TechTank

Today, under the coronavirus quarantines and lockdowns, most of us are working from home. This transition to a virtual world has blurred the lines between professional and personal life… in more ways than one. We’ve all heard some of the scarier versions of Big Brother. Companies installing technology in their employees’ chairs, that tracks how long they spend at their desks each day. Required emp...

In the days leading up to the U.S. Capitol insurrection on January 6, social media platforms were flooded with hate speech and misinformation. Months before, there were also denouncements by former President Donald J. Trump about the proposed content moderation practices of private companies, as well as their use of Section 230 protections.  It took only days after armed mobs stormed the U.S....

At the end of 2020, reporting revealed the dramatic SolarWinds hack of major American businesses and government agencies. Russia broke into leading institutions and cybersecurity experts still are gauging the scope of the damage. But this isn’t the only hack that Americans need to be wary of. The pandemic has also revealed the weakness of private business and ordinary citizens to protect them...

Online dating apps like Tinder collect a large amount of personal information on their users. Tinder’s privacy policy clearly states your data may be used to deliver “targeted advertising”. Even a step beyond that, the policy says “you should not expect that your personal information, chats, or other communications will always remain secure”.  Your online data affects what job offers you have...

Many people participate in jobs associated with the gig economy. This includes those who drive for ride-sharing services, deliver food, or otherwise get paid based on services or deliveries, or car rides, as opposed to a set salary or hourly basis.   People take these jobs for all kinds of reasons. They need flexible work schedules or are in school and aren’t available for a traditional job....

Within the coronavirus era, doctor’s visits have gone virtual--much like nearly every aspect of everyday life. So telehealth means a patient talks to their doctor right from the epicenter of their personal world. And those little things that make us human? They’re front and center. And beyond the convenience of taking a check up from your living room, without having to pay for childcare or transpo...

With Election 2020 coming to a close, President-Elect Joe Biden is moving to assemble his administration and set his policy priorities. The new leader faces many challenging technology issues, from antitrust, privacy, and content moderation to China and digital disparities made worse by COVID-19. He'll also have to make decisions regarding key tech policy positions. He does this at a time of dimin...

The phrase “telecommuting” was first coined in the early 1970s by a NASA employee named Jack Nilles. Nilles claimed telecommuting could offset traffic congestion, promote resource conservation, and be a major convenience for those so engaged. In addition to the societal and environmental benefits, CEOs of major companies said it increased productivity and offered greater flexibility for worke...

Early in March, the COVID-19 pandemic began burning a furious path across the U.S., shuttering schools and sending 50 million students home. Some of the nation’s largest public school districts, including New York City and Los Angeles, were the first to close their doors for the remainder of the academic year. Many parents were forced to become educators for the first time in their lives. And scho...

With the 2020 presidential election about to take place, concerns about foreign interference, disinformation, mail ballot snafus, and voter suppression remain high. Already, there have been major phishing attacks against leading campaigns and Facebook has removed hundreds of thousands of fake accounts operated by foreign entities. With countries such as Russia, China, and Iran having a major stake...

On June 20th, President Donald Trump showed up in Tulsa, Oklahoma for his first campaign rally after a three-month hiatus. Before the rally, the Trump campaign bragged about the million tickets that had been pre-requested. But when the rally started only 6200 people showed up at the arena, and the President addressed a sea of empty chairs. Politically active young people used TikTok to encourage o...

In 1932, Senator Carter Glass and Congressman Henry Steagall joined forces to pass a new banking law that divided investment from commercial banking. They argued there was an inherent conflict of interest in banks performing both activities and that it was harmful to consumers. As we move into the digital world, there are firms that perform a number of different business functions and there are qu...

As the pandemic spring has turned into the pandemic summer—and with no sign of abating once fall arrives—Americans are beginning to grapple with how the disease will change daily life forever. Across the country, empty streets and empty office towers don’t just mean a change in how we work—entire communities have relocated to new places. “Reopen the economy” has entered the pantheon of American po...

Algorithms are the tools by which the modern world plans, programs, and conducts itself. But they’re also the tools by which the modern world perpetuates racism in the digital age. If algorithms are going to rule technology, and therefore, our lives, how can we ensure they rule fairly? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.