Facebook is built on harvesting platform data about its users, crunching that to predict behaviours and allegiances and then selling this package to advertisers. That hasn’t changed yet.
In a recent Canadian court case, defence and prosecution argued over whether a suspect was required to provide his password to allow for a search warrant to be executed on his phone.
States like California have been at the forefront of privacy innovation in recent decades. A possible federal law could bring their experimentation to a halt, harming consumers.
The history of how Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiaries manage children and data is a troubling one. How will Sidewalk Labs address concerns about minors and privacy in Toronto’s Quayside project?
Consumers want better protection for their data, and businesses want clear national laws. Yet there is virtually no consensus about what a broad privacy law should entail.
Tiny electronic items can identify pets, clothes and even people. Evangelical Christians aren’t the only people worried about what this technology might mean.
Feelgood, high-level data ethics principles are not fit for the purpose of regulating big tech. Applied ethics might be useful … but stronger regulation is the preferred end goal.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s claimed intent to focus on privacy will be hard to execute, will not happen soon and does not address major concerns about the company’s role in society.
The National Library of Australia’s web archive preserves online Australian content dating back to 1996. The next step is to archive platforms such as Facebook and Twitter - but it won’t be easy.
Facebook seems to be shifting its focus more towards privacy. But this might have some unexpected repercussions, as highlighted by recent research on the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.