Why Do We Need Sleep? Israeli Scientists Solve the Mystery Haaretz
How to stop robocalls on your iPhone
Business Insider: “It’s not your imagination; robocalls are on the rise. According to research from the communications security firm First Orion,
as recently as 2017, just 3.7% of all cellphone calls placed were
automated “spam” calls, but by 2018, spam calls represented 29.2% of all
calls. In 2019, nearly half of all cellphone calls will be scams,
unless the telecom industry adopts measures to curb the trend, according
to First Orion. Robocalls are so ubiquitous in part because they’re
cheap for spammers to operate. To the average iPhone user inundated by
spam calls, these calls may seem unavoidable, but the good news is that
they aren’t. While you can’t completely inoculate yourself from
robocalls, there are a number of steps you can take to minimize the
number of annoying spam calls that arrive on your iPhone…”
IU Tax Policy Colloquium: Williamson, Filer Voter: An Experiment Testing Voter Registration at Tax Time
By: Leandra Lederman On February 28, Indiana University Maurer School of Law’s Tax Policy Colloquium, hosted this year by my colleague David Gamage, welcomed Vanessa Williamson from the Brookings Institution. Vanessa presented a report that is due to be released at the end of March on a … Continue reading
Americans and Cybersecurity Pew Report –
Many Americans do not trust modern institutions to protect their personal data – even as they frequently neglect cybersecurity best practices in their own personal lives. “Cyberattacks and data breaches are facts of life for government agencies, businesses and individuals alike in today’s digitized and networked world. Just a few of the most high-profile breaches in 2016 alone include the hacking and subsequent release of emails from members of the Democratic National Committee; the release of testing records of dozens of athletes conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency; and the announcement by Yahoo that hackers had accessed the private information associated with roughly 1 billion email accounts. Finally, in late 2016 and early 2017 U.S. intelligence agencies (the FBI, CIA and Department of Homeland Security) both issued statements and testified before Congressthat the Russian government was involved
in the hack of the DNC with the aim of influencing the 2016 presidential election.
Previous Pew Research Center studies of the digital privacy environment have found that many Americans fear they have lost control of their personal information and many worry whether government agencies and major corporations can protect the customer data they collect. As part of this ongoing series of studies on the state of online privacy and security, the Center conducted a national survey of 1,040 adults in the spring of 2016 to examine their cybersecurity habits and attitudes.
FBI boss: Never mind Russia and social media, China ransacks US biz for blueprints, secrets at ‘surprisingly’ huge scale The Register (furzy)Huawei confirms it will sue US government in bid to overturn ban on its gear South China Morning PostXi Jinping needs a trade deal just as much as Donald Trump does Financial TimesChina faces ’tough economic’ challenges Asia TimesChina Won’t Make Big Concessions on Trade Deal, Ex-Minister Says Bloomberg (resilc)
Growth & mobility Stumbling and Mumbling. UserFriendly: “Explains why you might as well just kill yourself after a year of unemployment.”L.A. settles pivotal homeless rights case, limiting the city’s ability to clear streets of property and camps Los Angeles Times. Recall that LA has had outbreaks of Hepatitis A.Money laundering through REITs causes high rentsCZEdwards (Paul R). Interesting theory but private equity is a bigger factor.
Monitoring & surveillance technologies shift power dynamics in the workplace
Data & Society, 5 March 2019. In a work context, surveillance and data collection raise issues that go beyond privacy concerns based on individual rights. Whether it’s the use of closed circuit televisions or keycard access to track movement, expectations of privacy are often left at the door when an employee enters the workplace. New technologies are enabling greater and more pervasive forms of monitoring and surveillance, resulting in new challenges for workers
Fingerprint
and face scanners aren’t as secure as we think they are
the conversation, 6 March 2019. New biometric systems that incorporate AI have really come to the forefront of consumer electronics. But AI is a double-edged sword. While new developments, such as deep artificial neural networks, have enhanced the performance of biometric systems, potential threats could arise from the integration of AI. For example, researchers have created a tool called DeepMasterPrints. It uses deep learning techniques to generate fake fingerprints that can unlock a large number of mobile devices.
The World Wide Web Turns 30. Where Does It Go From Here? - Sir Tim Berners Lee via Wired: “Today, 30 years on from my original proposal for an information management system, half the world is online. It’s a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come, but also an opportunity to reflect on how far we have yet to go. The web has become a public square, a library, a doctor’s office, a shop, a school, a design studio, an office, a cinema, a bank, and so much more. Of course with every new feature, every new website, the divide between those who are online and those who are not increases, making it all the more imperative to make the web available for everyone. And while the web has created opportunity, given marginalized groups a voice, and made our daily lives easier, it has also created opportunity for scammers, given a voice to those who spread hatred, and made all kinds of crime easier to commit. Against the backdrop of news stories about how the web is misused, it’s understandable that many people feel afraid and unsure if the web is really a force for good. But given how much the web has changed in the past 30 years, it would be defeatist and unimaginative to assume that the web as we know it can’t be changed for the better in the next 30. If we give up on building a better web now, then the web will not have failed us. We will have failed the web…”
the conversation, 6 March 2019. New biometric systems that incorporate AI have really come to the forefront of consumer electronics. But AI is a double-edged sword. While new developments, such as deep artificial neural networks, have enhanced the performance of biometric systems, potential threats could arise from the integration of AI. For example, researchers have created a tool called DeepMasterPrints. It uses deep learning techniques to generate fake fingerprints that can unlock a large number of mobile devices.
The World Wide Web Turns 30. Where Does It Go From Here? - Sir Tim Berners Lee via Wired: “Today, 30 years on from my original proposal for an information management system, half the world is online. It’s a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come, but also an opportunity to reflect on how far we have yet to go. The web has become a public square, a library, a doctor’s office, a shop, a school, a design studio, an office, a cinema, a bank, and so much more. Of course with every new feature, every new website, the divide between those who are online and those who are not increases, making it all the more imperative to make the web available for everyone. And while the web has created opportunity, given marginalized groups a voice, and made our daily lives easier, it has also created opportunity for scammers, given a voice to those who spread hatred, and made all kinds of crime easier to commit. Against the backdrop of news stories about how the web is misused, it’s understandable that many people feel afraid and unsure if the web is really a force for good. But given how much the web has changed in the past 30 years, it would be defeatist and unimaginative to assume that the web as we know it can’t be changed for the better in the next 30. If we give up on building a better web now, then the web will not have failed us. We will have failed the web…”