Enlarge (credit: Pascal Deloche/Getty Images) In what appears to be a first, a public figure has been ousted after de-anonymized mobile phone location data was publicly reported, revealing sensitive and previously private details about his life. Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill was general secretary of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (UCCB), effectively the highest-ranking priest in […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Erik Pronske Photography) President Joe Biden today said he will nominate Jonathan Kanter to be the assistant attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Kanter is an attorney known for his criticism of Google and will take over the antitrust division as it considers a Biden […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | fStop Images – Antenna ) The biggest Internet service providers and their trade groups spent $234. 7 million on lobbying and political donations during the most recent two-year congressional cycle, according to a report released yesterday. The ISPs and their trade groups lobbied against strict net neutrality rules and on […]
Enlarge (credit: KJ Parish) For years, misinformation has flourished on Facebook. Falsehoods, misrepresentations, and outright lies posted on the site have shaped the discourse on everything from national politics to public health. But despite their role in facilitating communications for billions of people, Facebook executives refused to commit resources to understand the extent to which […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Smartphones belonging to more than three dozen journalists, human rights activists, and business executives have been infected with powerful spyware that an Israeli firm sells, purportedly to catch terrorists and criminals, The Washington Post and other publications reported. The handsets were infected with Pegasus, full-featured spyware developed by NSO Group. The […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | cbarnesphotography) The US government blamed the Chinese government on Monday for attacks on thousands of Microsoft Exchange servers. China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) “has fostered an ecosystem of criminal contract hackers who carry out both state-sponsored activities and cybercrime for their own financial gain, ” US Secretary of State […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Pool ) President Joe Joe biden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy spent the last several days hammering social media companies for their platforms’ roles in spreading false information about COVID-19 vaccines. “They’re killing people, ” Biden said, when asked about the role of social networks in the spread of misinformation. […]
Enlarge / Illustration of fiber-optic cables. (credit: Getty Images | Tetra Images) The California legislature unanimously approved a plan to build a statewide, open-access fiber network yesterday. The legislation was supported by Democrats and Republicans in votes of 78-0 in the California Assembly and 39-0 in the state Senate. The statewide, open-access fiber lines will […]
Enlarge (credit: Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket ) A pilot for Delta Airlines is suing his own company for $1 billion, alleging that it stole an app he created. Captain Craig Alexander, an 11-year veteran who flies 757s, developed a messaging app called QrewLive that facilitated flight crew communications. He says he pitched the app to Delta […]
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images) The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) yesterday filed a complaint against Amazon over the sale of hundreds of thousands of hazardous products, including carbon monoxide detectors that fail to detect carbon monoxide, hair dryers without required protection from shock and electrocution, and flammable sleepwear meant for children. […]