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Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 318 posts.
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EFF, ACLU Sue Over Warrantless Phone, Laptop Searches at U.S. Border
Boston, Massachusetts—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without warrants at the U.S. border. The plaintiffs in the case are...
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One Step Closer to a Closed Internet
Today, the FCC voted on Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to repeal and replace net neutrality protections enacted in 2015. The verdict: to move forward with
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When it comes to internet privacy, be afraid, analyst suggests
Cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier, a fellow with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, discusses what consumers can do to protect themselves from government and corporate surveillance.
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Leaked document: EU Presidency calls for massive internet filtering
A Council of the European Union document leaked by Statewatch on 30 August reveals that during the summer months, that Estonia (current EU Presidency) has been pushing the other Member States to strengthen indiscriminate internet surveillance, and to follow in the footsteps of China regarding online censorship…
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Is Every Speed Limit Too Low?
Americans nearly universally speed, and excess speed is a factor in many accidents. But what if higher speed limits made roads safer?
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Facebook is terrifying
Facebook is terrifying Remember that last time you posted a picture on Facebook and it automatically suggested to tag other people on the photo? Nothing unusual. You’ve tagged these people before …
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The “Million Dollar Homepage” as a Decaying Digital Artifact
The Library Innovation Lab is growing knowledge and community by bringing library principles to technological frontiers.
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Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy
If you’re working on a startup or non-profit that addresses any of the challenges discussed below, we’d love to see you apply. News: We’re facing two major issues with news. The first is fake news. The business model for online media rewards the people who get the greatest number of page views, clicks and likes. That…
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Apple does right by users and advertisers are displeased
With the new Safari 11 update, Apple takes an important step to protect your privacy, specifically how your browsing habits are tracked and shared with parties other than the sites you visit. In response, Apple is getting criticized by the advertising industry for "destroying the Internet's...
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Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments
We can make low risk, high returning investments in our cities while improving the quality of life for people, particularly those who are not benefiting from the current approach.
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FDA grants Breakthrough Therapy designation to MDMA for treatment of PTSD
The non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to MDMA for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MAPS and the FDA have also reached agreement under the Special…
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What programming languages are used late at night?
Do you program in the evening? How about late at night? I enjoy programming as a hobby and I'm a bit of a night owl, so I often code well outside working hours, sometimes past midnight. And whatever time it is, when I run into a bug I visit Stack Overflow. This means that Stack Overflow data can give us insights into…
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Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak
UpGuard has discovered an open database containing information on what appear to be approximately 198 million American voters left misconfigured by a GOP analytics firm.
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Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids
Chronic pain sufferers and those taking mental health meds would rather turn to cannabis instead of their prescribed opioid medication, according to new research by the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.
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We Only Have Hours Left to Stop the NSA Expansion Bill
According to reports published Tuesday evening by Politico, a group of surveillance hawks in the House of Representatives is trying to ram through a bill that would extend mass surveillance by the National Security Agency. We expect a vote to happen on the House floor as early as tomorrow, which...
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Why Infrastructure Is So Expensive
If we can align the incentives of the players involved, we can build infrastructure that is actually necessary and while doing it quicker and at lower prices than we do now.
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Lessons from last week’s cyberattack
Early Friday morning the world experienced the year’s latest cyberattack. Starting first in the United Kingdom and Spain, the malicious “WannaCrypt” software quickly spread globally, blocking customers from their data unless they paid a ransom using Bitcoin. The WannaCrypt exploits used in the attack were drawn from…
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Apple’s refusal to support Progressive Web Apps is a detriment to the web
Why hasn’t Apple added support for service workers in Safari for iOS? Could it be because it goes against their app store revenue model?
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We Have 24 Hours to Save Online Privacy Rules
This is our last chance to save critical online privacy protections. Take part in the action! We are one vote away from a world where your ISP can track your every move online and sell that information to the highest bidder. Call your lawmakers now and tell them to protect federal online privacy...
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Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress
When sophisticated adversaries want to hack a network, they ultimately win. A government mandated encryption backdoor would make Americans less safe.
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