James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Tech giants sign letter condemning UK agency’s plan to spy on encrypted messages
Microsoft Corp., Google LLC, Facebook Inc.-owned WhatsApp and Apple Inc. have signed a letter condemning a U.K. government agency’s proposal to spy on its citizens. The letter, which has 47 signatories including tech firms, security experts and civil society groups, is highly critical of the Government Communications Headquarters or GCHQ proposal to enable eavesdropping on encrypted chats. ...
Twitter delves into how to deal with white nationalists
Twitter Inc. is stepping into the delicate problem of what to do about white nationalism on its site. The problem is, do you ban a white supremacist who can manipulate a sentence in ways that don’t really make him look hateful of others. Do some of them have good points regarding certain topics, and should ...
Facebook and Twitter remove accounts linked to Iranian disinformation campaign
Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. said Tuesday that they have removed a number of accounts linked to an ongoing Iran-backed campaign to disseminate misleading content in the U.S. and other countries. In a blog post, Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, said 51 Facebook accounts had been removed, as well as 36 Pages, seven ...
Within Google you can now order food without using other apps
Starting today, you don’t even have to leave Google search, Maps or Assistant to order something to eat. Google LLC has made this possible by forming partnerships with delivery companies such as DoorDash, Postmates and ChowNow. But you no longer need to download their apps or visit websites. It’s simple enough: When you are in ...
Google to face GDPR probe from Irish regulator
The Irish Data Protection Commission announced Wednesday that it has begun an investigation of Google LLC’s advertising practices across the European Union. “The purpose of the inquiry is to establish whether processing of personal data carried out at each stage of an advertising transaction is in compliance with the relevant provisions of the General Data Protection ...
Comcast working on a home health monitoring device for the vulnerable
Comcast Corp. is developing a personal home assistant to monitor people’s health, according to CNBC report published Tuesday. The initial report suggested that the device would be a direct competitor to Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa, although subsequent reports said that’s not the case. What seems to be true is Comcast is developing a health monitoring product ...
FCC to approve T-Mobile/Sprint merger, but DOJ might kill it
Things were looking good for the T-Mobile U.S. Inc. and Sprint Corp. merger on Monday after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai gave it the green light. Then the Department of Justice weighed in and suddenly it didn’t look so good after all. Pai said in a statement that he believed the merger would be in ...
To catch a thief, NYPD uses facial recognition on Hollywood celebrity photo
After the New York Police Department was at a loss when its facial recognition software didn’t turn up any matches, the department decided to get creative with celebrity photos. According to a report published by Georgetown Law Thursday, in one case police had a partially obscured image of a suspect, but after running it through ...
Tech giants sign ‘Christchurch Call to Action’ on online extremism, but Trump declines
Some of the world’s leading tech firms have pledged to fight online extremism after signing an agreement today dubbed the “Christchurch Call to Action.” Spearheaded by New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the plan was introduced at a summit in Paris Wednesday where governments and industry leaders met. Countries and companies agreed to combat the ...
San Francisco bans government use of facial recognition technology
Amid growing fears of facial recognition technology becoming an oppressive tool of surveillance down the line, the city of San Francisco voted today to ban the use of it by police and other official agencies. The city’s Board of Supervisors voted 8-1 in support of a proposal to ban facial recognition by agencies to be ...