Author: The Conversation

The Trump administration’s move to ban the popular video app TikTok has stoked fears about the Chinese government collecting personal information of people who use the app. These fears underscore growing concerns Americans have about digital privacy generally. Debates around privacy might seem simple: Something is private or it’s not. However, the technology that provides digital privacy is anything but simple. Our data privacy research shows that people’s hesitancy to share their data stems in part from not knowing who would have access to it and how organizations that collect data keep it private. We’ve also found that when people are aware of data…

From the mid-2000s onwards, the digital revolution raised hopes of democratic transformation and strengthening in Africa. But it hasn’t quite turned out like that. Now, almost a decade after the “Arab Spring”, techno-optimism has given way to techno-pessimism. African leaders have proved able to blunt the transformative potential of smart phones through censorship and internet shutdowns. When the internet is on, social media attracts more attention for spreading fake news than preventing election rigging. What was once thought of as “liberation technology” has turned out to be remarkably compatible with the maintenance of the status quo. Or has it? Does this more pessimistic reading…

As COVID-19 continues to force many schools to operate remotely, cities throughout the nation are stepping up to provide free internet service to public school students from families of lesser means. Washington, D.C., plans to provide free internet access to K-12 students in 25,000 low-income households for the 2020-2021 school year. In Philadelphia, any family with a public school student lacking internet service can get it free through June of 2022. In Chicago, a similar effort will provide free high-speed internet service to 100,000 public school students over the next four years. Since research consistently shows that students with internet access tend to do better academically than those without, the…

Discussion of online misinformation in politics and public health often focuses on the role of bots, organised disinformation campaigns and “fake news”. A closer look at what typical users see and engage with about vaccines reveals that for most Twitter users, bots and anti-vaccine content make up a tiny proportion of their information diet. Having studied how vaccine information spreads on social media for several years, I think we should refocus our efforts on helping the consumers of misinformation rather than blaming the producers. The key to dealing with misinformation is to understand what makes it important in the communities…

Children are increasingly being exposed to, and using, technology from a very young age. This has never been more true than in 2020 when the vast majority of children worldwide have used online resources to access educational resources and communicate with family and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the resources and websites used, along with the devices they are accessed on, require the use of a password to authenticate the user. However, young children don’t necessarily have the skills and knowledge required to use and maintain these passwords appropriately. They are likely to use weak, predictable passwords and tell…

Addresses provide people with a social status: a sense of identity and being recognised as a proper citizen. They are needed for the provision of postal and utility services; billing; disaster relief; emergency response; opening bank accounts – or just visiting friends. During a pandemic like COVID-19, addresses are also vital for mapping cases. Through addresses, authorities can find out where the infected and potentially affected live. They can identify emerging infection clusters, target responses and trace contacts. Many non-pharmaceutical interventions can only be successfully implemented if health authorities know where the most vulnerable people live and which geographical clusters…

California recently announced that it plans to ban the sales of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, Ontario has invested $500 million in the production of electric vehicles (EVs) and Tesla is quickly becoming the world’s highest-valued car company. It almost seems like focusing on electric cars is a silver bullet in the fight against climate change, but it isn’t. What we should also be focused on is whether anyone should use a private vehicle at all. As a researcher in sustainable mobility, I know this answer is unsatisfying. But this is where my latest research has led. Battery EVs, such as the Tesla Model 3 —…

Disney has announced a significant restructuring of its media and entertainment business, boldly placing most of its growth ambitions and investments into its recently launched streaming service, Disney+. The 97-year-old media conglomerate is now more like Netflix than ever before. What this means is that Disney will be reducing its focus from (and potentially the investments routed to) theme parks, cruises, cinema releases and cable TV. As CEO Bob Chapek said: Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value. This…

Have you ever used Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri or Amazon Alexa to make decisions for you? Perhaps you asked it what new movies have good reviews, or to recommend a cool restaurant in your neighbourhood. Artificial intelligence and virtual assistants are constantly being refined, and may soon be making appointments for you, offering medical advice, or trying to sell you a bottle of wine. Although AI technology has miles to go to develop social skills on par with ours, some AI has shown impressive language understanding and can complete relatively complex interactive tasks. In several 2018 demonstrations, Google’s AI made haircut and restaurant…

Virtual reality (VR) has the power to take us out of our surroundings and transport us to far-off lands. From a quick round of golf, to fighting monsters or going for a skydive, all of this can be achieved from the comfort of your home. But it’s not just gamers who love VR and see its potential. VR is used a lot in psychology research to investigate areas such as social anxiety, moral decision-making and emotional responses. And in our new research we used VR to explore how people respond emotionally to a potential threat. We knew from earlier work that being high up in VR provokes strong feelings…