^TagFacebook

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 3, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy

Tagged
Apple (company), Facebook, hacking, Instagram, Karl D. Stephan, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook}

Fallout From Facebook’s Huge Privacy Hack: A Serious Unfriending

_{The Big Hack in April, in which even Mark Zuckerberg’s data got scraped, was hardly the first one Facebook faced} _{News

May 3, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Data Privacy}

We’ll let engineering prof Karl Stephan start the story, comparing Facebook to God: For purposes of discussion, we will compare Facebook to the traditional Judeo-Christian God of the Old and New Testaments. And we will restrict the comparison primarily to two matters: communication and trust (or faith). Users of Facebook communicate with that entity by entering personal information into Facebook’s system. That act of communication is accompanied by a certain level of trust, or faith. Facebook promises to safeguard one’s information and not to reveal it to anyone else without your permission… Karl D. Stephan, “In Facebook we trust” at MercatorNet Safeguard the information? As recent news reports revealed, a month ago today, a hacker released roughly 533 million users’ Read More ›

Face recognition and personal identification technologies in street surveillance cameras, law enforcement control.

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
April 28, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Law, Surveillance

Tagged
ACLU, Al Gidari, Canada, Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner, China, Clearview AI, Daniel Therrien, DHS, Doug Mitchell, Facebook, Facial Recognition, facial recognition technology, Fight for the Future, Google, Hoan Ton-That, Instagram, Kashmir Hill, Law enforcement, New York Times, OpenMedia, Richard Schwartz, Rudy Giuliani, Surveillance, Twitter, VEnmo, Woodrow Hartzog, YouTube}

Canada Orders Facial Recognition App to Cease and Desist

_{Your face is likely already stored in this app's database} _{Caitlin Cory

April 28, 2021

9

Artificial Intelligence, Law, Surveillance}

In February, Canada released the findings of a year-long investigation into the US-based facial recognition app, Clearview AI. The investigation declared Clearview’s actions illegal within Canada and ordered the company to cease operations within the country and to remove all Canadian citizens from its database. “What Clearview does is mass surveillance, and it is illegal,” said Canadian Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien. So what is Clearview AI? And why has it raised the ire of our neighbors to the North? Clearview AI, Inc. Clearview AI is a facial recognition company marketed primarily to law enforcement agencies. It boasts a database of over 3 billion facial images “scraped” from public sources online such as news articles and social media sites. In other Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
April 8, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Bryan Hughes, censorship, Clarence Thomas, Facebook, Greg Abbott, Section 230, Senate Bill 12, Supreme Court of the United States, Texas, Twitter}

Texas Senate Passes Bill Prohibiting Big Tech Censorship

_{The bill seeks to reign in Big Tech power and protect the principle of free speech for Texas citizens} _{Caitlin Cory

April 8, 2021

4

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Last week, the Texas Senate passed a measure that would prohibit large social media companies like Facebook and Twitter from censoring political and religious viewpoints of Texas citizens. The bill now awaits a vote in the Texas House. Senate Bill 12 was introduced in March by State Senator Bryan Hughes. Titled “Relating to the censorship of users’ expressions by an interactive computer service,” the bill would not only prohibit censorship, but would require social media companies to disclose their moderation policies, publish reports about any blocked content, and create a legal route for people to appeal any censoring or deplatforming decisions. Social media companies currently enjoy legal protections against lawsuit under Section 230 of the U.S. Code, which on the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
April 6, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Law, Social Media

Tagged
Amazon, apple, censorship, Facebook, Google, John West, Ken Buck, Mike Lee, Parler, Twitter}

Parler vs. Amazon: Amazon Strikes Back!

_{Amazon is trying to avoid a state lawsuit through a hardball legal maneuver} _{Caitlin Cory

April 6, 2021

6

Censorship, Law, Social Media}

Parler, an alternative social networking site, has been in a fierce legal battle with AWS/Amazon since it was removed from Amazon's platforms on January 10. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
March 31, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media, Technocracy

Tagged
Alphabet Inc, Big Tech, Facebook, Google, Heritage Foundation, Jack Dorsey, Ken Buck, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, The Heritage Foundation, Twitter}

Influential Think Tank Declines Big Tech Donations

_{The Heritage Foundation declined six-figure donations from Big Tech companies Facebook and Google in 2020, citing repeated censorship of conservative views} _{Caitlin Cory

March 31, 2021

3

Censorship, Social Media, Technocracy}

News website Axios obtained letters signed by Heritage Foundation‘s departing President Kay Coles James (pictured), addressed to the CEOs of both Facebook and Google in October 2020, explaining why Heritage felt compelled to decline the six-figure contributions from the companies. “We cannot in good conscience take money from a company that repeatedly, and blatantly, suppresses conservative speech on your platforms,” reads the letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. A similar statement is made in the letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Heritage declined $225,000 from Google, and returned $150,000 that came from Facebook. The Heritage Foundation made several accusations against the companies in its letters, including: that Facebook suppressed their reach by blocking referral traffic; that Facebook targeted Heritage with third-party fact-checkers; and that Google Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
March 16, 2021

Categorized
Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

Tagged
Anti-trust laws, Benny Thomas, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Nick Clegg, Project Veritas, Racism, Singularity, Super-intelligent AI}

Facebook Exec Admits the Company Has Too Much Power

_{He worries, talking with an undercover reporter, that Zuckerberg is 36 and is “the ruler” of two billion people} _{Denyse O'Leary

March 16, 2021

6

Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance}

In a video titled “KING ZUCK: Facebook Global Planning Lead Reveals Dire Need For Government Intervention In Facebook” (March 15, 2021), we hear an insider’s view from Benny Thomas, Facebook’s Global Planning Lead— who told what he knew to a Project Veritas undercover reporter. From the undercover interview: Benny Thomas: I’ll make less money but it will be a better thing for the world. Facebook and Google are too powerful and they need to be made less powerful … It needs to be broken up the way the telecom companies were broken up and the oil companies were broken up.” No king in the history of the world has been the ruler of two billion people. And he’s 36. [a Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
March 9, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Big Tech censorship, Bryan Hughes, Facebook, Greg Abbott, Publisher vs. carrier debate, Section 230, Texas and Big Tech, Twitter}

Texas Joins Fight Against Big Tech Censorship

_{Nearly two dozen states have proposed similar legislation in response to the increase of online censorship during the 2020 election period} _{Caitlin Cory

March 9, 2021

4

Censorship, Social Media}

Last week, Texas joined the growing pushback against Big Tech censorship when Governor Greg Abbott announced his support for a Texas bill that would prohibit the online censorship of political and religious viewpoints. “Silencing conservative views is un-American, it’s un-Texan and it’s about to be illegal in Texas,” Abbott wrote on Twitter last week ahead of a Friday press conference. Speaking alongside Abbott at the press conference was the bill’s sponsor, State Senator Bryan Hughes. Both figures made strong statements about free speech, the current threat of Big Tech, and their understanding of Texas’s role in this national struggle. “Texas is standing against big tech political censorship,” Abbott said. “We’re not going to allow it in the Lone Star State.” Read More ›

Like facebook 3d box with white background. 3d rendering

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 17, 2021

Categorized
Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

Tagged
censorship, China, Coca-Cola, Corporations as progressive (Woke), COVID-19, Douglas Murray, Facebook, Facebook advertising, Facebook and health data, Facebook moderators, Hershey, Lee Smith, UnHerd, Unilever, Verizon}

Who’s Afraid of Facebook? Maybe We Should All Be More Wary

_{A whistleblower showed that rules are enforced very unevenly. Facebook allows extremist language to flourish in some venues and censors mainstream speech in others} _{News

February 17, 2021

7

Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance}

Facebook is, according to Fortune Magazine, the “dominant social media app,” with $84.2 billion in revenue in 2019, especially after acquiring Instagram. So dominant that government hearings into questionable activities offer mere slaps on the wrist. There is a reason for that, as we shall soon see. Facebook is, of course, a censor but at best a clumsy one. It removed a page by international disease experts critical of the COVID lockdowns, as if they were mere health cranks. Recently, Facebook announced that it plans to continue to take down posts whose claims its fact checkers “deem false” (February 8, 2021). To get some sense of what that means, Facebook censored an article at UnHerd that was critical of the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
John G. West
Date
February 16, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Media, Social Media

Tagged
Amazon, apple, censorship, discrimination, Facebook, Free speech, Google, Lawsuits, Parler, political discrimination, Seattle}

Little-Known Civil Rights Law Could Bring Big Tech to Its Knees

_{Many tech giants have considerable assets and many employees in Seattle's jurisdiction} _{John G. West

February 16, 2021

13

Censorship, Media, Social Media}

SEATTLE—As state and federal lawmakers consider drafting new legislation to counter big tech censorship of dissenting political voices, few seem to realize that an anti-discrimination law already on the books could spell big trouble for big tech companies that engage in political censorship. Ironically, the law was enacted by one of the most politically progressive cities in the country: Seattle. Unlike most political jurisdictions in the United States, Seattle expressly forbids discrimination on the basis of “political ideology.” Seattle defines political ideology expansively as any idea or belief, or coordinated body of ideas or beliefs, relating to the purpose, conduct, organization, function or basis of government and related institutions and activities, whether or not characteristic of any political party or group. This Read More ›

Crypto currency background with various of shiny silver and golden physical cryptocurrencies symbol coins, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, zcash, ripple

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 10, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Amazon, Bill Gates, bitcoin, Coronavirus, COVID-19, COVID-19 Recession, Facebook, Featured, Gary Smith, Jack Dorsey, Libra, Warren Buffett}

Has COVID-19 Helped or Harmed Crypto and Blockchain?

_{Cryptocurrencies rebounded after an initial slump earlier this year} _{News

October 10, 2020

5

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

The recently aired discussion at COSM about the future of bitcoin and other privately minted cryptocurrencies took place last October, before COVID-19 was much thought of in the Western world. Catching up, the cryptos and blockchain had a rough ride earlier this year but they have stabilized recently. In February, as the pandemic sent markets scurrying, things were looking grim for the cryptos: During the last week, the spread of the coronavirus has been all over the news; the virus, which had remained well-contained in China, spread throughout South Korea, Iran, Italy, and is now reaching its fingers into other parts of Europe. The New York Times reported on Thursday that “the signs were everywhere…that the epidemic shaking much of Read More ›

Group of friends using smartphones to communicate in social media. Concept of a generation of millennials who are online all the time. Warm hipster filter.

^{Type
post

Author
James C. Patterson II
Date
October 5, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

Tagged
Facebook, fake news, Featured, Filter bubble, Social Dilemma (film)}

The Social Dilemma: You’re Not the Customer, You’re the Product

_{A new Netflix documentary explores the techniques used to explore, then shape and sharpen, our attitudes, values, and beliefs} _{James C. Patterson II

October 5, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance}

What is truth? This question has likely been pondered by man for as long as man has been able to ponder. How do you know that what you read or hear is true? How do you know that what you think is true? Why is it that people with different worldviews or belief systems can look at the exact same raw objective data and interpret it in radically different ways? The answers to these questions are important to “know”, insofar as anyone can know anything within a reasonable degree of certainty. However, in our society today, it is becoming more and more difficulty to determine what is true––with any degree of certainty. A recent 90-minute Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 13, 2020

Categorized
Ethics, Religion, Social Media

Tagged
BlessU-2, Buddhism, David O'Hara, Facebook, Japan, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bird, Robots, Virtual Ifta}

Will We Outsource Religion and Spirituality to AI ?

_{A philosopher makes the case. But he worries, are we really outsourcing caring about others?} _{News

September 13, 2020

6

Ethics, Religion, Social Media}

Last Sunday, we looked at the question raised by Professor David O’Hara of Augustana University (South Dakota) as to whether AI could someday have mystical experiences. Of course, a lot depends on whether AI can have any experiences at all. An agnostic himself, O’Hara has also asked us to consider how robot priests will “change human spirituality”: What matters is not whether we have invented true artificial intelligence, but whether we believe we have invented it. If we trust the machine, we might let it function as a mystic or a priest, even if it isn’t one. This raises the interesting question of what to do when someone makes a machine that is actually intended to play the role of Read More ›

iron chain and castle on the silk national flag of Hong Kong with beautiful folds, the concept of a ban on tourism, political repression, crime, violation of the rights and freedoms of citizens

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 9, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, Apple (company), China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Facebook, Featured, Google, Great Firewall, Hong Kong, Hong Kong National Security Law, Instagram, Microsoft, Telegram, Tik Tok, Twitter, WhatsApp, Zoom}

Hong Kong: Tech Companies Face Serious Ethical Decisions

_{As Hong Kong is transformed into a police state, Western companies, faced with demands for snitching on users, are rethinking cozy relationships with China} _{Heather Zeiger

July 9, 2020

7

Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

The semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong is no longer semi-autonomous, at least in practice. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), circumventing Hong Kong’s parliament and courts, passed the Hong Kong National Security Law on June 30 that effectively abolishes the “one country, two systems” regime outlined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The law was passed one day before the anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China (July 1, 1997), in time to quash any pro-democracy candidates who would likely win in the September elections. Although the CCP justifies its moves from the Hong Kong Basic Law and claims that Hong Kong will maintain autonomy, in practice, it has already arrested dissidents and formed a secretive agency called the Office Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 25, 2019

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Amazon, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Andy Kessler, Apple (company), AT&T, Big Tech, Blockchain, COSM, Facebook, George Gilder, Google, IBM, Regulation, social media, Verizon}

^TagFacebook

Fallout From Facebook’s Huge Privacy Hack: A Serious Unfriending

Canada Orders Facial Recognition App to Cease and Desist

Has COVID-19 Helped or Harmed Crypto and Blockchain?

Hong Kong: Tech Companies Face Serious Ethical Decisions

Chair of Forbes Media Says Money Is About Trust

Many Parents Ignore Risks of Posting Kids’ Data Online