James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Facebook shared data with Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei
It never seems to end: Facebook Inc. is facing yet another storm of criticism regarding data sharing after news broke Tuesday that the company had data-sharing partnerships with about 60 device makers, including one Chinese firm flagged as a possible threat by U.S. intelligence. That firm is Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which according to intelligence chiefs ...
Apple gets serious about device overuse, especially by kids
Apple Inc. professed concern Tuesday at Tuesday at its Worldwide Apple Developers Conference that people are spending too much time with their devices. The company has been promising for some time that it will introduce features to help maintain a healthy amount of device time, especially for children. Earlier this year major Apple investors let their concerns be known ...
After facing flak over weaponized AI, Google promises not to be evil
Google Inc. is taking steps to create a set of ethical guidelines for how its technology, notably artificial intelligence, might be used for military purposes, according to a report Wednesday in the New York Times. The report doesn’t say what these guidelines will consist of, but that may be revealed in coming weeks. One thing the ...
Struggling with GDPR, big tech girds for another battle: Europe’s proposed electronic communications privacy rules
No sooner than the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation rules went into effect Friday, tech companies are now gearing up for another battle with what has been called even stricter regulation. That would be the “Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications,” or the “ePrivacy Regulation.” The law, approved by the European Parliament, is currently being reviewed ...
GDPR rules force some US media to close doors on European readers
Readers of some U.S. news media in Europe found that after the General Data Protection Regulation came into effect some sites denied them access. Some big names were affected, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Orlando Sentinel, the New York Daily News and the Baltimore Sun. Instead of news, readers were faced with ...
Samsung stung for $539 million for copying iPhone features
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. today was ordered by a court to pay $539 million in damages to Apple Inc. over patent infringement relating to the design of the iPhone. In a case that has been going on for seven years, jurors in a federal court in San Jose, California, decided Thursday that the Korean electronics ...
Hoping to avoid more scandals, Facebook makes big changes to ad policies
Facebook Inc. today announced several steps to reduce the proliferation of propaganda on the platform, following months of controversy surrounding Russian meddling in the U.S. election and stirring up discord in the country. As of today, anything that appears on Facebook as an ad must be marked as such with the words “Paid for by” ...
Amazon criticized for selling police its facial recognition software
Amazon.com Inc. is selling its facial recognition system “Rekognition” to the cops, fueling fears of a surveillance state in which omnipresent eyes will always be watching. The revelation follows a release of documents by the American Civil Liberties Union pertaining to Amazon marketing its software to police. Amazon’s pitch to law enforcement is that Rekognition can ...
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin questions Google’s power
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin thinks Google Inc. might be too big for the good of society, echoing what other officials and businesses have been saying for some time. In an interview with CNBC Monday, Mnuchin said the Department of Justice must look seriously at Google and other tech companies that have unprecedented power and a great impact on ...
Google loses some prestige over its suspect Duplex AI demo
Google Inc. may have wowed the world with its demonstration of its almost too-human artificially intelligent Duplex virtual assistant, and it may have also been almost too good to be true. The short clip of Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai demonstrating the uncanny reality of the voice assistant making an appointment with a hair salon ...