Communications of the ACM
An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Drone Registration Made Compulsory as U.K. Scheme Launches
A new mandatory national registration scheme calls for drone users in the U.K. to pass an online test and pay a £9 annual fee, or face a £1,000 fine.
From ACM TechNews
'It's Going to be a Revolution': Driverless Cars in New London Trial
Driverless cars completed their first major street test in London this week.
From ACM TechNews
Smile-to-Pay: Chinese Shoppers Turn to Facial Payment Technology
China is embracing facial payment technology, which allows consumers to purchase goods simply by posing in front of point-of-sale machines equipped with cameras...
From ACM TechNews
Facial Recognition Coming to a Supermarket Near You
Rapid advancements of AI and facial recognition technologies, combined with a dramatic decline in costs, means that these systems are now viable for use by supermarkets...
From ACM TechNews
'Anonymized' Data Can Never Be Totally Anonymous, says Study
Researchers have developed a model to estimate how easy it would be to deanonymize an arbitrary dataset.
From ACM News
Craigslist's Craig Newmark: 'Outrage is Profitable. Most Online Outrage is Faked for Profit'
The founder of the online classifieds site is a survivor of the era of Internet optimism. He rejects the idea his website helped cause journalism's financial crisis...
From ACM TechNews
New York School District's Facial Recognition System Sparks Privacy Fears
The Lockport, NY, city school district launch of a facial recognition system has resulted in some pushback from privacy advocates.
From ACM TechNews
Victoria to Allow Trial of Driverless Cars on Country Roads
The state of Victoria in Australia has approved a trial of driverless cars on rural roads.
From ACM TechNews
Silicon Valley Finally Pushes for Data Privacy Laws at Senate Hearing
At a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, technology industry representatives argued in favor of implementing federal data privacy laws.
From ACM News
Franken-algorithms: The Deadly Consequences of npredictable Code
The death of a woman hit by a self-driving car highlights an unfolding technological crisis, as code piled on code creates 'a universe no one fully understands'...
From ACM TechNews
Amazon Face Recognition Falsely Matches 28 Lawmakers With Mugshots, ACL Says
A test of Amazon's facial recognition software incorrectly matched the faces of 28 U.S. legislators to images in a mugshot database.
From ACM News
What Is GDPR and How Will It Affect You?
You could be forgiven for thinking that Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law created to fill your inbox with identikit warnings from every...
From ACM News
Blockchain Is This Year's Buzzword, But Can It Outlive the Hype?
The speculation around cryptocurrencies has obscured the fact that blockchain, the decentralised, open-source ledger that drives bitcoin, could radically change...
From ACM TechNews
Three Quarters of Android Apps Track sers With Third Party Tools
More than 75% of Android applications contain at least one third-party tracking tool.
From ACM TechNews
'anonymous' Browsing Data Can Be Easily Exposed, Researchers Reveal
A German journalist and data scientist say they were able to easily obtain the "anonymous" online browsing information of more than 3 million Germans.
From ACM TechNews
Beauty Spot or Landscape Blot? Computer Trained to Judge Scenery
New software that can differentiate scenic views from blots on the landscape.
From ACM TechNews
Tim Berners-Lee: Selling Private Citizens' Browsing Data Is 'disgusting'
Sir Tim Berners-Lee says he is appalled by the Trump administration's decision to dismantle net neutrality and let Internet service providers sell customers' browsing...
From ACM TechNews
Tim Berners-Lee: I Invented the Web. Here Are Three Things We Need to Change to Save It
World Wide Web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee warns of three trends to be overcome in order to sustain the Web as beneficial for everyone.
From ACM News
Give Robots 'personhood' Status, Eu Committee Argues
The European parliament has urged the drafting of a set of regulations to govern the use and creation of robots and artificial intelligence, including a form of...
From ACM News