Trying to succeed as a startup is hard enough. Getting a frivolous patent infringement demand letter in the mail can make it a whole lot harder. The experience of San Francisco-based Motiv is the latest example of how patent trolls impose painful costs on small startups and stifle innovation. Motiv...
Plus 5 tips for repealing parking minimums in your community.
Let’s start with Facebook’s Surveillance Machine, by Zeynep Tufekci in last Monday’s New York Times. Among other things (all correct), Zeynep explains that “Facebook makes m…
Over the last several months, I've witnessed many controversial discussions among my friends, in my San Francisco community, and on online forums about James Demore’s memorandum [https://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320] . People of both genders are wrestling with the fact…
We're facing questions about whether Facebook gave large tech companies access to people's information and, if so, why we did this.
Today the US Transportation Security Administration released a detailed TSA Biometric Roadmap for Aviation Security & the Passenger Experience , making explicit the goal of requiring mug shots (to be used for automated facial recognition and image-based surveillance and control) as a condition of all domestic or…
Two weeks ago we promised to take a hard look at the information apps can use when you connect them to Facebook as well as other data practices. Today, we want to update you on the changes we're making to better protect your Facebook information.
A new standard for cryptography is on the horizon, called Transport Level Security 1.3 (TLS 1.3). TLS 1.3 is a major update to cryptography, and
Congress approved legislation that will renew and strengthen the federal Open Textbook Pilot, which provides grants to expand OER in higher education.
On Friday, the Tagansky District Court in Moscow is expected to rule on a request by Roskomnadzor, the Russian media watchdog, to block Telegram for its refusal to provide the Federal Security Service (FSB) with backdoor access to encrypted messages.
Katharina Nuss, a mom of three in Winnipeg, Canada, had a recent run-in with the authorities which radicalized her -- if it's radical to work toward a day when parents are allowed to send their kids down the block unsupervised for a minute or two. We spoke by phone. Here's her story: I have three
‘In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Good Will.’ Winston S. Churchill This week Microsoft announced that it is purchasing GitHub for $7.5 billion in stock. I waited for a few days to write up my thoughts because this is something that deserves some thoughtful reflection. The…
40 common false assumptions programmers make about names, debunked with real-world examples from global naming systems and identity practices.
Social media platform Tumblr has announced a ban on so-called “adult content,” a move made, it seems, in reaction to Tumblr’s app being removed from the Apple app store. But while making the app more available is in theory good for Tumblr users, in practice what’s about to happen is mass censorship...
Slot-based intersections that could replace traditional traffic lights, significantly reducing queues and delays.
Recently, a patent application from Amazon became public that would pair face surveillance — like Rekognition, the product that the company is aggressively marketing to police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement — with Ring, a doorbell camera company that Amazon bought earlier this year.
Taxation is a powerful planning tool, whether we want it to be or not.
The Sophos Blog
More than 15 state legislatures are considering the “Human Trafficking Prevention Act” (HTPA). But don’t let the name fool you: this bill would do nothing to address human trafficking. Instead, it would only threaten your free speech and privacy in a misguided attempt to block and tax online...
Privacy Not Included was launched in 2017 to help you understand the privacy risks of tech products that connect to the internet. We are continuing that work in the form of Product Reviews at our magazine Nothing Personal, where our privacy experts do hours of hands-on testing and research on the most popular consumer…
What do you do when you want to look up the owner of a domain name? You probably perform a "WHOIS search" to find out the owner's name and contact information. The WHOIS system, which makes certain domain registration data publicly available, is an invaluable research tool for trademark owners a...
Despite waves of calls and emails from European Internet users, the European Parliament today voted to accept the principle of a universal pre-emptive copyright filter for content-sharing sites, as well as the idea that news publishers should have the right to sue others for quoting news items...
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace2018147 points118 commentsTech Industry & Business details
China’s debt problems have emerged so much more rapidly and severely this year than in the past that a growing number of analysts believe that this may be the year that China’s economy breaks. There is no question that China will have a difficult adjustment, but it is likely to take the form of a long process rather…
