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
What It's Like to Get a National-Security Letter
In the summer of 2011, while he was fighting an indictment for alleged computer crimes, Aaron Swartz, an information activist, read Kafka’s "The Trial" and ...
From ACM Opinion
The Taming of the Spook
On March 24, 2009, the National Security Agency’s inspector general issued a 51-page draft report on the President’s Surveillance Program, the warrantless authority...
From ACM Opinion
Will Facebook's Robot Censors Know Porn When They See It?
The old trope about pornography is that you’ll know it when you see it. Facebook is betting that not only will it know it, but that the social network will be able...
From ACM Opinion
Snowden, Through the Eyes of a Spy Novelist
For a spy novelist like me, the Edward J. Snowden story has everything. A man driven by ego and idealism—can anyone ever distinguish the two?—leaves his job and...
From ACM Opinion
Connecting the Dots, Missing the Story
Could Big Data have prevented 9/11? Perhaps—Dick Cheney, for one, seems to think so.
From Communications of the ACM
Could Artificial Intelligence Create an Unemployment Crisis?
Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics will have significant implications for evolving economic systems.
From Communications of the ACM
Toward Culturally Responsive Computing Education
Improving academic success and social development by merging computational thinking with cultural practices.
From Communications of the ACM
The Business of Professionals
Expertise and service ethics are just two of the many components comprising a modern professional.
From Communications of the ACM
Information and Communication Technology For Managing Supply Chain Risks
How to encourage ethical behavior among all links in a global supply chain.
From Communications of the ACM
Statutory Damages As a Threat to Innovation
Considering the negative influence of U.S. statutory damage rules on technology innovation.
From ACM Opinion
Sorry, It's Not 1984
After leaker Edward Snowden revealed the existence of massive domestic-surveillance programs operated by the NSA, the airwaves were clotted with pundits and politicians...
From ACM Opinion
.s. Offensive Cyberwar Policy
Today, the United States is conducting offensive cyberwar actions around the world.
From ACM Opinion
Qr Codes Aren't Dead Yet
My favorite mobile device isn't my phone, my iPad, or my car. It's my Canon digital SLR camera.
From ACM Opinion
Phew, Nsa Is Just Collecting Metadata. (you Should Still Worry)
We now know that every day, U.S. phone companies quietly send the government a list of who called whom and when—"telephony metadata"—for every call made on their...
From ACM Opinion
Google's Chief Legal Officer: Eight Things We Learned
David Drummond, Google's senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, took part in a live Q&A on Wednesday to answer questions about...
From ACM Opinion
The German Prism: Berlin Wants to Spy Too
Just a few days ago, the man whom many Germans now see as one of the greatest villains in the world visited Berlin.
From ACM Opinion
I Would Have Hired Edward Snowden
I don't know Edward Snowden, but I know his kind.
From ACM Opinion
The Prism
An extraordinary fuss about eavesdropping started in the spring of 1844, when Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian exile in London, became convinced that the British government...
From ACM Opinion