Listen to If Then by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:
On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus dissect the latest fallout from the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal, wherein the profile data of more than 50 million Facebook users was obtained and allegedly used by Donald Trump’s online voter-targeting firm. The hosts go deep into some of the subplots of that scandal and what it means for Facebook, elections, and your privacy. They’ll also discuss the death of a pedestrian in Arizona at the hands of an Uber self-driving car, and what that means for the future of autonomous vehicles. Finally, a tech story that has gotten less attention than it probably deserves: a change in the law that governs whether websites are liable for what their users say.
Will and April are joined by David Carroll, a professor at Parsons School of Design at the New School, who focuses on political campaigns and data targeting. He’s suing Cambridge Analytica in the U.K. to find out what the company did with his data, and where it went. The hosts talk with him about the mechanics of how campaigns use voters’ persona data to win elections.
Stories discussed on the show:
- Slate: There’s Officially a Federal Investigation Into Facebook. What Could Come of It?
- Slate: Why Facebook Is Terrified of Mark Zuckerberg Testifying to Congress
- Slate: People Are Losing Trust in Facebook. Here’s Why They’re Staying on It Anyway.
- The Guardian: David Carroll, the U.S. Professor Taking on Cambridge Analytica in the U.K. Courts
- Slate: The Problem with #DeleteFacebook
- NPR: Uber Won’t Seek California Permit Renewal to Test Self-Driving Vehicles After Fatal Crash
- The Guardian: EU Referendum Won Through Fraud, Whistleblower Tells MPs
- Wired: How a Controversial New Sex-Trafficking Law Will Change the Web
Don’t Close My Tabs:
- Twitter: Sally Kuchar on Housing in the Bay Area
- The Atlantic: My Cow Game Extracted Your Facebook Data
Podcast production by Max Jacobs.
If Then plugs:
You can get updates about what’s coming up next by following us on Twitter @ifthenpod. You can follow Will @WillOremus and April @Aprilaser. If you have a question or comment, you can email us at ifthen@slate.com.
If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
