Opinion