Taxed out: Here’s why your refund may be smaller or nonexistent in 2019
Most U.S. taxpayers owe less to the IRS this year under the new tax law, but the average refund is also smaller. Most Americans have a smaller total federal income tax bill for 2018 than they did in...
View ArticleThis is the privacy software web surfers and activists downloaded 100 million...
AnchorFree’s Hotspot Shield fends off malware and online surveillance. Company Profile 50 Most Innovative Companies AnchorFree’s Hotspot Shield VPN, software that encrypts users’ online activity, was...
View ArticleOpening a bank account? Just snap a selfie and this company can get you...
Jumio’s identity-verification services are used by Airbnb, WeWork, and major U.S. banks. Company Profile 50 Most Innovative Companies Jumio is the service that allows you to upload a photo ID and snap...
View ArticleCan we stop Russia’s Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile?
Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the new Zircon missile and threatened to aim new weapons at the West. After the U.S., then Russia, suspended the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces...
View ArticleFlorida inmate files lawsuit after losing access to music files he paid for
The class action suit says inmates were promised they would keep purchased music forever, then lost access when the prison system switched media providers. A Florida prison inmate filed a federal class...
View ArticleU.S. agency wants you–to keep AI from being trained to be malicious
IARPA is seeking proposals to keep AI from leaking sensitive training data and avoid hidden bad behavior. The U.S. spy community’s R&D agency is looking into how to keep AI software from...
View ArticleWatch a Congresswoman destroy Equifax CEO Mark Begor in an epic privacy burn
The CEO declined to expose the kind of information exposed in the breach. In a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) asked whether Equifax CEO Mark Begor would be willing...
View ArticleMichael Cohen’s dire warning to Republicans: Don’t blindly follow...
The president’s disgraced former lawyer warned Trump’s Republican defenders that they could face the “same consequences that I’m suffering.” Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, President Donald...
View Article8 tech giants have security holes they need to fix right now, says EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation called on big tech companies to fix security holes. The Electronic Frontier Foundation launched a campaign and deliberately lo-fi website titled “Fix It Already,”...
View ArticleA landmark Vermont law nudges over 120 data brokers out of the shadows
Privacy advocates have praised Vermont’s new data broker law, but acknowledge it does little to rein in a largely obscure and unregulated industry. As of February, businesses collecting and selling...
View ArticleIBM finds security flaws in tools that let visitors check in to office buildings
Research from IBM finds problems in tools that generate visitor badges and control who has access to office buildings. Digital systems that let visitors check in and get access badges have become...
View ArticleAlphabet unveils new tool to analyze massive troves of data on computer networks
The tool, called Backstory, aims to make it possible to store and analyze essentially anything that happens on a computer network. Most modern computer networks are constantly generating massive...
View ArticleMass shootings are higher in states with permissive gun laws: study
A new study from Columbia University says rates of mass shootings are on average 11% higher in more permissive states. States with more permissive laws around guns have more mass shootings on average,...
View ArticleWhat Mark Zuckerberg’s new vision could really mean for privacy and...
Some critics worry the new privacy push is also a way to dodge regulation and avoid moderating content: “The devil is in the details.” It’s probably no surprise to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that his...
View Article6 drastic cuts in Trump’s proposed 2020 budget
President Trump has proposed severe cuts to the budgets of several federal agencies. President Trump’s proposed budget for 2020 includes spending increases for the military, Homeland Security, and the...
View ArticleThis new Chrome extension lets you adjust the dial on the toxicity of comments
The new tool, launched by Alphabet’s Jigsaw unit, lets users specify how toxic a comment they’re willing to read online. If you’re tired of seeing unpleasant comments when you surf the web (and who...
View ArticleFacebook and Instagram outage frustrates users around the globe
Facebook acknowledged the outage but was tight-lipped about the cause. Users across the globe reported trouble accessing Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook’s Messenger app Wednesday.Read Full Story
View ArticleThe Senate just voted to overturn Trump’s border wall emergency...
Congress has voted to overturn President Trump’s border emergency declaration, likely forcing him into the first veto of his presidency. The Senate voted Thursday to overturn President Trump’s...
View ArticleReport: Beto O’Rourke was a member of a famed hacking group in the 1980s
The hacker group is one of the oldest of its kind, first associating through dial-up bulletin board services. During Beto O’Rourke’s U.S. Senate run last year, voters learned of his time in a punk band...
View ArticleFacebook agrees to limit ad targeting after discrimination lawsuits
Lawsuits alleged its high-powered ad targeting system enabled illegal discrimination by age, race, disability, and other protected characteristics Facebook said today it has settled lawsuits over...
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