News Article (130)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 7 min
- The Washington Post
- 2013
Description of how targeted ads worked in the Obama re-election campaign, and why they were used. Specifically, the combination of the campaign buying advertising space in Google and ad companies tracking user activity across the web led to a robust targeted advertising campaign unlike anything seen before it.
- The Washington Post
- 2013
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- 7 min
- The Washington Post
- 2013
Obama has aggressive Internet strategy to woo supporters
Description of how targeted ads worked in the Obama re-election campaign, and why they were used. Specifically, the combination of the campaign buying advertising space in Google and ad companies tracking user activity across the web led to a robust targeted advertising campaign unlike anything seen before it.
What type of data is mined for target advertising? How is human agency impacted by this type of political targeted advertising? How has this situation improved or gotten worse since 2013?
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- 5 min
- ARS Technica
- 2019
Google records some audio and has language experts review it to improve language skills of the technology. However, this may raise privacy concerns as sometimes they record by accident when users aren’t trying to use the Google Assistant.
- ARS Technica
- 2019
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- 5 min
- ARS Technica
- 2019
Google workers listen to your “OK Google” queries– one of them leaked recordings
Google records some audio and has language experts review it to improve language skills of the technology. However, this may raise privacy concerns as sometimes they record by accident when users aren’t trying to use the Google Assistant.
Do you use a virtual assistant? What for? Are you always conscious of what you are asking, or do you say things that you think no one is hearing?
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- 10 min
- The New York Times
- 2019
Databases of people’s faces are being compiled without their knowledge by companies and researchers (including social media companies or dating sites), with many shared around the world and fueling the advancement of facial recognition technology.
- The New York Times
- 2019
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- 10 min
- The New York Times
- 2019
Facial Recognition Tech is Growing Stronger, Thanks to Your Face
Databases of people’s faces are being compiled without their knowledge by companies and researchers (including social media companies or dating sites), with many shared around the world and fueling the advancement of facial recognition technology.
How comfortable would you feel knowing that your face is in various databases and is being use, in some cases, to fuel their machine learning algorithms? As of right now, Google and Facebook, who are said to have the largest facial databases of all, do not share their information, but might they? And what would happen if they did?
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- 7 min
- Wall Street Journal
- 2019
Large firms in the United States are becoming far more resilient to cyber attacks, primarily through larger spending and higher prioritization of security. This is especially important as digital hacking escalates conflicts between global nations.
- Wall Street Journal
- 2019
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- 7 min
- Wall Street Journal
- 2019
U.S. Companies Learn to Defend Themselves in Cyberspace
Large firms in the United States are becoming far more resilient to cyber attacks, primarily through larger spending and higher prioritization of security. This is especially important as digital hacking escalates conflicts between global nations.
How might small businesses fit into this picture? How could cyber security development be more oriented toward the public good? How can tech corporations help the government in a age which seems to be tending toward digital mutually assured destruction?
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- 15 min
- ARS Technica
- 2019
Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra, is facing problems and will take a long time to develop. While it is attempting to mirror the bitcoin blockchain network in its ideology and functionality, there are significant barriers to reaching this vision, the most prominent of which being that its existence as a subsidy of Facebook means there cannot be decentralized control or accountability.
- ARS Technica
- 2019
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- 15 min
- ARS Technica
- 2019
There’s a big problem with Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency
Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra, is facing problems and will take a long time to develop. While it is attempting to mirror the bitcoin blockchain network in its ideology and functionality, there are significant barriers to reaching this vision, the most prominent of which being that its existence as a subsidy of Facebook means there cannot be decentralized control or accountability.
What are the differences between Bitcoin and Libra cryptocurrencies? How does Libra embody technocratic control in a way that Bitcoin does not? Should this new cryptocurrency network be above governmental regulation? What would be the consequences of this?
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- 5 min
- Citylab
- 2019
Currently, the idea of “smart cities” are so theoretical and predicated on the idea of “technochauvinism” that they mostly exist in images which sell the ideas of ever-advancing technology and application of futuristic technologies to urban centers as a cash cow waiting to be milked.
- Citylab
- 2019
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- 5 min
- Citylab
- 2019
The 3 Pictures That Explain Everything About Smart Cities
Currently, the idea of “smart cities” are so theoretical and predicated on the idea of “technochauvinism” that they mostly exist in images which sell the ideas of ever-advancing technology and application of futuristic technologies to urban centers as a cash cow waiting to be milked.
What is a smart city, at least in theory? What might be left out of the phenomenon (urban life) that smart cities attempt to abstract in the creation of a smart city? What priorities come with envisioning a smart city, and who is or should be in control of this?