Privacy
Social Security Numbers Aren’t Secure: What Should We Use Instead?
The answer is not as simple as replacing each nine-digit number with a longer one
Privacy45 articles archived since 1845
Privacy
How Facebook Hinders Misinformation Research
The platform strictly limits and controls data access, which stymies scientists
Privacy
New Encryption Technique Better Protects Photographs in the Cloud
Users can display images as usual, but neither attackers nor tech platforms can see them
Ethics
The FDA Should Remove Its Restrictions on the ‘Abortion Pill’ Mifepristone
The science is clear: abortion by medication is safe and effective
Privacy
What is Pegasus? How Surveillance Spyware Invades Phones
A cybersecurity expert explains the NSO Group’s stealthy software
Computing
What the Capitol Riot Data Download Shows about Social Media Vulnerabilities
A massive amount of information downloaded from Parler includes potentially incriminating material. But innocuous posts on mainstream platforms can also create vulnerabilities
Computing
Giant U.S. Computer Security Breach Exploited Very Common Software
A cybersecurity expert explains how hackers used SolarWinds to steal information from government and industry organizations
Public Health
How to Fix COVID Contact Tracing
Apps and human tracers both have pros and cons. To be effective, they have to work together
Behavior
Don’t Feel Guilty about Your Online Security Habits
Most of the finger-wagging advice you hear is based on little or no evidence
Quantum Computing
Physicists Create City-Sized Ultrasecure Quantum Network
Capable of connecting eight or more users across distances of 17 kilometers, the demonstration is another milestone toward developing a fully quantum Internet
Policy
Who Wants to Be a Cyborg?
Philosopher Susan Schneider weighs the pros and cons of radical technological enhancement
Computing
The Encryption Wars Are Back but in Disguise
A government push for access is ostensibly about fighting crime, terrorism and child porn. Yet it could put all of us at risk of unwarranted surveillance
Behavior
It Shouldn’t Be Taboo to Publish Images of Those Killed by Violence
Sometimes the need to bear witness outweighs the need for privacy
Computing
A Shiny Snack Bag’s Reflections Can Reconstruct the Room around It
Researchers used the light reflecting off the wrapper to build an image of its surroundings
Biotech
Footstep Sensors Identify People by Gait
A supersensitive detector system can also glean clues about health
Computing
Can AI Fix Electronic Medical Records?
Digitization of patient charts was supposed to revolutionize medical practice. Artificial intelligence could help unlock its potential
Policy
Truly Secure Voting Is on the Way
Unfortunately, it won’t be here by 2020
Computing
This Video Watches You Back
Stealing Ur Feelings sounds an alarm about how companies could use emotion-recognition technology
Quantum Computing
New Encryption System Protects Data from Quantum Computers
As quantum computing creeps closer, IBM successfully demonstrates a way to secure sensitive information
Computing
Your Employer May Be Spying on You—and Wasting Its Time
New technologies help companies monitor their workers’ every move. But do those data tell them anything useful?
