Yesterday Axciom, a large data broker, rolled out their data transparency site, aboutthedata.com. The sites lets you view some data that Axciom has about you, including demographic data, family status, financials, commercial history, and shopping preferences. The site also lets you correct any errors in the data. It looks like you can modify the data […]
Ethical dilemmas faced by software engineers: A roundup of responses
September 4, 2013 by
Two weeks ago I asked for real-life examples of ethical dilemmas in software engineering. Many of you sent responses by email, twitter, and comments. Thank you for taking the time! Here is a quick summary (in no particular order). Aaron Massey has written a very thoughtful post in response. I encourage you to give it […]
Annual report of FCC's Open Internet Advisory Committee
August 24, 2013 by
For the past year, I’ve been serving on the FCC’s Open Internet Advisory Committee (OIAC), and chairing its mobile broadband working group. The OIAC just completed its first annual report (available here). The report gives an overview of the past year of work from four working groups (economic impacts, mobile broadband, specialized services, and transparency). […]
NSA, the FISA Court, and Risks of Tech Summaries
August 22, 2013 by
Yesterday the U.S. government released a previously-secret 2011 opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), finding certain NSA surveillance and analysis activities to be illegal. The opinion, despite some redactions, gives us a window into the interactions between the NSA and the court that oversees its activities—including why oversight and compliance of surveillance are […]
Groklaw Shuts Down, Citing NSA Eavesdropping
August 21, 2013 by
The legendary technology law blog Groklaw is shutting down. Groklaw’s founder and operator, Pamela “PJ” Jones, wrote that in light of current eavesdropping, email is no longer secure. She went on to say: There is no way to do Groklaw without email. Therein lies the conundrum. […] What to do? I’ve spent the last couple […]
