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On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about Facebook’s big privacy changes and its foray into online dating, as Glaser reports from the company’s annual developer conference in San Jose, California. Oremus takes a listener’s question about the Golden State Killer case and the questions it raises about the privacy of our DNA.
Oremus is joined by Eric Lundgren, a pioneer in e-waste recycling who is awaiting a 15-month prison sentence for distributing CDs that allowed people to reinstall Microsoft Windows on used Dell computers. Lundgren insists he’s not a criminal—and that the real crime is how tech companies drive sales of new products by discouraging people from fixing up their old ones.
And on this week’s “Don’t Close My Tabs,” Slate tech reporter Heather Schwedel joins Oremus as they share stories about “Moviepass movies” and Google’s increasingly divided internal culture.
Timestamps:
1:47 News: Golden State Killer and DNA tech
5:55: April dispatches from F8, Facebook’s annual developer conference
16:09: Interview with Eric Lundgren, the e-waste recycler, on why he’s going to prison
35:04 Don’t Close My Tabs
Stories discussed on the show:
- Slate: “How the Golden State Killer’s DNA Search Is Like the Cambridge Analytica Scandal”
- Slate: “Facebook Is Building a ‘Clear History’ Button. Finally.”
- Slate: “Facebook’s Move Into Online Data Has Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble Acting Like Spurned Lovers”
- The Washington Post: “E-Waste Recycler Eric Lundgren Loses Appeal on Computer Restore Disks, Must Serve 15 Months in Prison”
Don’t Close My Tabs
- The Cut: “The Distinct Pleasure of the ‘MoviePass Movie’ ”
- The Wall Street Journal: “Google vs. Google: How Nonstop Political Arguments Rule It’s Workplace”
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.
