Amazon’s Ring is the Largest Civilian Surveillance Network the US Has Ever Seen
By: The Guardian May 18, 2021 In a 2020 letter to management, Max Eliaser, an Amazon software engineer, said Ring is “simply not compatible with a free society”. We should take his claim seriously. Ring video doorbells, Amazon’s signature home security product, pose a serious threat to a free and democratic society. Not only […]
Gig Economy Couriers Should be Eligible For a Pension, Says UK Regulator
By: Guardian May 17, 2021 The head of the UK’s pension regulator has called on gig economy companies to recognise the employment rights of those who work for them and set up workplace pensions. Charles Counsell, the chief executive of the Pensions Regulator, said the government-backed body was already working closely with Uber […]
Censorship, Surveillance and Profits: A Hard Bargain for Apple in China
By: New York Times May 17, 2021 GUIYANG, China — On the outskirts of this city in a poor, mountainous province in southwestern China, men in hard hats recently put the finishing touches on a white building a quarter-mile long with few windows and a tall surrounding wall. There was little sign of its […]
UK Government Lays Out Plans to Protect Users Online
By: BBC May 12, 2021 Social media firms will have to remove harmful content quickly or potentially face multi-billion-pound fines under new legislation. The government’s Online Safety Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech, comes with a promise of protecting debate. It is “especially” geared at keeping children safe and says “democratically important” content should […]
Army of Fake Fans Boosts China’s Messaging on Twitter
By: AP News May 12, 2021 BRUSSELS (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party has opened a new front in its long, ambitious war to shape global public opinion: Western social media. Liu Xiaoming, who recently stepped down as China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, is one of the party’s most successful foot soldiers […]
Low-Skill Workers Aren’t a Problem to Be Fixed
By: The Atlantic April 23, 2021 Recently, I was mesmerized by a prep cook. At a strip-mall Korean restaurant, I caught a glimpse of the kitchen and stood dumbfounded for a few minutes, watching a guy slicing garnishes, expending half the energy I would if I were doing the same at home and at […]
CEOs Are Hugely Expensive – So Why Not Automate Them?
By: Financial Review April 28, 2021 Over the next two weeks, the boards of BAE Systems, AstraZeneca, Glencore, Flutter Entertainment and the London Stock Exchangeall face the possibility of shareholder revolts over executive pay at their forthcoming annual general meetings (AGMs). As the AGM season begins, there is a particular focus on pay. […]
UK Ministers Urged to Make Tech Giants Responsible for Scams
By: The Guardian May 7, 2021 A coalition of organisations including City of London police and the consumer body Which? is demanding the government make tech giants such as Google and Facebook legally responsible for fake and fraudulent adverts. In a joint letter to the home secretary, Priti Patel, the 17 organisations have […]
How Should Multinationals Be Taxed?
By: The Economist May 10, 2021 FOR YEARS governments have grumbled, simmered and raged as multinational companies have shifted profits out of tax collectors’ grasp and into low-tax havens. The OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, estimated in 2015 that avoidance robs public coffers of $100bn-240bn, or 4-10% of global corporation-tax revenues a […]