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Category Archives: E-Commerce

The Ethics of Data, Visualized

TRACEY WALLACE – Truth in Data: “Big data sparked public interest in the U.S. beginning with the NSA scandal. Suddenly, it was mass knowledge that not only could the government, or any entity, collect your social media, email or cell data, but they could use it against you. This concept certainly isn’t brand new, and it certainly… Continue Reading

How Secure is TextSecure? – Paper

How Secure is TextSecure? Tilman Frosch and Christian Mainka and Christoph Bader and Florian Bergsma and Joerg Schwenk and Thorsten Holz, October 31, 2014. “Instant Messaging has attracted a lot of attention by users for both private and business communication and has especially gained popularity as low-cost short message replacement on mobile devices. However, most popular… Continue Reading

EFF Explains Research on How Internet Users Were Caught in Traffic Slowdown

EFF – “Almost any time you access the Internet, your computer transmits and receives data that travels across not only your own Internet provider’s network, but also the networks of Internet backbone providers and other ISPs before reaching its final destination. This is what puts the “inter” in the “Internet”: independent networks connected together physically… Continue Reading

Another Facebook Experiment on Users is Revealed to Focus on Voting

Micah L. Sifry – Mother Jones: “On Election Day, political campaigns, candidates, consultants, and pollsters pay close attention to who votes and why—and so does Facebook. For the past six years, on every national Election Day, the social-networking behemoth has pushed out a tool—a high-profile button that proclaims “I’m Voting” or “I’m a Voter”—designed to… Continue Reading

The False Promise of Anonymity – CDT

Sarah St.Vincent and Alex Bradshaw: “In recent weeks, multiple apps promising “secret” messaging have had sensitive data exposed by breaches and the apps’ not-so-secret data-sharing practices. This news makes one thing clear: the term “anonymity,” as used by apps that ostensibly enable individuals to post updates anonymously, often promises too much. Many applications promising anonymity… Continue Reading

Communications carriers using browser codes to monetize customer site visits

Forbes – Kashmir Hill: “The generally accepted trade-off on the Internet is that you give up your privacy to get free stuff. It’s summed up by a frequently repeated adage, “If you’re not paying for it, you’re the product.” But sometimes you’re paying for it, and you’re still the product. Verizon and AT&T customers are paying an… Continue Reading

How Facebook Is Changing the Way Its Users Consume Journalism

NYT – Ravi Somaiya: “Many of the people who read this article will do so because Greg Marra, 26, a Facebook engineer, calculated that it was the kind of thing they might enjoy. Mr. Marra’s team designs the code that drives Facebook’s News Feed – the stream of updates, photographs, videos and stories that users see.… Continue Reading

Elsevier Adds Five New Subject Areas to Legacy eBook Collection

News release: “Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced it added five new subject areas to its Legacy eBook Collection on ScienceDirect. The Legacy Collection consists of digitized, classic scholarly book content, now including nearly 13,000 books. The new subject areas are arts and humanities; computer science;… Continue Reading

Executive Order – Improving the Security of Consumer Financial Transactions

“Given that identity crimes, including credit, debit, and other payment card fraud, continue to be a risk to U.S. economic activity, and given the economic consequences of data breaches, the United States must take further action to enhance the security of data in the financial marketplace. While the U.S. Government’s credit, debit, and other payment… Continue Reading

A Conceptual Framework for the Regulation of Cryptocurrencies

Marian, Omri Y., A Conceptual Framework for the Regulation of Cryptocurrencies (October 14, 2014). University of Chicago Law Review Dialogue, Vol. 81, 2015 Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2509857 “This Essay proposes a conceptual framework for the regulation of transactions involving cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and development, but at the same time… Continue Reading

337Info – Unfair Import Investigations Information System

“337Info is an information retrieval system that contains data about USITC section 337 investigations, including: the unfair act(s) alleged (patent, trademark, or copyright infringement; misappropriation of trade secrets; etc.) the parties involved (current and historical) the Administrative Law Judge(s) (ALJ(s)) and USITC staff assigned (current and historical) the product(s) involved current investigation status and key… Continue Reading