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Europe's New Data Protections Will Affect You Too. Here's How.
From ACM Opinion

Europe's New Data Protections Will Affect You Too. Here's How.

Starting tomorrow, a new framework for consumer data protection goes into effect in Europe.

Getting a Flood of G.D.P.R.-Related Privacy Policy ­pdates? Read Them.
From ACM Opinion

Getting a Flood of G.D.P.R.-Related Privacy Policy ­pdates? Read Them.

You have probably noticed a flood of emails and alerts from companies in the past few weeks informing you about changes to their privacy policies.

Europe's Data Protection Law Is a Big, Confusing Mess
From ACM Opinion

Europe's Data Protection Law Is a Big, Confusing Mess

There is a growing realization that our data is under attack.

How the Enlightenment Ends
From ACM Opinion

How the Enlightenment Ends

Three years ago, at a conference on transatlantic issues, the subject of artificial intelligence appeared on the agenda. I was on the verge of skipping that session—it...

Why Silicon Valley Must Go to War
From ACM Opinion

Why Silicon Valley Must Go to War

Should technologists prevent their tools from being used to wage war? This question was answered with a furious yes at Google recently, when more than 3,000 employees ...

Wikipedia Founder Says Internet ­sers Are Adrift in the 'Fake News' Era
From ACM Opinion

Wikipedia Founder Says Internet ­sers Are Adrift in the 'Fake News' Era

At any given moment, volunteers and paid workers are writing fictional narratives that they present online as news stories, and some of those will get picked up...

Alexa, How Do We Take Our Relationship to the Next Level?
From ACM Opinion

Alexa, How Do We Take Our Relationship to the Next Level?

As useful as it would be to interact with smartphones and other gadgets by chatting casually with them, the technology to enable such a simple but meaningful back...

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...

Who Has More of Your Personal Data Than Facebook? Try Google
From ACM Opinion

Who Has More of Your Personal Data Than Facebook? Try Google

Recent controversy over Facebook Inc.'s hunger for personal data has surfaced the notion that the online advertising industry could be hazardous to our privacy...

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 Internet Has Serious Health Problems, Mozilla Foundation Report Finds
From ACM Opinion

The Internet Has Serious Health Problems, Mozilla Foundation Report Finds

As Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg prepared to face nearly half of the Senate today to explain what went wrong with his company's handling of personal data for millions...

Cambridge Analytica Controversy Must Spur Researchers to Update Data Ethics
From ACM Opinion

Cambridge Analytica Controversy Must Spur Researchers to Update Data Ethics

Revelations keep emerging in the Cambridge Analytica personal-data scandal, which has captured global public attention for more than a week. But when the dust settles...

Ready Player One: We Are Surprisingly Close to Realizing Just Such a VR Dystopia
From ACM Opinion

Ready Player One: We Are Surprisingly Close to Realizing Just Such a VR Dystopia

I was fortunate enough to catch a preview screening of Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Ernest Cline's futuristic novel.

Ancient DNA Is Rewriting Human (and Neanderthal) History
From ACM Opinion

Ancient DNA Is Rewriting Human (and Neanderthal) History

Geneticist David Reich used to study the living, but now he studies the dead.

An Ode to Insignificance: Buttons, Touchscreens, and Other Dangerous Technologies
From ACM Opinion

An Ode to Insignificance: Buttons, Touchscreens, and Other Dangerous Technologies

"The future is already here—it's just not evenly distributed," is an often-quoted line from the brilliant science-fiction writer William Gibson.

How Lies Spread Online
From ACM Opinion

How Lies Spread Online

The spread of misinformation on social media is an alarming phenomenon that scientists have yet to fully understand.

Where the 'Crisis Actor' Conspiracy Theory Comes From
From ACM Opinion

Where the 'Crisis Actor' Conspiracy Theory Comes From

The term "crisis actor" has been in the news a lot lately, because conspiracy theorists have accused survivors of the Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland...

The Father of the Internet Sees His Invention Reflected Back Through a 'Black Mirror'
From ACM Opinion

The Father of the Internet Sees His Invention Reflected Back Through a 'Black Mirror'

In 1984, two men were thinking a lot about the Internet. One of them invented it. The other is an artist who would see its impact on society with uncanny prescience...

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.

Welcome to the Post-Text Future
From ACM Opinion

Welcome to the Post-Text Future

I'll make this short: The thing you're doing now, reading prose on a screen, is going out of fashion.
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