onfocus

Not following the daily long scream of social media news? This article is a good way to catch up on the fresh horrors. Facebook is really leading the way in ethical absence:

• TechCrunch: Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them
• Mashable: Facebook employees react to scandal on gossip app
• ProPublica: Facebook Moves to Block Ad Transparency Tools — Including Ours

But don't count Google out yet! The Verge: Apple blocks Google from running its internal iOS apps. And why is Apple suddenly the arbiter of justice? Shouldn't that be the role of our government? Yes, says Apple: Tim Cook Calls for ‘Data-Broker Clearinghouse’ in Push for Privacy Rules. This is all happening while Facebook's stock is soaring: Facebook keeps growing despite scandals and privacy outrage. The Market will not fix this. I guess there's nothing anyone can do. Let's just get weird again.

"If you fell asleep in 1945 and woke up in 2018 you would not recognize the world around you." I've been thinking about this quick essay about the evolution of the American economy quite a bit since I first read it.

Dear nerds, please do not ruin this problematic yet delightful 80s pop tune with any more of your overwrought nonsense. I think we have mined this vein enough.

10. We need strong regulation to protect our privacy
20. Goto 10

I think every large company has violated our privacy now—selling user data is the culture! So we need to change that culture via regulation. Congressional investigations with no follow-up are not scaring companies; so promises like this ring hollow: AT&T says it'll stop selling your location data. The week before it was IBM selling Weather Channel app location data: Los Angeles Accuses Weather Channel App of Covertly Mining User Data. With no repercussions we'll see these headlines over and over.

"...somehow you have been transported to a parallel future where everything is more alien than familiar." I love his limited palette here. They remind me of Masashi Wakui's night photos of Tokyo that I stumbled across on Flickr years ago.