This Week in Tech – 04/08/2018: Facebook a Big Contributor to the Committees in Congress That Will Question Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook a Big Contributor to the Committees in Congress That Will Question Mark Zuckerberg
WASHINGTON — Members of the House and Senate committees that will question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about user privacy protection next week are also some of the biggest recipients of campaign contributions from Facebook employees directly and the political action committee funded by employees…
Here’s How To Plug One Of The Biggest Privacy Holes In The Internet
Last March, Congress gave internet service providers the green light to collect user data–without their consent–when it abolished an FCC regulation aimed at strengthening internet privacy. While a few states are struggling to enact their own ISP privacy laws, private companies, academics, and nonprofits are coming up with technical workarounds that would diminish the ability of ISPs to eavesdrop on their customers…
China Has Started Ranking Citizens With a Creepy ‘Social Credit’ System — Here’s What You Can Do Wrong, and the Embarrassing, Demeaning Ways They Can Punish You
The Chinese state is setting up a vast ranking system system that will monitor the behaviour of its enormous population, and rank them all based on their “social credit.”…
FCC Commissioner Slams Her Own Agency for Policies ‘Custom-Built’ to Favor Sinclair-Tribune Merger
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel on Tuesday argued against her own agency’s recent policy rulings under the Trump administration, in light of President Donald Trump’s defense of Sinclair Broadcasting as the conservative broadcasting giant attempts to merge with Tribune Media in a $3.9 billion deal…
Computer System Transcribes Words Users “Speak Silently”
MIT researchers have developed a computer interface that can transcribe words that the user verbalizes internally but does not actually speak aloud…
FCC Approves SpaceX Plan for 4,425-Satellite Broadband Network
SpaceX has a green light from the FCC to launch a network of thousands of satellites blanketing the globe with broadband. And you won’t have too long to wait — on a cosmic scale, anyway. Part of the agreement is that SpaceX launch half of its proposed satellites within six years…
Under a Millimeter Wide and Powered by Light, These Tiny Cameras Could Hide Almost Anywhere
As if there weren’t already cameras enough in this world, researchers created a new type that is both microscopic and self-powered, making it possible to embed just about anywhere and have it work perpetually. It’s undoubtedly cool technology, but it’s probably also going to cause a spike in tinfoil sales…