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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectLegal Aspects
authorThe Atlantic
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What Snowden and Manning Don't ­nderstand About Secrecy
From ACM Opinion

What Snowden and Manning Don't ­nderstand About Secrecy

As an old reporter who has from time to time outed classified information, I have watched the cases of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden with professional interest...

Among the Nsa's Own Tips For Securing Computers: Remove the Webcam
From ACM News

Among the Nsa's Own Tips For Securing Computers: Remove the Webcam

Seems like everything gets hacked these days. Baby monitors. White House employees' personal email. Toilets.

What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking US Online?
From ACM Opinion

What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking US Online?

Say you, like me, went to bed a little early last night.

How to Think About Drones
From ACM Opinion

How to Think About Drones

Consider David. The shepherd lad steps up to face in single combat the Philistine giant Goliath.

Could the Government Get a Search Warrant For Your Thoughts?
From ACM Opinion

Could the Government Get a Search Warrant For Your Thoughts?

We don't have a mind reading machine.

Governments Won't Need to Issue Ids: Data Brokers Will Identify You For Them
From ACM Opinion

Governments Won't Need to Issue Ids: Data Brokers Will Identify You For Them

Our government collects a lot of information about us. Tax records, legal records, license records, records of government services received—it's all in databases...

Bitcoin Is No Longer a Currency
From ACM Opinion

Bitcoin Is No Longer a Currency

Bitcoin might be a bubble or it might be THE FUTURE, but there's one thing it's not: a currency. It's a tech stock. The question is whether it's Pets.com or Paypal...

The Definitive Story of Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Phone Phreaking
From ACM Opinion

The Definitive Story of Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Phone Phreaking

Like the flap of a butterfly's wings causing a hurricane half a world away, the ripples of unintended consequences from Ron Rosenbaum's "Secrets of the Little Blue...

How Big Data Can Solve America's Gun Problem
From ACM Opinion

How Big Data Can Solve America's Gun Problem

Big data might have stopped the massacres in Newtown, Aurora, and Oak Creek.

How the ­n's 'game-Changing' Internet Treaty Failed
From ACM Opinion

How the ­n's 'game-Changing' Internet Treaty Failed

Did you know that, for the past two weeks, the future of the Internet has been at stake?

The Greatest Bond Villain of All: Technology
From ACM Opinion

The Greatest Bond Villain of All: Technology

Tech has always played a prominent role in the Bond franchise; it's a key element of the plot formula: Bond opens with a chase scene, the core mission is revealed...

The Extremely Personal Computer: The Digital Future of Mental Health
From ACM Opinion

The Extremely Personal Computer: The Digital Future of Mental Health

It's 2018, and you're not feeling your best.

Google News at 10: How the Algorithm Won Over the News Industry
From ACM Opinion

Google News at 10: How the Algorithm Won Over the News Industry

In April of 2010, Eric Schmidt delivered the keynote address at the conference of the American Society of News Editors in Washington, D.C. During the talk, thearticulate...

Why There Are Too Many Patents in America
From ACM Opinion

Why There Are Too Many Patents in America

Recently, while sitting as a trial judge, I dismissed a case in which Apple and Motorola had sued each other for alleged infringement of patents for components...

Is It Possible to Wage a Just Cyberwar?
From ACM Opinion

Is It Possible to Wage a Just Cyberwar?

In the last week or so, cyberwarfare has made front-page news: the United States may have been behind the Stuxnet cyberattack on Iran; Iran may have suffered another...

Why the Internet Makes It Impossible to Stop Giant Wall Street Losses
From ACM Opinion

Why the Internet Makes It Impossible to Stop Giant Wall Street Losses

In 1984, Yale sociologist Charles Perrow published his classic book, Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies. The odd term, "normal accident," Perrow...

Why Do Our Best and Brightest End ­p in Silicon Valley and Not D.c.?
From ACM Careers

Why Do Our Best and Brightest End ­p in Silicon Valley and Not D.c.?

Recently I visited one of the primary ventricles of Silicon Valley's investment culture, Google Ventures.

Homeland Security's 'pre-Crime' Screening Will Never Work
From ACM Opinion

Homeland Security's 'pre-Crime' Screening Will Never Work

Here is a quiz for you.

Cyber and Drone Attacks May Change Warfare More Than the Machine Gun
From ACM TechNews

Cyber and Drone Attacks May Change Warfare More Than the Machine Gun

Information technology is changing the way nations wage war, with philosophical and ethical perspectives struggling to keep pace with those changes.  

Cyber and Drone Attacks May Change Warfare More Than the Machine Gun
From ACM Opinion

Cyber and Drone Attacks May Change Warfare More Than the Machine Gun

From state-sponsored cyberattacks to autonomous robotic weapons, 21st century war is increasingly disembodied.
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