Internet

Data brokers cannot be trusted to regulate themselves

Nicholas Negroponte, the visionary computer scientist who founded the One Laptop Per Child initiative, now says he wants to connect the "last billion" people on the planet.

Last week Getty announced that they would release 35 million of their copyrighted images for editorial and commentary use with a handy embed tool.

Tech companies--Facebook, Google and IBM, to name a few--are quick to tout the world-changing powers of "big data" gleaned from mobile devices, Web searches, citizen science projects and sensor networks.

In many ways "big data" and "encryption" are antithetical. The former involves harvesting, storing and analyzing information to reveal patterns that researchers, law enforcement and industry can use to their benefit.

Many of the Web sites we visit every day are under cyber attack by malicious hackers looking to disrupt business transactions, discourage people from using a particular online service or exact payback for some real or perceived slight.

Can data brokers be trusted to regulate themselves?

Hard to believe that our mundane social media banter could have an impact on the civil war raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than a decade.

Much of what we buy in the U.S. is not made here, and hasnt been for decades. If 2013 is any indication this could be changing, although the next generation of American manufacturing will differ greatly from its predecessor thanks to advanced technologies that rely on information rather than brawn.

Cyber is everywhere: in political speeches, in newspapers, at dinner conversations. There’s cyberwar and cybersex and cybercafés (they still exist, I promise), and there’s the U.S.

When Lady Gaga tells us in her latest hit single that everything she does is “for the applause,” is that a message that we should be celebrating?