Greetings, Future Tensers,
When we think about government surveillance, we often lean on the idea of “Big Brother” to illustrate concerns. But we should be more concerned about thousands of little brothers and sisters, writes Andrew Guthrie Ferguson. Police departments from Baltimore to Los Angeles are deploying controversial big data surveillance technology to target resources and identify potential perpetrators (and victims) of crime. “Critical liberty and accountability issues are at stake in big data policing, and the conversation needs to be had before, not after, these technologies are implemented in your neighborhood,” Ferguson says.
Hoping to join a privacy debate? Now is the time to get a quick refresher on the FBI’s fight with Apple over encryption. Apple refused to assist the FBI in breaking the encryption on the iPhone belonging to one of the assailants in the 2015 San Bernardino shooting. Now the FBI may be looking to face off with Apple again over unlocking the iPhone of the shooter at the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church.
Other things we read this week while returning our iPhone X:
- Addictive technology: Tech companies like Facebook use our psychological vulnerabilities against us to keep us hooked on their platforms. Will Oremus explores whether this makes them evil. Oremus and co-host April Glaser also discussed the topic in the latest episode of If Then, Slate’s new podcast about technology, society, and power.
- Default settings: In an excerpt from her new book, Technically Wrong, Sara Wachter-Boettcher highlights the disadvantages of tech companies designing products for the “average” user.
- Organic food fight: There is a turf battle waging over whether produce from high-tech soil-free farms can continue to carry the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s coveted organic certification label. Tamar Haspel writes it’s all about the money.
- Viral tweets: Andrew Hudson shares what he learned about Twitter when his tweet about owl orgasms and socialism went viral.
- Streaming-only: So much entertainment now exists exclusively online. Rachel Paige King explains we are at the mercy of the platforms that host streaming-only shows like Transparent and Good Girls Revolt to ensure that they’re archived for future generations.
Butt dialing,
Emily Fritcke
For Future Tense
