User Agreements Are Betraying You
The user agreement has become a potent symbol of our asymmetric relationship with technology firms. For most of us, it’s our first interaction with a given comp…
Other Writing
The FBI blunder on phone encryption, explained
The FBI has been arguing for years that the approach of Apple and other companies that strongly encrypt phones is a big problem for law enforcement, which canno…
The exit polls say Ireland has voted to legalize abortion with a smashing majority
An Irish Times exit poll says Ireland has voted to repeal the constitutional provision banning abortion with a crushing majority. The poll says that 68 percent…
Here’s how Europe’s data privacy law could take down Facebook
On Friday, the European Union’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) privacy regulation goes into effect. Many articles have been written complaining that…
The Constitution requires a census and State of the Union. Steve Ballmer wants to bring them up to date.
Steve Ballmer is the former CEO of Microsoft and the creator of USAFacts, an organization dedicated to making government data sources more publicly accessible a…
Google's march to the business of war must be stopped
Should Google, a global company with intimate access to the lives of billions, use its technology to bolster one country’s military dominance? Should it use its…
Trump’s U-turn on Chinese mega-firm ZTE damages U.S. power and credibility
The Trump administration made two very different policy statements on sanctions Sunday. President Trump said in a tweet that an earlier decision to impose massi…
Only giant internet firms may be able to comply with one-size-fits-all rules
If you paid attention to Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before Congress last month, you might have gotten the impression that the internet consists entirely of tit…
The “Intellectual Dark Web,” explained: what Jordan Peterson has in common with the alt-right
Bari Weiss, an opinion writer and editor at the New York Times, created a stir this week with a long article on a group that calls itself the “Intellectual Dark…
We Don’t Need a National Data Center of the Poor
In data privacy, as in so many other matters, past is prologue. Fifty years ago, there were calls for a “National Data Center” amassing all personal data collec…
Hard Questions: Why Does Facebook Enable End-to-End Encryption?
End-to-end encryption is a powerful tool for security and safety. It lets patients talk to their doctors in complete confidence. It helps journalists communicat…
Gina Haspel’s Nomination to Head the CIA: Why the Controversy & What is at Stake?
The Senate has recently confirmed Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State, after Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) dropped his objections and several Democrats indicated th…