Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 54
Posts 21 - 30

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

Diese drei Anwendungen sind besser als Whatsapp

(These three apps are better than WhatsApp)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 5.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | law, privacy, threat, WhatsApp
Summary | Brazil has just blocked WhatsApp in their country for 72 hours in order to for WhatsApp to share chats with their police in ciminal cases. It is unlikely that something like this will happen in Germany but it is good to know about some alternatives just in case... Especially since WhatsApp is not very trustworthy about user privacy. Threema is a Swiss app that alllows for user anonymity, Slack is a really good app to use with colleagues because files can be saved within group chats, and Telegram deletes inactive chats after a while so that there are no traces.
Image Description | Woman using a smartphone with headphones on the street.
Image Tags | female(s), headphones, smartphone

"Es liegt eine Magie darin"

("There's a lot of magic in it")

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 17.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, Facebook, privacy, virtual reality, WhatsApp, YouTube
Summary | Facebook is planning to create innovations to accommodate their users' obvious desires to watch videos on Facebook to the extent that Facebook can curently compete with YouTube for views. The sharing of videos has shot up on Facebook as of late. Facebook's live streaming feature also helps with that. Future plans include virtual reality options. Many users are worried about privacy issues because Facebook is connecting data from WhatsApp with Facebook data.
Image Description | N/A

Darum ist Pokémon Go bei Muslimen verpönt

(This is why Pokémon Go is frowned upon by muslims)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 6.9.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | diversity, game, law, politics, privacy, threat
Summary | Many muslim authorities in varioius countries such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have declared Pokémon Go as wildly inappropriate for muslims. It references othher religions (with symbols) which allow for multiple gods along side each other, it propagates Darwin's theory of evolution, and most importantly: it constitutes gambling which is prohibited by the Qur'an. This does not mean that the state in Malaysia enforces that religious advice as a law. Non-muslim people are also worried about Pokémon Go but not because of ideological issues but because it can be seen as a surveillance scam and so a privacy breach hazard.
Image Description | Men playing Pokémon Go and portraits of a few male experts mentioned in the article.
Image Tags | game, male(s), smartphone

Texts Live On, but That's Often Forgotten in Politics

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 12.8.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | email, politics, privacy, texting
Summary | Politicians seem to forget an important rule: do not write a text message that could bring serious consequences if it appeared on the front page of a newspaper. In the George Washington Bridge scandal, it was said that Christina Genovese Renna (one of Chris Christie's aides) had texted a colleague that if his boss's emails were found, they would reveal that he was plotting to block traffic to the bridge. If you are a public servant, you should know that you can't send any confidential text messages. Text messages are often perceived as a "thoughtless" form of communication, which can have serious consequences.
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The Latest Celebrity Diet? Cyberbullying

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 12.10.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | cyberbullying, privacy, social media
Summary | Celebrities are using social media to discuss personal issues with their friends/lovers/family. They behave like online harassers since they use social media to publicly humiliate other people they know. Some of celebrities' cyberbullying characteristics are: secret recordings, sexual humilitation, revenge porn, and mob deployment.
Image Description | Photograph of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, and screenshot of one of Kim Kardashian's tweets.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), Twitter

"Wer ist eigentlich dieser Wifi?"

("Who is this wifi anyway?")

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 21.7.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | childhood, Facebook, politeness, privacy
Summary | It can be infuriating to try and teach one's parents how to use the computer, the internet, or Facebook because they are so clueless. However, there is no use in getting angry. After all, they managed to stay patient when we learned to ride a bike. Young children today can use modern technology before they can speak. They will be teaching us new technology one day.
Image Description | A man using his smartphone.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

Das ist der wohl obszönste Username im ganzen Netz

(This is probably the most obscene username on the internet)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 13.6.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | censorship, politeness, privacy, research/study, social media, threat, word/writing
Summary | Many news media sources now tend to quote opinions from social media users rather than do polls out in the street. It is not uncommon to see an opinion of the "common people" in a newspaper article quoting an obscure social media username. The difference to the traditional technique of asking people on the street is that journalists needed to obtain consent of the people to quote them. One woman has now found a way to avoid being quoted without her consent: she chose a very obscene username including four words which are inappropriate enough so that they would have to be censored in a newspaper.
Image Description | N/A

Bundesregierung will mehr über Googles Algorithmus wissen

(Federal government want to know more about Google's algorhythms)

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 13.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, law, privacy
Summary | The federal government of Germany is pressing Facebook to be more transparent about the algorhythms collecting data about their users on their website. They claim that their citizens are not well-informed about what information they are sharing about themselves when using Facebook.
Image Description | Getty image of a pair of hands using a smartphone to navigate.
Image Tags | hand(s), smartphone

"Sagt der Bewerber die Unwahrheit?"

("Is the applicant telling untruths?")

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Newspaper | Die Zeit
Date | 2.5.2016
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | Facebook, marketing, privacy, smartphone
Summary | Many companies now take advantage of the huge amounts of data that we create on a daily basis by being online and carrying a smartphone on us at all times. Facebook tracks all our movements online even when we are not signed up. Our smartphone collects data about our whereabouts. Companies can buy this data to target us with specific advertising or to enhance their hiring process to include data from our social media activity. This way they can conduct analysis about how valuable each applicant would be to the company.
Image Description | N/A

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