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Latest News News Archive Refine your search:
dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectLegal Aspects
authorThe Washington Post
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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Your Face Can Get You More Than Just Toilet Paper in China
From ACM News

Your Face Can Get You More Than Just Toilet Paper in China

Now a number of female students at one of the country's top universities can use their face to open doors, according to news reports.

Can Amazon Echo Help Solve a Murder? Police Will Soon Find Out.
From ACM News

Can Amazon Echo Help Solve a Murder? Police Will Soon Find Out.

A 2015 Arkansas murder case that had raised privacy questions surrounding "always-on" electronic home devices took a step forward last week after Amazon agreed...

Wikileaks: The CIA Is Using Popular Tvs, Smartphones and Cars to Spy on Their Owners
From ACM News

Wikileaks: The CIA Is Using Popular Tvs, Smartphones and Cars to Spy on Their Owners

The latest revelations about U.S. government's powerful hacking tools potentially takes surveillance right into the homes and hip pockets of billions of users worldwide...

How Hard Is It to Get an Intelligence Wiretap? Pretty Hard. 
From ACM News

How Hard Is It to Get an Intelligence Wiretap? Pretty Hard. 

Wiretaps on Americans in foreign intelligence investigations are not easy to get. And if you're a candidate for president, it's even harder. 

Crispr Pioneer Muses About Long Journey from China to Pinnacle of American Science
From ACM Opinion

Crispr Pioneer Muses About Long Journey from China to Pinnacle of American Science

Feng Zhang occupies a corner office on the 10th floor of the gleaming, modern biotechnology palace called the Broad Institute.

Trump Questions Quest For Cybersecurity: 'no Computer Is Safe' 
From ACM News

Trump Questions Quest For Cybersecurity: 'no Computer Is Safe' 

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned whether critical computer networks can ever be protected from intruders, alarming cybersecurity experts who...

Can Alexa Help Solve a Murder? Police Think So—But Amazon Won't Give ­p Her Data.
From ACM News

Can Alexa Help Solve a Murder? Police Think So—But Amazon Won't Give ­p Her Data.

When police responded to a home in Bentonville, Ark., one Sunday morning last November, they discovered Victor Collins's dead body in the backyard.

Scientists Are Frantically Copying U.S. Climate Data, Fearing It Might Vanish Under Trump
From ACM Careers

Scientists Are Frantically Copying U.S. Climate Data, Fearing It Might Vanish Under Trump

Alarmed that decades of crucial climate measurements could vanish under a hostile Trump administration, scientists have begun a feverish attempt to copy reams of...

Pizzagate: From Rumor, to Hashtag, to Gunfire in D.c.
From ACM News

Pizzagate: From Rumor, to Hashtag, to Gunfire in D.c.

What was finally real was Edgar Welch, driving from North Carolina to Washington to rescue sexually abused children he believed were hidden in mysterious tunnels...

Why a Hacker Is Giving Away a Special Code That Turns Cars Into Self-Driving Machines
From ACM TechNews

Why a Hacker Is Giving Away a Special Code That Turns Cars Into Self-Driving Machines

The founder of startup Comma.ai has released a free software kit in an effort to accelerate autonomous vehicle technology without running afoul of regulators.

China's Plan to Organize Its Society Relies on 'big Data' to Rate Everyone
From ACM News

China's Plan to Organize Its Society Relies on 'big Data' to Rate Everyone

Imagine a world where an authoritarian government monitors everything you do, amasses huge amounts of data on almost every interaction you make, and awards you...

The FCC Just Passed Sweeping New Rules to Protect Your Online Privacy
From ACM News

The FCC Just Passed Sweeping New Rules to Protect Your Online Privacy

Federal officials delivered a landmark ruling in favor of online privacy Thursday, limiting how Internet providers use and sell customer data, while asserting that...

Why Apple Can Be Forced to Turn Logs of Your Imessage Contacts Over to Police
From ACM News

Why Apple Can Be Forced to Turn Logs of Your Imessage Contacts Over to Police

When a user sends someone a message through Apple's iMessage feature, Apple encrypts that message between Apple devices so that only the sender and recipient can...

Contract Expiration to End ­.s. Authority Over Internet Ip Addresses
From ACM TechNews

Contract Expiration to End ­.s. Authority Over Internet Ip Addresses

Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, officially marked the end of the U.S. government's control over the Internet's most basic functions with the expiration of its contract...

Federal Officials Plan Aggressive Approach to Driverless Cars
From ACM TechNews

Federal Officials Plan Aggressive Approach to Driverless Cars

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Monday announced plans to aggressively influence the launch of driverless car technology.  

Confused About Those Emergency Cellphone Alerts? Here's How They Work.
From ACM News

Confused About Those Emergency Cellphone Alerts? Here's How They Work.

Many New York-area commuters on Monday were interrupted by this alert on their cellphones: "WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. See media for pic. Call 9...

How America's 911 Emergency Response System Can Be Hacked
From ACM TechNews

How America's 911 Emergency Response System Can Be Hacked

Researchers at Israel's Ben Gurion University have created a method for disabling the U.S. 911 emergency system with telephony denial-of-service attacks.

The Bizarre World of Bitcoin 'mining' Finds a New Home in Tibet
From ACM News

The Bizarre World of Bitcoin 'mining' Finds a New Home in Tibet

Inside a metal shed in the Tibetan highlands of western China, thousands of microprocessors flank narrow corridors, generating a constant hum and stifling waves...

Here's How Russian Hackers Could Actually Tip an American Election
From ACM Opinion

Here's How Russian Hackers Could Actually Tip an American Election

Reports this week of Russian intrusions into U.S. election systems have startled many voters, but computer experts are not surprised.

98 Personal Data Points that Facebook ­ses to Target Ads to You
From ACM News

98 Personal Data Points that Facebook ­ses to Target Ads to You

Say you're scrolling through your Facebook Newsfeed and you encounter an ad so eerily well-suited, it seems someone has possibly read your brain.
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