Recently released studies show that people are unaware that their Facebook news feed is being filtered by the social network. Facebook uses an algorithm that looks at what videos people watch, what content they click on, and who they interact with through “likes” and “comments”, and, using that information, the algorithm filters new content to …

An “emerging contaminant” is an under-researched chemical byproduct, often from industrial processes, which has no regulatory health standards for exposure or release. Emerging contaminants such as complex, unnatural chemicals generated by modern industry are concerning because they may have long-term adverse impacts on human intelligence, reproduction, behavior, and the endocrine system’s regulation of hormones in …

Water wars, long predicted to occur in California may finally be materializing. The decade’s long drought, which culminated in mandatory water restrictions on users is being taken as an indication that resources will continue to be strained in the near future. The wars are first being fought within the legislature, as restrictions on water are …

Satoshi Nakamoto is most widely known as the alleged creator of Bitcoin, the world’s first functioning cryptocurrency. For BitCoin to work, Nakamoto had to invent Blockchain, which may prove more impactful on society than cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology functions as a “decentralized, online ledger maintained by computer networks” which verifies and records “transactions, then distribute[s] the …

Biospecimens are “samples of material, such as urine, blood, tissue, cells, DNA, RNA, and protein from humans, animals, or plants.” Biospecimens are often samples from people used in clinical research and laboratory studies to further advance the field of medicine. Biospecimens contain molecules that can be analyzed for indications of diseases. Biospecimens may confirm whether …

Plaintiffs in a class action data breach lawsuit brought against Yahoo! Inc. have survived the defendant’s motions to dismiss various claims after an order was entered by Judge Lucy Koh on Friday, March 9 in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. While Judge Koh did dismiss some of the claims in the lawsuit, she …

March 2, 2018 the European Union (EU) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia deviated with respect to their respective geoblocking policy. Geoblocking is a method companies and websites use to ensure that only users in a specific geographic location are able to access a certain site or service. This is …

France’s competition agency, Autorité de la concurrence, reached a preliminary probe into online advertising with findings focused on Facebook and Google’s market dominance on March 6, 2018, setting up the possibility for more thorough antitrust investigations. According to the agency, Facebook and Google’s market power has yielded a “fragile” equilibrium in the online advertising sphere where stakeholders must …

Well-known telecom giant AT&T has spent years attempting to evade repercussions stemming from their practice of “throttling back” data speeds for consumers paying for unlimited data plans. Sued back in 2014 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), AT&T claimed that the FTC lacked jurisdiction over common carriers after claims arose that it had dialed back …

Ransomware is aptly named, albeit possibly lacking in creativity. It is a method for cybercriminals to hold their victims’ data for ransom using software. The victim’s data is not stolen, it is simply encrypted so the victim can no longer access it until they have provided payment and received the decryption key. Ransomware is typically …