James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Google tried to limit activist workers organizing by email
Just a few months after global walkouts at Google LLC offices, the company is now facing criticism for trying to urge the U.S. government to prevent workers from organizing protests online. As first reported by Bloomberg Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board during the Obama administration set a precedent that would allow workers to use ...
Facebook may shut down more groups and pages suspected of peddling fake news
Facebook Inc. said today it’s taking more steps to cut down on the dissemination of fake news by proactively axing some pages and groups. The net has widened somewhat, since now Facebook says it may delete these pages and groups even if they haven’t violated the platform’s community standards. Now the company says it take down ...
Labor Department accuses Oracle of underpaying women and minorities by $400 million
The U.S. Department of Labor said today that Oracle Corp. underpaid women and people of color, resulting in $400 million in lost wages, according to a federal filing. “Oracle suppressed starting salaries for its female and non-White employees, assigned them to lower level positions and depressed their wages over the years they worked at Oracle,” ...
Facebook adds a petitions feature to the news feed
Come Monday, Facebook Inc. will allow users to get together and send their thoughts to officials in a petitions feature called “Community Actions.” According to a TechCrunch report Sunday, users will be able to create a petition relating to a cause and then tag various government agencies or local and national elected officials. The feature will roll ...
Tim Cook says consumers must have control over their personal data
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook has told the U.S. government in no uncertain terms that the public must have more control over the data collected on them throughout their lives. Cook (pictured), who last year voiced his concerns about privacy issues after the Facebook data leak scandal, said in a Time magazine op-ed Wednesday ...
Most Americans don’t know Facebook has made them targets for advertisers
Despite Facebook Inc.’s attempts to become more transparent about what it does with its users’ data, it seems most Americans remain clueless. That’s the takeaway from a survey that the Pew Research Center published Wednesday. Some 963 adults from the U.S. with Facebook accounts between Sept. 4 and Oct. 1 of last year were asked a ...
Facebook is investing $300M to support local news in the US
In another move by dominant internet platforms at least to appear to support struggling traditional media,Facebook Inc. will invest $300 million over the next three years to support local news in the U.S., the company announced today. The money will go toward programs, partnerships and content, said Facebook, adding that it felt responsible for helping local ...
Google employees double down in their fight against forced arbitration
Scores of employees at Google LLC are increasing their efforts to end forced arbitration at the company to create more awareness of a practice they deem unacceptable. Late last year, Google staff all over the world took to the streets in protest and demanded an end to forced arbitration in sexual misconduct cases. Google reacted ...
Carriers are still selling your location data, says new report
Bounty hunters and other sketchy figures have been buying people’s location data, according to a report published today by Motherboard. The report said data from companies such as AT&T Inc. and Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. are ending up in the wrong hands, and all for a small price. During the investigation the journalist ...
U.S court rules politician cannot block critic on social media
A federal appeals court Monday said that when a U.S. politician blocked one of her constituent’s on Facebook, she violated the First Amendment. The court decided 3-0 that the chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Phyllis Randall, violated the rights of Brian Davison because she banned him from her “Chair Phyllis J. Randall” ...