News
Researchers from the University of Michigan are concerned about health privacy as tech and health become more intertwined. A study found that 19 of 24 prominent health apps were sharing user data.
Study after study shows that tax incentives don't pay off in real economic gains and often fail to produce the jobs that were promised. When managed correctly, however, they can build on local strengths.
Warren Buffet said regarding his decision to finally get rid of his old flip phone and begin using a smartphone, an iPhone specifically. (Business Insider — February 24, 2020)
The number of days the average public transportation commuter will spend each year sitting on a bus or train (over 400 hours). A report analyzed 30 U.S. metropolitan areas across the nation and found that Boston, Mass., had the best transit system.
A Tesla crashed while Autopilot was engaged, but Tesla won’t release the car’s data that is stored in it’s cloud. Turns out, no current laws give car owners the right to access operational, safety data.
Cities, especially in California, have to weigh the pros and cons of ride-hailing apps, like Uber and Lyft. Some are thinking that it’s time to change the rules, but they aren’t sure what new regulations would look like.
Stafford County hopes to install smart energy, lighting, water, and housing to become a smart community, the first of many. “Our goal is to make Stafford a model community for all of Virginia.”
This 2020 voting system will only be the third modernization of Los Angeles County’s voting system since 1968. Officials just hope that the many changes don’t scare off the county’s 5.5 million voters.
Lydia Mihalik is a fierce team leader and has a passion for improving the lives of others, two qualities that have suited her perfectly for Ohio’s public service as director of the Development Services Agency.
It's being used in increasingly powerful ways to enhance communications in hundreds of communities, helping to create trust, facilitate transparency, address residents' concerns and solve problems.
Elon Musk tweeted on Feb. 17 in response to a new MIT Technology Review report of OpenAI. When asked if AI should be regulated “By individual governments or on a global scale, eg UN,” Musk replied simply: “Both.” (TechCrunch, Twitter — February 18, 2020)
Roughly half of Gen Z Republicans say they think the government should be doing more to solve problems, compared with 38 percent of millennial Republicans and 29 percent of Gen Xers.
The State of the City address outlined plans to become a smart city, including 5G and mobile parking apps. But the mayor didn’t discuss how they’d replenish city funds after these upgrades, and some are concerned.
A group has proposed an amendment to the state constitution, requesting that lawmakers have a limit of 16 years in the state legislature. The proposal still has several steps before getting on a November ballot.
The state of Oregon has already banned police from using body cameras with facial recognition, but the city wants to take the ban further. “We felt a moral obligation to develop a broader approach.”
About one quarter of all Lousianans don’t have any available Internet provider, which impacts business success and growth. State and fed officials are stepping in with hopes to have the entire state connected by 2029.
After California residents couldn’t call 911 during wildfires, four Congress members proposed a bill that would require the Federal Communications Commission to provide more information on telecom network outages.
Plus, Kentucky officials report regular scans of their election systems by foreign adversaries; surveillance becomes normalized thanks to the growing popularity of doorbell cameras; and more.
Four years ago, Oakland established an advisory commission to look at city policies through a privacy lens. Today, it remains the only body with such a wide scope and may become a model as the use of tech grows.
Twitter user Sgt. Steve Koopman tweeted about the new, virtually unreadable license plates that are now being distributed in the Canadian Province of Ontario, the design of which critics compare unfavorably to Q-tip boxes. (NPR — February 18, 2020)
The number of records that have been exposed over the past two years due to cloud misconfigurations, which have cost nearly $5 trillion. Forty-one percent of the total breaches were of tech companies, while government agencies made up 10 percent.
An audit released Wednesday revealed that 19 state agencies have significant IT weaknesses and no significant progress has been made to amend the situation. “It’s a very serious situation.”
In response to a study last year that found facial recognition programs disproportionately misidentified minority groups, legislation was proposed to ban the technology’s use by local and state government.
Last year, state lawmakers decided to increase voting access and the law that’s implemented for this year’s election has changed several rules all at once, which for some election officials “is very overwhelming.”
Never before have policymakers faced such daunting questions on regulating and legislating the growing impact of digital technology. We pick the most important issues they will grapple with this year.
Firefighters face an array of obstacles as they relay information in inhospitable situations. But a high-tech vest made from carbon atoms called graphene may be the answer to a serious voice and data transmission problem.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said regarding the Connecticut Port Authority’s redevelopment plan that will turn State Pier in New London into a test site for offshore wind power. The plan will cost $157 million and is expected to begin construction in 2021. (The Day — February 11, 2020)
The proportion of Georgia counties that have joined the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing Analysis Center, EI-ISAC, which is a division of the Center for Internet Security. According to Secretary of State Raffensperger, Georgia is the first state with more than 100 counties to join this team. “Election security is the first goal for me and for our local partners, the counties that actually run elections in Georgia.”
An Iowa senator proposed a “right to be forgotten” bill that would allow users to hide “content of minimal value” from public access. The bill’s sponsor hopes to provide online recourse “to take down or revise or correct content.”
North Carolina State University was awarded the money from the U.S. Department of Labor as part of an Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap grant program. This is one of 28 programs the department hopes to establish.
Most Read
