Politics

On May 25, a new law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is going into effect in the European Union. The law was created to protect EU citizens from potential abuses, like the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal. Wondering how this will change your world? Here are 5 things you should know. Continue Reading →

Real fake news articles feature fabricated stories crafted to push a particular agenda. In most cases, the thesis of the article is supported by alternative facts (lies). But there are more subtle, more insidious types of fake news. Specifically, articles that might pass a cursory fact check, but have been written to espouse a point of view unintended by the original author. Here’s a quick case study that demonstrates the technique and clearly illustrates why it will be nearly impossible to stop. Continue Reading →

The Arabic hashtag #stab is something I'd rather not see on a social media post. Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, recently showed a version of the instructional graphic that accompanied that hashtag to the UN Security Council with the English-language title, "How to Stab a Jew." Mr. Danon was making a point – but also describing a form of warfare so new it does not yet have a name. Continue Reading →

If former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did delete emails from her private email system (that she should not have deleted) will forensic computer technicians find them? It's about the most popular question I get asked these days. So – for your reading pleasure – a primer on email deletion, data destruction and hard drive erasing. Continue Reading →

All a motivated cyber-criminal, with designs on being Emperor of the Internet, has to do is target the 1 percenters. Take out the uber-wealthy, or just the super-wealthy, and nothing else will matter. This is going to be a great business for someone. Continue Reading →

My friends who like to discuss politics and my colleagues who like to write about politics have made it clear to me that President Obama's State of the Union Address was precisely what they expected. If you can put your political ideology aside for a few minutes, we can think through the following issues together as American citizens. Continue Reading →

According to a White House fact sheet, President Obama has announced "steps he will discuss in the State of the Union to help more Americans, in more communities around the country, get access to fast and affordable broadband." Continue Reading →

Is the internet a public utility or private enterprise? That's what the FCC has to decide. Continue Reading →

For an illuminating glimpse of government power in action, it’s hard to beat the fines the Justice Department threatened to level against Yahoo if it didn’t comply with a secret and sweeping surveillance request in 2008. News coverage of the case, for which documents were unsealed last week, reported the proposed fines as $250,000 a Continue Reading →

Democratic lawmakers will unveil a piece of bicameral legislation Tuesday that would force the Federal Communications Commission to ban fast lanes on the Internet. The proposal, put forward by Senate Judiciary Committee chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), requires the FCC to use whatever authority it sees fit to make sure that Continue Reading →