Commerce – Page 106 – Public Intelligence Blog

Link Repaired, NYT Moved the Article.

What 7 Creepy Patents Reveal About Facebook

A review of hundreds of Facebook’s patent applications reveals that the company has considered tracking almost every aspect of its users’ lives: where you are, who you spend time with, whether you’re in a romantic relationship, which brands and politicians you’re talking about. The company has even attempted to patent a method for predicting when your friends will die. Taken together, Facebook’s patents show a commitment to collecting personal information, despite widespread public criticism of the company’s privacy policies and a promise from its chief executive to “do better.”

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2018/07/062018/07/05

Penguin: Should All Bio-Tech (e.g. Pacemakers) Be Open Source? Should “Right to Repair” Cover ALL Software & Hardware?

Commerce, Ineptitude, IO Impotency

Who controls the tech inside us? Budding biohackers are shaping ‘cyborg law’

Karen Sandler has a complicated relationship with her pacemaker. On the one hand, the device has the power to save her life. On the other, it sometimes suddenly and unnecessarily shocks her, mistaking a slight aberration in her heartbeat as a call for help.

Sandler was pregnant during two of those occasions, when the pacemaker detected her heart palpitations (which aren’t abnormal in expecting mothers) and delivered an unwarranted jolt. Worried that the device would misfire again, Sandler asked the manufacturer for access to its source code, hoping to reconfigure the implant to suit her condition. The manufacturer denied her request.

Continue reading “Penguin: Should All Bio-Tech (e.g. Pacemakers) Be Open Source? Should “Right to Repair” Cover ALL Software & Hardware?”

2018/07/032018/07/02

Steven Aftergood: CRS on US Research & Development (R&D) Funding and Performance – Half a Trillion — 500 Billion — A Year

Commerce, Congressional Research Service, Fact Sheets, Government, IO Impotency

U.S. Research and Development Funding and Performance: Fact Sheet

John F. Sargent Jr.
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy
Congressional Research Service
June 29, 2018

Comment and key graphic from report below the fold.

Continue reading “Steven Aftergood: CRS on US Research & Development (R&D) Funding and Performance – Half a Trillion — 500 Billion — A Year”

2018/07/012018/06/29

#GoogleGestapo: Facebook & Google Obscure & Manipulate Privacy Settings

Commerce, Corruption, IO Privacy, Media

Facebook and Google use ‘dark patterns' around privacy settings, report says

Facebook, Google and Microsoft push users away from privacy-friendly options on their services in an “unethical” way, according to a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council.

It studied the privacy settings of the firms and found a series of “dark patterns”, including intrusive default settings and misleading wording.

The firms gave users “an illusion of control”, its report suggested.

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2018/07/012018/06/30

Stephen E. Arnold: Amazon’s Pharma Play — Selling Names to Police for Gun Confiscation?

Advanced Cyber/IO, Commerce, Corruption, IO Deeds of War, IO Impotency

Amazon: Information and Its Pharma Play

Amazon sells quite a few health related products. One I found interesting is Amazon’s hydrogen peroxide. That’s an interesting chemical, and I wondered who has order a higher concentration version. I assumed that Amazon could answer that question, among others; for example, who bought certain books describing the use of the compound.

I thought about Amazon’s health products when I read “Amazon to Buy Online Pharmacy PillPack, Jumping Into the Drug Business.” I think the deal is an interesting one, but my view is different. Hey, I live in rural Kentucky, one of the states associated with opioid abuse.

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: Amazon's Pharma Play — Selling Names to Police for Gun Confiscation?”

2018/06/292018/06/27