Big tech companies like Google owning data and having no rivals or regulations to check them
Tech Monopolies (26)
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- 5 min
- Citylab
- 2019
Currently, the idea of “smart cities” are so theoretical and predicated on the idea of “technochauvinism” that they mostly exist in images which sell the ideas of ever-advancing technology and application of futuristic technologies to urban centers as a cash cow waiting to be milked.
- Citylab
- 2019
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- 5 min
- Citylab
- 2019
The 3 Pictures That Explain Everything About Smart Cities
Currently, the idea of “smart cities” are so theoretical and predicated on the idea of “technochauvinism” that they mostly exist in images which sell the ideas of ever-advancing technology and application of futuristic technologies to urban centers as a cash cow waiting to be milked.
Discussion Prompts:
What is a smart city, at least in theory? What might be left out of the phenomenon (urban life) that smart cities attempt to abstract in the creation of a smart city? What priorities come with envisioning a smart city, and who is or should be in control of this?
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- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
During Google’s attempt to merge with the company Fitbit, the NGO Amnesty International has provided warnings to the competition regulators in the EU that such a move would be detrimental to privacy. Based on Google’s historical malpractice with user data, since its status as a tech monopoly allows it to mine data from several different avenues of a user’s life, adding wearable health-based tech to this equation puts the privacy and rights of users at risk. Calls for scrunity of “surveillance capitalism” employed by tech giants.
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Tech Crunch
- 2020
No Google-Fitbit merger without human rights remedies, says Amnesty to EU
During Google’s attempt to merge with the company Fitbit, the NGO Amnesty International has provided warnings to the competition regulators in the EU that such a move would be detrimental to privacy. Based on Google’s historical malpractice with user data, since its status as a tech monopoly allows it to mine data from several different avenues of a user’s life, adding wearable health-based tech to this equation puts the privacy and rights of users at risk. Calls for scrunity of “surveillance capitalism” employed by tech giants.
Discussion Prompts:
When considering how companies and advertisers may use them, what sorts of personal statistics related to health and well-being should and should not be collected by mobile computing devices? How can devices originally built to stand on their own as one technological artifact become more convenient or harmful to a user when they become part of a technological architecture?
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- 7 min
- Wall Street Journal
- 2021
Google’s new Pixel 6 smartphone claims to have “the world’s most inclusive camera” based on its purported ability to more accurately reflect darker skin tones in photographs, a form of digital justice notably absent from previous iterations of computational photography across the phones of various tech monopolies.
- Wall Street Journal
- 2021
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- 7 min
- Wall Street Journal
- 2021
Google Built the Pixel 6 Camera to Better Portray People With Darker Skin Tones. Does It?
Google’s new Pixel 6 smartphone claims to have “the world’s most inclusive camera” based on its purported ability to more accurately reflect darker skin tones in photographs, a form of digital justice notably absent from previous iterations of computational photography across the phones of various tech monopolies.
Discussion Prompts:
How can “arms races” between different tech monopolies potentially lead to positive innovations, especially those that center equity? Why did it take so long to have a more inclusive camera? How can a camera be exclusive?
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- 5 min
- Inc
- 2021
On International Data Privacy Day, Apple CEO Tim Cook fired shots against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s model of mining user data through platform analytics and web mining to serve up targeted ads to users. By contrast, Cook painted Apple as a privacy oriented company who wants to make technology work for its users by not collecting their data and manipulating them psychologically through advertising.
- Inc
- 2021
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- 5 min
- Inc
- 2021
Tim Cook May Have Just Ended Facebook
On International Data Privacy Day, Apple CEO Tim Cook fired shots against Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s model of mining user data through platform analytics and web mining to serve up targeted ads to users. By contrast, Cook painted Apple as a privacy oriented company who wants to make technology work for its users by not collecting their data and manipulating them psychologically through advertising.
Discussion Prompts:
Are you convinced that Apple has a better business model than Facebook? Should users be responsible for taking steps to protect themselves against web mining, or should Facebook be responsible for adding in more guardrails? What are the consequences of both Facebook and Apple products being involved in larger architectures that extend beyond the singular digital artifact?
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- 6 min
- CBS News
- 2021
In light of the recent allegations of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen that the platform irresponsibly breeds division and mental health issues, AI Specialist Karen Hao explains how Facebook’s “algorithm(s)” serve or fail the people who use them. Specifically, the profit motive and a lack of exact and comprehensive knowledge of the algorithm system prevents groundbreaking change from being made.
- CBS News
- 2021
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- 6 min
- CBS News
- 2021
Facebook algorithm called into question after whistleblower testimony calls it dangerous
In light of the recent allegations of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen that the platform irresponsibly breeds division and mental health issues, AI Specialist Karen Hao explains how Facebook’s “algorithm(s)” serve or fail the people who use them. Specifically, the profit motive and a lack of exact and comprehensive knowledge of the algorithm system prevents groundbreaking change from being made.
Discussion Prompts:
Do programmers and other technological minds have a responsibility to understand exactly how algorithms work and how they tag data? What are specific consequences to algorithms which use their own criteria to tag items? How do social media networks take advantage of human attention?
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- 7 min
- The New York Times
- 2021
On October 4th, 2021, Facebook’s servers experienced an outage which left its apps, including the commonly used Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, out of commission for several hours. The problem is said to be caused by a incorrect configuring of Facebook’s servers, which ultimately led to a Domain Name System error in which the numerical IP addresses determined by the computer became inaccessible. The myriad effects of this outage spread across the globe as businesses were effected by the lack of access to these social networks. Additionally, certain other internet services linked to Facebook became inaccessible.
- The New York Times
- 2021
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- 7 min
- The New York Times
- 2021
Facebook and all of its apps go down simultaneously.
On October 4th, 2021, Facebook’s servers experienced an outage which left its apps, including the commonly used Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, out of commission for several hours. The problem is said to be caused by a incorrect configuring of Facebook’s servers, which ultimately led to a Domain Name System error in which the numerical IP addresses determined by the computer became inaccessible. The myriad effects of this outage spread across the globe as businesses were effected by the lack of access to these social networks. Additionally, certain other internet services linked to Facebook became inaccessible.
Discussion Prompts:
What are the dangers of relying on fallible networks to perform essential functions such as business? How can network infrastructure be more protected? How much data and information should Facebook be trusted with?