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Data Is Plural: Guns and Schools, Wind and Solar Power, Olympics
Data Is Plural is a weekly newsletter of useful/curious datasets. This edition, dated June 1, 2022, has been republished with permission of the author.School shootings, continued. The K-12 School Shooting Database, housed at the Naval Postgraduate School, “do…
Mark As Read: “Borderless Data,” Tech Chooses Sides, and a Slippery Slope
“Borderless Data,” Big Tech Chooses Sides, and Privacy’s Slippery SlopeTech and privacy perspectives from around the globe
Tech Groups Are Watering Down Privacy Regulations, One State at a Time
Tech Industry Groups Are Watering Down Attempts at Privacy Regulation, One State at a TimeCoordinated industry lobbying is overwhelming the scattered efforts of consumer groups and privacy-minded lawmakersIn late 2019, Utah state senator Kirk Cullimore got a …
Data Is Plural: From Supercomputers to Art Garfunkel's Library
Data Is Plural is a weekly newsletter of useful/curious datasets. This edition, dated May 25, 2022, has been republished with permission of the author.Supercomputers. Since 1993, a team of researchers has regularly assessed the most powerful computers in the …
Techno-Globalism, Content Moderation, and Decentralization
Techno-nationalism vs. techno-globalismHere’s an interesting exploration of the complex interplay between techno-nationalism—how governments protect and emphasize the contributions of their Big Tech players as uniquely valuable—and the growing “techno-globali…
Data Is Plural: Religion and Law, Cities COVID-19 Responses, and More
Data Is Plural is a weekly newsletter of useful/curious datasets. This edition, dated May 18, 2022, has been republished with permission of the author.Religion and government. To compile the Government Religious Preference dataset, researchers scrutinized pri…
Mark As Read: Apple Privacy Push, Euro Bills, India Debate
This week:Facebook predicts billions in revenue losses due to Apple’s privacy pushHow sincere is Apple about privacy? Nikhil Vemu took a look at what Steve Jobs had to say about it in 2010, what got him all riled up in the first place, and how the Apple co-fo…
Facebook Promised to Remove “Sensitive” Ads. Here’s What It Left Behind
Facebook Promised to Remove “Sensitive” Ads. Here’s What It Left BehindFacebook pledged to remove race, health conditions, and political affiliation from ad-targeting options, but The Markup found advertisers can still easily target the same peopleLate last y…
Lawmakers Question U.S. ED About FAFSA Tracking After Markup Investigation
Two lawmakers are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Education after an investigation by The Markup found online student aid applicants were unwittingly sharing detailed personal information with Facebook through code embedded on a government websi…
Data Is Plural: Orphan Drugs, Tornadoes, and More
Orphan Drugs, LGBTQI+ Elected Officials, Tornadoes … and MoreBy Jeremy Singer-VineDrugs for rare diseases. The U.S. Orphan Drug Act of 1983 provided incentives for pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments for rare diseases. The Food and Drug Administrat…
Gas Prices Are High—Does the Popular App Upside Save Money?
Gas Prices Are High—Does the Popular App Upside Save Money?Turns out, it depends on who you areWith gas prices skyrocketing, the search for savings has become increasingly urgent. Apps that save you money on gas may offer some help, but how much help—and for …
Applied for Student Aid Online? Facebook Saw You
For millions of prospective college students, applying online for federal financial aid has also meant sharing personal data with Facebook, unbeknownst to them or their parents, The Markup has learned. This information has included first and last names, email…
Why Is My Internet So Slow?
Why Is My Internet So Slow?Small tubes good, big tubes betterWe’ve all been there: very politely asking the internet for a video of a cat engaging in some wacky antics. And then … the internet pauses, seeming to consider the request. What’s the problem here? …
More than 50 U.S. gig workers murdered on the job in five years
When the St. Louis police arrived on the scene last April, Lyft driver Elijah Newman was already dead. Officers found him in the driver’s seat of his car with a gunshot wound to his torso. In a probable cause statement provided to The Markup by the Circuit At…
Regulators Questioned Life360 Data Practices After Markup Story
In its 2021 Annual Report published on Tuesday, the family safety app Life360 disclosed to investors that it has been approached by unnamed U.S. regulators seeking information about its data protection practices. The company cited The Markup’s investigation i…
Can Chatrooms Replace Courtrooms?
Can Chatrooms Replace Courtrooms?Online dispute resolution systems have many problems, but supporters believe they are better than costly, slow courtsDriven to cyberspace by the pandemic, courts across the country purchased chatroom-like tools designed to hel…
Lawsuit Highlights How Little Control Brokers Have Over Location Data
Lawsuit Highlights How Little Control Brokers Have Over Location DataThe case suggests this loosely regulated industry can’t deliver on its promises of privacyThe controversial location data broker X-Mode boasts about collecting information on the whereabouts…
Payday Lenders Big Winners in Utah’s Chatroom Justice Program
Payday Lenders Are Big Winners in Utah’s Chatroom Justice ProgramThe state’s new online system for small claims cases was meant to help residents; instead they sufferedSamantha Thompson is among the many people who struggled financially during the COVID-19 pa…
House Antitrust Committee Accuses Amazon of Lying to Congress
The House of Representatives’ antitrust subcommittee on Wednesday accused Amazon of lying to Congress about how it treats third-party sellers, including whether it preferences its own brands and exclusive products in search results, citing an investigation by…
Washington State Passes Bill Preventing Uber and Lift from Employee Classification
This week, the Washington State legislature became the first in the nation to pass legislation that ensures Uber and Lyft drivers are not considered employees. The bill, HB2076, is part of a nationwide struggle between the gig companies and labor advocates ov…