Companies that Scrape Your Email

Motherboard has a long article on apps — Edison, Slice, and Cleanfox — that spy on your email by scraping your screen, and then sell that information to others: Some of the companies listed in the J.P. Morgan document sell data sourced from "personal inboxes," the document adds. A spokesperson for J.P. Morgan Research, the part of the company that… Continue reading Companies that Scrape Your Email

How Political Campaigns Use Personal Data

Really interesting report from Tactical Tech. Data-driven technologies are an inevitable feature of modern political campaigning. Some argue that they are a welcome addition to politics as normal and a necessary and modern approach to democratic proces… Continue reading How Political Campaigns Use Personal Data

How Political Campaigns Use Personal Data

Really interesting report from Tactical Tech. Data-driven technologies are an inevitable feature of modern political campaigning. Some argue that they are a welcome addition to politics as normal and a necessary and modern approach to democratic processes; others say that they are corrosive and diminish trust in already flawed political systems. The use of these technologies in political campaigning is… Continue reading How Political Campaigns Use Personal Data

Zeynep Tufekci on Facebook and Cambridge Analytica

Zeynep Tufekci is particularly cogent about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Several news outlets asked me to write about this issue. I didn’t, because 1) my book manuscript is due on Monday (finally!), and 2) I knew Zeynep would say what I would say,… Continue reading Zeynep Tufekci on Facebook and Cambridge Analytica

Extracting Secrets from Machine Learning Systems

This is fascinating research about how the underlying training data for a machine-learning system can be inadvertently exposed. Basically, if a machine-learning system trains on a dataset that contains secret information, in some cases an attacker can … Continue reading Extracting Secrets from Machine Learning Systems

Extracting Secrets from Machine Learning Systems

This is fascinating research about how the underlying training data for a machine-learning system can be inadvertently exposed. Basically, if a machine-learning system trains on a dataset that contains secret information, in some cases an attacker can query the system to extract that secret information. My guess is that there is a lot more research to be done here. EDITED… Continue reading Extracting Secrets from Machine Learning Systems

Tracking People Without GPS

Interesting research: The trick in accurately tracking a person with this method is finding out what kind of activity they’re performing. Whether they’re walking, driving a car, or riding in a train or airplane, it’s pretty easy to figure out when you … Continue reading Tracking People Without GPS

Tracking People Without GPS

Interesting research: The trick in accurately tracking a person with this method is finding out what kind of activity they’re performing. Whether they’re walking, driving a car, or riding in a train or airplane, it’s pretty easy to figure out when you know what you’re looking for. The sensors can determine how fast a person is traveling and what kind… Continue reading Tracking People Without GPS

Roombas will Spy on You

The company that sells the Roomba autonomous vacuum wants to sell the data about your home that it collects. Some questions: What happens if a Roomba user consents to the data collection and later sells his or her home — especially furnished — and now the buyers of the data have a map of a home that belongs to someone… Continue reading Roombas will Spy on You