The Guardian – Documents alleged to contain revelations on data and privacy controls that led to Cambridge Analytica scandal – “Parliament has used its legal powers to seize internal Facebook documents in an extraordinary attempt to hold the US social media giant to account after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg repeatedly refused to answer MPs’ questions. The cache of documents is alleged to contain significant revelations about Facebook decisions on data and privacy controls that led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. It is claimed they include confidential emails between senior executives, and correspondence with Zuckerberg…The seizure is the latest move in a bitter battle between the British parliament and the social media giant. The struggle to hold Facebook to account has raised concerns about limits of British authority over international companies that now play a key role in the democratic process…”
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Daily Archives: November 25, 2018
Framing Algorithms – Competition Law and (Other) Regulatory Tools
Picht, Peter Georg and Loderer, Gaspare, Framing Algorithms – Competition Law and (Other) Regulatory Tools (October 30, 2018). Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 18-24. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3275198 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3275198 “As other fields of law, competition law is put to the test by new technologies in general and algorithmic market… Continue Reading
Open access to case law – how do we get there?
InfoLaw – Open access to case law – how do we get there? – “Open access to case law in England and Wales is in a very poor state of health, both in terms of the amount of case law that is freely accessible to the public and in terms of the sustainability and development… Continue Reading
Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume II
Axios: Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United StatesThe National Climate Assessment (NCA) assesses the science of climate change and variability and its impacts across the United States, now and throughout this century. The Black Friday climate report, formally known as the National Climate Assessment, follows a landmark U.N. science… Continue Reading
Why a library fire feels like an ‘attack on humanity’
PBS NewsHour = Published on Nov 13, 2018 – “In April 1986, fire raged through the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles, damaging or destroying more than a million books. Journalist and author Susan Orlean resurrects this nearly forgotten story in “The Library Book,” which also explores the emotional attachment so many of us feel… Continue Reading
The politics of “political” – how the word has changed its meaning
Oxford University Blog: “Over the course of history, the word “political” has evolved from being synonymous with “public sphere” or “good government” to meaning “calculating” or “partisan.” How did we get here? This adapted excerpt from Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary explains the evolution. The problems posed by political result from a combination… Continue Reading
New 136-page guide to House members
Via Axios – “Phil Singer and his team at Marathon Strategies are quick out of the gate with a 136-page guide to the House members, including these talkers: Katie Hill (R-CA-25): Rock climbing enthusiast Gil Cisneros (R-CA-39): Won $266 million in Mega Millions lottery Donna Shalala (R-FL-27): Former HHS Secretary Sharice Davids (R-KS-03): Former MMA… Continue Reading
The Best Websites for Learning a New Language
How to Geek – “You’d think that with the vast amount of information on the Internet, learning a new language would be easy. But the availability of all that information is part of the problem. We’ve scoured the depths of the Internet to compile this list of the best websites for learning a new language…” Continue Reading
What Do Polls Reveal about Americans and the Holocaust?
US Holocaust Memorial Museum – “Public opinion polls show that most Americans disapproved of Nazism during the 1930s and 1940s. Yet, the majority of Americans also hoped to stay out of war in Europe, and many opposed admitting refugees fleeing from Nazism.” Tune in to watch this program live on November 28 at 7 p.m.… Continue Reading
The problem with social media has never been about bots. It’s always been about business models
Quartz – “Researchers have found that as many as 15% of Twitter accounts are bots, which drive two-thirds of the links on the site. But not all bots are bad. There are bots that make the internet more beautiful, more useful, even kinder. Here at Quartz, we have a whole department dedicated to making informative… Continue Reading
Statistics tell us how women are faring around the world – they also hide some important realities
Washington Post: Women’s lives, behind the data – “The story of women is often told through numbers. Reports and studies tell us how much less women make than men, how much more unusual it is for girls to go to school than it is for boys or how much less likely women are to hold… Continue Reading
How air pollution is destroying our health
World Health Organization – “As the world gets hotter and more crowded, our engines continue to pump out dirty emissions, and half the world has no access to clean fuels or technologies (e.g. stoves, lamps), the very air we breathe is growing dangerously polluted: nine out of ten people now breathe polluted air, which kills… Continue Reading
