The Editorial Board of the New York Times writes: In 2017, an internet troll named Tyler Barriss called a SWAT team to what he thought was the home address of another gamer who had insulted him online in Wichita, Kan. It was the wrong address. In the confused confrontation that followed, a police officer shot and killed Andrew Finch,…
Category: Online
Australia’s horrific new encryption law likely to obliterate its tech scene
Tristan Greene reports: Australia‘s government signed a bill into law last week giving law enforcement agencies the right to force technology companies to reveal users’ encrypted messages. Another way of putting it: Australia‘s tech scene will soon be located on the Wayback Machine. The law was introduced as the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, but…
Chinese police close 1,100 social media accounts over online trolling
Xinhua reports: China’s Ministry of Public Security said on Saturday it has closed 31 websites and 1,100 social media accounts suspected of engaging in trolling activities or posting messages for extortion since the start of this year. The police also busted 28 cases involving unlawful activities of paid online trolls, or ghostwriters hired to post…
In Facebook Case, Ninth Circuit Ignores Privacy Risks of Visits to Healthcare Websites- EPIC
The good folks at EPIC.org write: In a surprisingly brief opinion, the Ninth Circuit has upheld a decision to dismiss a privacy suit against Facebook concerning the collection of sensitive medical data. In Smith v. Facebook, users alleged that the company tracked their visits to healthcare websites, in violation of the websites’ explicit privacy policies. In a…