“It’s faster, more efficient, and you won’t have to worry as much about accidentally leaking your news reading habit to all your Facebook friends. One of the main reasons RSS is so beloved of news gatherers is that it catches everything a site publishes—not just the articles that have proved popular with other users, not just the articles from today, not just the articles that happened to be tweeted out while you were actually staring at Twitter. Everything.” More …
Technology
Social Media Sites Can Profile Your Contacts
“Why you should think twice before you give an app access to your phone’s address book.” (Podcast) More …
Securing Elections From Foreign Interference
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Amid ongoing investigations into Russia’s unprecedented cyberattacks around the 2016 election, this report outlines specific actions Congress and local election officials can quickly take to insulate voting technology from continued foreign interference. The authors focus on assessing and securing two of the most vulnerable points in the system: voting machines, which could be hacked to cast doubt on or change vote totals; and voter registration databases, which could be manipulated in an attempt to block voters, cause disruption, and undermine confidence when citizens vote. Amb. R. James Woolsey, Director of Central Intelligence 1993-95, wrote the foreword for the report. He has been a key voice elevating the seriousness of the issue, and framing foreign interference as a pressing national security threat.” More …
Study: Bots Have Turned Twitter Into a Powerful Political Disinformation Platform
“As if Twitter’s reputation hasn’t been battered enough, a new stidy sheds light on how the social media platform can be hijacked by bots to spread political disinformation during election campaigns.” More …
GOP Data Firm Leaks Personal Details of Nearly 200 Million American Voters
“Political data gathered on more than 198 million US citizens was exposed this month after a marketing firm contracted by the Republican National Committee stored internal documents on a publicly accessible Amazon server. The data leak contains a wealth of personal information on roughly 61 percent of the US population. Along with home addresses, birthdates, and phone numbers, the records include advanced sentiment analyses used by political groups to predict where individual voters fall on hot-button issues such as gun ownership, stem cell research, and the right to abortion, as well as suspected religious affiliation and ethnicity.” More …
Michael Flynn Worked with Foreign Cyberweapons Group That Sold Spyware Used Against Political Dissidents
“While serving as a top campaign adviser to Donald Trump, Flynn worked with firms linked to NSO Group — which develops spyware and sells it to governments.” More …
Peter Thiel & Palantir Go from Pentagon Outsider to Mattis’ Inner Circle
“At least three members of the Defense secretary’s inner circle worked, lobbied or consulted for the Silicon Valley company… It represents a sharp rise in prominence for the company, which just months ago could barely get a meeting in the Pentagon. Last year, Palantir even had to go to court to force its way into a competition for a lucrative Army contract.” More …
Trump’s FCC Kicks Off Effort to Roll Back Net Neutrality Rules
“Scandal isn’t slowing down one part of the Republican agenda: The Federal Communications Commission took the first formal step toward dismantling Obama-era net neutrality rules Thursday, kicking off what’s likely to be a bitter and months-long lobbying battle over the future of internet regulation. The commission voted along party lines to begin the process of rolling back the rules, which require internet service providers like Verizon and Comcast to treat all web traffic equally. The telecom industry has criticized the rules as burdensome and unnecessary regulations, but supporters among startups and online tech companies say they ensure ISPs don’t abuse their position as internet gatekeepers to favor some websites over others. The net neutrality order, passed by the FCC’s then-Democratic majority in 2015, represents one of the signature policy achievements of the Obama administration.” More …