Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 141
Posts 41 - 50

Facebook backs down in race row: Will stop advertisers using 'ethnic affinity' to target housing, employment and credit ads

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Newspaper | Mail Online
Date | 11.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, marketing, privacy
Summary | Facebook will stop its "ethnic affinity" practice that helps advertisers reach ethnic groups with housing, extension of credit, and employment ads. However, policymakers and civil rights leaders have been concerned about the use of the ethnic affinity option; those ads discriminate against people. The privacy and public policy manager at Facebook said that it is important to keep the option to include and exclude groups for advertisers.
Image Description | Screenshot of Facebook's 'Detailed Targeting' form, screenshot of a part of a Facebook page, photograph of a smartphone screen with social media logos on it
Image Tags | Facebook, logo, smartphone, social media

Tech industry slowly rallies behind Apple in iPhone fight

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Newspaper | USA Today
Date | 19.2.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, Google, law, privacy, smartphone, threat
Summary | The FBI had issues a court order to Apple to hack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists. When Apple declined, other tech magnates like Google and Facebook sided with them saying that tech companies cannot be ordered to compromise their customers' privacy by the governement. Allowing this to happen now would set a problematic precedent for the future.
Image Description | Portrait of Mark Zuckerberg.
Image Tags | Facebook, male(s)

Free Tools to Keep Those Creepy Online Ads From Watching You

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 18.2.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, privacy, threat
Summary | Many companies track potential customers' internet activity so that they find out when someone, for instance, has the flu and will likely respond to flu medication advertisements. They collect data about all users when they visit a tracking website and then tailor advertising to specific target groups. This is a violation of our privacy because this process is very obscure and it is difficult to protect oneself from it but there are a few softwares one can get to stop companies from tracking one's online activity.
Image Description | Hands typing on a laptop keyboard.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, hand(s)

Obama Shifting Online Strategy on ISIS

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 8.1.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, law, politics, privacy, threat
Summary | President Obama wants to use surveillance techniques of new media to find IS terrorists. Tech companies, however, increasingly offer their users encrypted messaging services and refuse to hand over the keys to the government. Companies are protecting their users' privacy but also giving terrorists safe channels of communication.
Image Description | Portrait of Apple’s chief executive.
Image Tags | male(s)

At C.D.C., a Debate Behind Recommendations on Cellphone Risk

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 1.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | (mental) health, brain, childhood, research/study, smartphone, threat
Summary | A controversy has sparked over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's health recommendation regarding cell phones. They had reviewed research on brain tumor risk connected with cell phone use and decided that the data were not convincing enough. Their recommendation was that cell phone users need not be more cautious with cell phones than other daily lifestyle choices. However, the research is also not extensive enough to disprove an increased risk of brain tumor with high rates of cell phone use, especially for children. In response to the backlash to this recommendation, their stance was revised a few times so that it now states that the C.D.C. does not recommend caution but other organizations do.
Image Description | Reuters image of a crowd and one man speaking on the smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

An App for Our Inner Cheapskate

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 23.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | marketing, privacy, social media
Summary | The app Venmo is a payment service app that allows money transfers between people who have their bank accounts connected to their phone. Margaret Pennoyer is an elementary school teacher who had to pay the organizers of a bachelorette party $31.98 and $20.62. The fact that the amount was calculated to the penny surprised Pennoyer. She said that this app ''changes friendships and makes them more transactional''. The app also promotes the "everyone for themselves" idea. People seem to be less generous now; everyone has to pay exactly to the cent. Venmo is also like any other social networks; you can see what other people's transactions are. For instance, Margaret Pennoyer saw through the app that her cousins socialized recently and didn't invite her.
Image Description | N/A

China Disrupts WhatsApp Service in Online Clampdown

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 18.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | censorship, Facebook, Google, Instagram, privacy, threat, Twitter, WhatsApp
Summary | The Chinese government has partly shut down the use of WhatsApp within their borders. The app is widely used around the globe and was used by some in China do communicate with people outside of Chine with end-to-end encryption. Other popular social media platforms and internet sites like Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are blocked under the "Great Firewall" in China.
Image Description | Woman using a smartphone and women standing in front of Facebook and Instagram logos as well as emojis.
Image Tags | emojis, Facebook, female(s), Instagram, logo, smartphone

As Elites Switch to Texting, Watchdogs Fear Loss of Transparency

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 6.7.2017
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | law, politics, privacy, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | The powerful elites are using the end-to-end-encrypted WhatsApp to communicate sensitive information. Such strategies are adopted by politicians, high-profile representatives of major companies, and Wallstreet banker. The latter are lawfully obligated to save all communications for possible inspection but WhatsApp enables them to escape that law.
Image Description | Image of a man talking on the phone and another man reading some paperwork.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

WhatsApp Introduces End-to-End Encryption

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 5.4.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, privacy, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | Facebook has introduced end-to-end encryption for all WhatsApp communication including one-on-one and group chats and multimedia data sent in chats. This is a step to protect user privacy because breaches have happened in the past. The federal government however opposes this step because it denies the police access to communications which may be crucial to crack criminal cases.
Image Description | WhatsApp and Facebook logos.
Image Tags | Facebook, logo, WhatsApp

Überwachung von WhatsApp gefordert

(Surveillance of WhatsApp wanted)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 2.4.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | law, privacy, texting, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | Politicians demand that WhatsApp let them access WhatsApp communications for surveillance. WhatsApp is withholding that access to protect user privacy. Terrorists are aware that the police can read their messages if they text them via SMS but that they cannot read them as long as they are on WhatsApp. This is a huge security gap.
Image Description | N/A

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