A million appeals for justice, and 14 reversals. That’s the scorecard from the Facebook Oversight Board’s first annual report, released this week. The creative project has plenty going for it, and I think some future oversight board can benefit greatly from the experience of this experiment, launched by Facebook parent [Keep reading]
A class-action lawsuit claims Zelle consumers hit by fraud are up against a “secret” bank policy to deny consumer dispute rights, even when the victimized account holders are entitled to Regulation E protections. Given the details shared in a New York Times story published today, and the pile of examples [Keep reading]
How many sugars do you want with that coffee? And how much surveillance? If you were “cheating” on your favorite coffee shop with a different one, would you mind if an app told on you? Earlier this month, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner found that the Tim Hortons chain violated the law [Keep reading]
Alexis Conran is a rare combination of smart, suave, mysterious and … good-hearted. He’s the star of an international hit TV show called The Real Hustle, aired first on the BBC. A professional magician, Alexis and his band of “criminals” perform scams on unsuspecting consumers in the show — all [Keep reading]
If you are a victim of Zelle fraud, I finally have some good news for you. Two U.S. senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), are now demanding answers from the instant payment tool. A bright light is finally shining on the terrible crimes that Zelle and its banking partners have enabled. [Keep reading]
INTRODUCTION The dot-com bubble. It’s hard to put into words how crazy, outlandish, extravagant, and optimistic the dot com bubble was. When I landed in the middle of it as a Microsoft intern in the mid-90s, the first company party I went to — Microsoft rented out a mountain. [Keep reading]
Even Big Tech companies understand they wield too much power. Facebook’s attempt to create an Oversight Board is a nod to this reality. In practice, it also demonstrates why this problem is so challenging. And how an effort to bring sense to the 2020 presidential election ended up as a [Keep reading]
This isn’t the first time the American Way has been threatened by an industry with too much power and influence. What has been done in the past to rebalance the scales? We talk with a field of experts to learn what can be borrowed from the epic struggles of the [Keep reading]
Big Tech makes big decisions over our lives: What products we see, how we feel about world events, what to censor — to some degree, even what medical decisions we make. Yet who controls Big Tech? The firms are so powerful and rich they really act as judge and jury [Keep reading]
“There’s a pretty good possibility if you go down to Florida, that you’re not coming back alive.” Every day, millions of people go online looking for roommates, or concert tickets, or a date, or a cheap vacation. Most are keenly aware that there’s a chance they’ll encounter criminals and scams [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan