Tech

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whether it's the fitness tracker on your wrist, the “smart” home appliances in your house or the latest kids’ fad going viral in online videos, they all produce a trove of personal data for big tech companies. How that data is being used and protected has led to growing public concern and officials’ outrage. And now federal regulators are looking at drafting rules to crack down on what they call harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security. The Federal Trade Commission announced the initiative Thursday, seeking public comment on the effects of companies’ data collection and the potential benefit of new rules to protect consumers’ privacy. The FTC defines commercial surveillance as “the business of collecting, analyzing and profiting from information about people.” In Congress, bipartisan condemnation of the data power of Meta — the parent of Facebook and Instagram — Google and other tech giants that have earned riches by aggregating consumer … [Read more...] about FTC looking at rules to corral tech firms’ data collection

Far-left Twitter has declared it will “protect” the midterm elections with a range of policies designed to suppress what the company considers “misinformation,” and deliver Twitter-curated news to users. 2020 was the first American election in which Big Tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google had “election integrity” policies — and they resulted in one of the most consequential stories of that cycle, the New York Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s corrupt business dealings, being suppresse d just weeks before the election. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Hunter Biden talks in the East Room before President Joe Biden speaks awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 people at the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 7, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Twitter was one of the companies that suppressed that story in the name of fighting “misinformation” — now it plans to activate similar policies ahead of the midterms. … [Read more...] about Twitter Announces Plan to ‘Protect’ November Midterm Elections

Pressure is mounting against telecom giant Verizon after it cut off One America News (OAN) from its Verizon Fios pay-tv network last month, refusing to renew its contract with OAN following pressure from leftist advocacy groups. Breitbart News reported on the deplatforming of OAN last month , which followed similar action from AT&T’s DirecTV platform. The loss of Verizon Fios as well has effectively cut off most Americans from accessing the conservative-leaning channel through mainstream cable providers. Rep Anna Eshoo (Pool/Getty) Former US President Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, US, on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022.  (Photographer: Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Pressure is mounting against Verizon over its actions, which represent a new front in the left’s war to suppress conservative sources of information. Writing on TRUTH Social earlier this month, former President Donald … [Read more...] about Pressure Mounts on Verizon to Reinstate One America News

Mark Cuban, the billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner and crypto enthusiast, has been extremely critical of cryptocurrency projects in recent months, calling digital land in the metaverse “the dumbest shit ever.” Cuban is an investor in Yuga Labs, which recently made $317 million in metaverse land sales. Fortune reports that Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has been critical of the cryptocurrency-backed metaverse in recent months. Speaking to the crypto-themed YouTube channel Altcoin Daily this past weekend, Cuban stated “The worst part is that people are buying real estate in these places. That’s just the dumbest shit ever.” Cuban’s comments come as the popularity of the digital metaverse increases — but is yet to truly be defined. Currently, the term “metaverse” refers to a virtual world where people can hang out, play, and shop, and Facebook has been working hard on developing its version of it, even rebranding as Meta, but the digital … [Read more...] about ‘The Dumbest Sh*t Ever:’ Mark Cuban Slams Metaverse Digital Real Estate Craze

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled this week that Oberlin College does not have to pay the $36 million judgment it owes to a mom-and-pop bakery that the school slandered as racist while the appeals process plays out. While the Tuesday ruling doesn’t mean that the woke college is off the hook, Oberlin is not obligated to pay Gibson’s Bakery while the ruling against the school is appealed, according to a report by Cleveland.com. Oberlin President Carmen Twillie Ambar (Oberlin College/YouTube) This undated photo shows the Women and Trans* Collective, also known as the Baldwin Cottage, at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio. (Flikr) The appeal is being heard by the Ohio Supreme Court after two lower courts rejected the college’s initial attempts to get out of paying the family-owned business, which Oberlin falsely accused of racism. In a motion to the court, Oberlin reportedly cited state law and Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure as evidence that it didn’t need to pay … [Read more...] about Ohio Supreme Court Sides With Oberlin: College Doesn’t Need to Pay Slander Damages Until Appeals Are Done

Media outlets inaccurately suggested a 17-year-old girl was being prosecuted for obtaining an illegal late-term abortion and centered their coverage on the role of big tech in enforcing abortion restrictions. Police obtained a warrant for the Facebook messages of a mother and daughter over suspicions about the death of a baby and the apparent concealment and mishandling of the child’s corpse, Vice reported. Facebook complied with the warrant and handed over their messages, which revealed the mother had obtained abortion pills to terminate her daughter’s 28-week pregnancy and the two had buried the baby and discussed digging the body up to burn it, according to Vice. News outlets inaccurately suggested a 17-year-old girl was being prosecuted for obtaining an illegal late-term abortion in recent headlines about a Nebraska case. Numerous outlets covering the story emphasized Facebook’s role in the prosecution of this abortion-related case and highlighted concerns about tech … [Read more...] about Corporate Media Shifts Blame To Facebook After Mom Allegedly Performs Late-Term Abortion For Teen, Hides The Body