Montana made headlines on Wednesday for being the first state in the nation to ban the social media app, TikTok. U.S. officials claim the application is a national security concern, while critics call the ban a violation of the First Amendment. Challenges to the new law may take place before it goes into effect in January, but its ability to gather enough support to pass could point to a new precedent being set.
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For users of the music streaming giant, the end of the year is a time of great anticipation. Spotify Wrapped, the platform’s year-in-review experience for users, summarizes each individual’s listening history, including top songs and artists. While Wrapped’s interactive and shareable elements are a fan favorite, it is important to remember that its reliance on tracking users and storing data is not as harmless as many believe it to be.
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In a traditional business model, companies provide a product or service to their customers. However, in today’s digital marketplace, users of a company’s app, website, or game are not the true customers. While users are able to access these apps for free, companies can then sell those users data and attention to advertisers and other interested parties. But in a world now dominated by surveillance capitalism, is the use of user data exploitation, or just good business? Tech companies must increase transparency of how they plan to collect and use data, and developers should refuse to use manipulative or addictive methods in order to capitalize on users.
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7/13/2020 Two weeks ago, the Indian government announced a ban on TikTok over concerns for “the sovereignty and security of India” due to its “stealing and… transmitting…
View More The Reality Behind TikTok’s Privacy Frenzy
4/7/2020 The current COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for many companies across the globe, but one app has seen its business explode: video conferencing platform…
View More Catching Up as the World Moves Online
“Between the dawn of civilization and 2003, we only created five exabytes (1 exabyte=1,000,000,000 gigabytes) of data; now we’re creating that amount every two days.…
View More Big Benefits of Big Data: Data Privacy Takes a Backseat
Recent events have sparked a national debate about the government’s access to encrypted personal data from smartphones and the role technology companies have in solving crimes. This paper will discuss the ethical implications associated with a particular case from San Bernardino, California, and the reactions of the FBI and Apple Inc. An in-depth analysis of this case will provide the basis for arriving at a moral conclusion.
View More On the Use of Encrypted Data by Law Enforcement
Location-based services (LBS) have seen a rise in popularity in recent years. These services employ the use of real time GPS data to help facilitate many of our everyday tasks such as identifying nearby points of interest, locating restaurants, and providing other travel-related information. Moreover, LBS are used in more serious situations like those of fraud prevention and emergency locating. However, as this technology continues to progress, concern has been raised over its ethical implications. In particular, many are worried about its threats to user privacy. This paper works to identify these potential threats and outlines ways in which security can be improved without compromising our privacy.
View More The Future of Location-Based Services and the Implications of User Privacy