It's no secret that algorithms power much of the technology we interact with every day, whether it's to search for information on Google or to browse through a Facebook news feed. What's less widely known is that algorithms also play a role when we apply for a loan, for example, or receive a special marketing offer.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's new chief technologist is high-profile digital privacy consultant Ashkan Soltani, a move that signals the agency's growing interest in policing online tracking and other Internet privacy issues.
The recently revealed mass collection of phone records and other communications by the U.S. National Security Agency may not be effective in preventing terrorism, according to some critics.
Web and mobile device users have little understanding about how much of their personal data is collected online, making it difficult to rely on free-market competition for solutions to privacy concerns, privacy experts told the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Thursday.
Representatives of Apple and Google denied that they are collecting the personal information of owners of smartphones running their operating systems, but a U.S. senator questioned whether those denials were accurate during a hearing Tuesday.