WELCOME to Connected Rights, your journey through the looking-glass of digital rights news and analysis. APPLE HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE NEXT VERSION OF SAFARI will tell users when third parties are trying to track them through things like "like" and "share" buttons, and give them a simple way to block the tracking. And which tracker did … Continue reading Good Apple
GDPR special: How was the end of the world for you?
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your ruby slippers on the yellow-brick road of digital rights news and analysis. THE INTRODUCTION OF THE GDPR HAS BEEN nothing if not dramatic, so what the heck, let's focus on that today. (Don't worry, there's a bit of non-GDPR-related stuff towards the end.) The complaints: One of the GDPR's fun bits … Continue reading GDPR special: How was the end of the world for you?
The Zuckerberg farce
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your breach in the hull of digital rights news and analysis. MARK ZUCKERBERG'S APPEARANCE BEFORE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEADERS yesterday was an absolute farce. With the world's attention trained on them, the MEPs spent an hour grandstanding, landing all the predicted blows but at excessive length – the meeting was only supposed to … Continue reading The Zuckerberg farce
Facebook and the history Zuck denied
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your jam in the jar of digital rights news and analysis. REMEMBER WHEN MARK ZUCKERBERG TOLD CONGRESS that "all of your information is included in 'download your information'", while trying to dodge questions over whether Facebook also collects browsing and other data from third parties, that aren't included in such downloads? Funny … Continue reading Facebook and the history Zuck denied
Who knew it was Content Moderation Transparency Week?
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your chip on the shoulder of digital rights news and analysis. IT SEEMS TO BE CONTENT MODERATION TRANSPARENCY WEEK, judging by the output of both Facebook and YouTube in the last couple days. For those who worry about how the big platforms regulate our online activity, there's a fair bit to digest … Continue reading Who knew it was Content Moderation Transparency Week?
Let’s talk about encryption. Again.
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your fire in the hold of digital rights news and analysis. RUSSIA IS PROVIDING A HORRIFYING/HILARIOUS CASE STUDY into the effects of trying to censor a popular service that doesn't want to be censored. After a court ordered the blocking of encrypted messaging app Telegram (for not being willing/able to share encryption … Continue reading Let’s talk about encryption. Again.
Facebook is the gift that keeps on giving
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your I in the team of digital rights news and analysis. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to a friend or get them to sign up. I'm David Meyer, aka @superglaze on Twitter and @davidmeyerwrites on Facebook. Don't forget to check out the Connected Rights website. Tonga soa! I apologise in advance for the Facebook-heaviness of this issue. MARK ZUCKERBERG … Continue reading Facebook is the gift that keeps on giving
Microsoft’s big email privacy fight is over
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your twist in the sobriety of digital rights news and analysis. MICROSOFT AGREES WITH THE US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT that their epic battle over user privacy, as it relates to emails stored on overseas servers, should be scrapped. The argument is now moot, after president Trump signed a new law (supported by Microsoft) … Continue reading Microsoft’s big email privacy fight is over
What we can learn from Facebook’s stack of lawsuits
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your penny in the tip jar of digital rights news and analysis. FACEBOOK IS GETTING SUED A LOT right now. There's a bunch of suits over its data protection failings, associated with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Then there's a putative class action over its scraping of call and SMS logs from Android … Continue reading What we can learn from Facebook’s stack of lawsuits
The Facebook scandal and the decentralisation conundrum
WELCOME to Connected Rights, your hat in the ring of digital rights news and analysis. THANKS TO CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA AND FACEBOOK, the purpose of data protection seems to have finally broken through into the public consciousness this past week. Here are several factors that have made this particular scandal exceptional and potentially game-changing. 1. This is … Continue reading The Facebook scandal and the decentralisation conundrum