This Week in Tech

Amazon Is Filled With Fake Reviews and It’s Getting Harder to Spot Them

Amazon Is Filled With Fake Reviews and It’s Getting Harder to Spot Them

Since Amazon’s early days, reviews are the one big metric customers have relied on to determine the quality and authenticity of a product. Amazon’s listings often have hundreds or thousands of reviews, instead of the handful found on competing marketplaces. But many of those reviews can’t be trusted. Thousands of fake reviews have flooded Amazon, Walmart, eBay and others, as sales have skyrocketed…


The NSA Phone-Spying Program Exposed by Edward Snowden Didn’t Stop a Single Terrorist Attack, Federal Judge Finds

The National Security Administration’s sweeping program to snoop on Americans’ phone records was illegal and possibly unconstitutional — and there’s no evidence it led to the arrests of any terrorism suspects — a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday…


A Florida Teen Allegedly Shut Down Remote School With a DDoS Attack

WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL election fast approaching, recent moves by the Trump administration appear designed to undermine the security and integrity of the vote. And that’s not even counting the long-standing Postal Service shenanigans. Facebook rolled out a series of measures this week designed to minimize how much it contributes to the problem, including message-forwarding limits that have already helped WhatsApp fight misinformation…


Microsoft Has Launched New Deepfake-Detecting Tech Ahead of the 2020 Election

Microsoft is trying to head off deepfake disinformation ahead of the 2020 election by launching new authenticator tech…


Ajit Pai Touted False Broadband Data Despite Clear Signs It Wasn’t Accurate

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai touted inaccurate broadband-availability data in order to claim that his deregulatory agenda sped up deployment despite clear warning signs that the FCC was relying on false information…


Mark Zuckerberg: Flagging Misinformation About Mail-in Voting “Will Apply to the President”

Facebook is coming out with a new set of steps to help safeguard the November election, amid reports of foreign interference and false claims about mail-in voting from President Trump and his allies…


India Bans 100 More Chinese-Linked Apps, Including PUBG and VPN for TikTok

Cybersecurity concerns reportedly prompted India to ban more than 100 mobile apps with links to China on Wednesday, according to TechCrunch. The banned apps include popular mobile game PUBG, along with VPN for TikTok and WeChat Work…