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☆ What internet data brokers have on you — and how you can start to get it back
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Barbara Booth | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

Inside data brokers' massive vaultCybersecurity experts estimate that data brokers collect an average of 1,000 data points on each individual with an online presence. Little oversight around data privacyThe lack of comprehensive regulation around data privacy allows data brokers to operate with little oversight, unlike the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. Opt-out links and instructions are readily available for most of the major data brokers: ExperianTransUnionLexisNexisEpsilon But data privacy experts says reclaiming or deleting your data from brokers can be a deliberately complex process that is not only time-consuming but frustrating. "With AI, data brokers will create even more detailed and predictive profiles, incorporating everything from biometric data to behavioral tracking," Abed said. Until regulation steps in, data brokers will continue to collect as much data as possible.

Persons: Pew, Arjun Bhatnagar, Roger Grimes, Jeff Chester, Chester, I'm, Bruno Kurtic, Chris Henderson, Chelsea Magnant, Rob Hughes, Kurtic, Cloaked's Bhatnagar, Henderson, Javad Abed, Abed Organizations: Pew Research, Social, LexisNexis, Epsilon, OneRep, Center for Digital Democracy, D.C, Bedrock Security, National Security Agency, CNBC, Data Protection, European Union, NYU's Center for Global Affairs, Brunswick, RSA, U.S, Consumers, Consumer, Engage, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Locations: Washington, California, U.S, Chester

☆ Teens are feeling pressured and burned out. Here’s how to help
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-10 | by ( Kara Alaimo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some 81% of teens ages 13 through 17 feel pressure that leaves them feeling badly about their game plans, achievements, appearances, social lives, friendships and/or how informed they are about issues, the survey found. Social media makes the pressure worse for most teens, but some said social media can also help lessen it. The survey, which was conducted in fall 2023, found that 27% of teens said they were burned out. (The survey of 1,545 teens ages 13 to 17 had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.) How adults pressure kids“Adults — parents, teachers, coaches — are clearly contributing to some of the negative pressures teens feel, even if we don’t mean to,” Weinstein said.

Persons: Kara Alaimo, —, ”, Emily Weinstein, ” Weinstein, Jennifer Breheny Wallace, it’s, Wallace, ” Melissa Greenberg, ’ ” Greenberg, ” Wallace, Greenberg, “, ” Greenberg, don’t, It’s Organizations: Fairleigh Dickinson University, Women, Press, Facebook, CNN, Harvard Graduate School, Education’s Center for Digital, Indiana University, Social, Center for Digital, Gallup, Walton Family Foundation, Princeton Psychotherapy Center

☆ Elon Musk’s X app ran ads on #whitepower and other hateful hashtags
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( David Ingram | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

X bans the promotion or glorification of violence and has previously applied the policy to racist and antisemitic content. Before Wednesday, X appeared to have blocked at least three antisemitic hashtags, according to searches of the platform. After NBC News contacted X about the hashtags, 12 of 50 hashtags appeared to be blocked. Of the 50 reviewed hashtags, searches on X for 45 of them returned recent racist or antisemitic posts. On TikTok, 10 of the 50 hashtags returned racist or antisemitic posts, with the rest either blocked or producing other content.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tesla, Elon, Musk, X, hashtags, Adolf Hitler, Anika Collier Navaroli, TikTok, Instagram, Meta, Darren Linvill, Linvill, Megan Squire, it's Organizations: SpaceX, X Holdings Corp, Milken Institute's Global, Beverly Hilton Hotel, NBC News, Twitter, NBC, Tow Center, Digital Journalism, Columbia University, Musk, Disney, Hyundai, Social, Tech, Meta, Clemson University's, Hitler, Nazi, Southern Poverty Law Center Locations: Beverly Hills , California, Europe

☆ Kids aren’t safe on social media, lawmakers say. Tech CEOs are back in DC this week to pledge (again) that they’ll handle it
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Brian Fung | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Until now, the social platforms have largely had the same response: We’ll help teens and families make smart decisions themselves. But now, with growing claims that social media can hurt young users, including worries that it risks driving them to depression or even suicide, online safety advocates say that response falls far short. This month Meta announced a proposed blueprint for federal legislation calling for app stores, not social media companies, to verify users’ ages and enforce an age minimum. Safety action beyond CongressAs efforts to rein in tech platforms have ground to a standstill on Capitol Hill, much of the momentum for regulating social media has picked up outside the halls of Congress. Elsewhere, state-backed and consumer lawsuits against the companies are ramping up pressure to regulate tech platforms as the litigation reveals more about their inner workings.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Linda Yaccarino, Evan Spiegel, Jason Citron, ”, Jeff Chester, TikTok, ’, Meta, ’ Instagram, Frances Haugen, Josh Golin, Zamaan Qureshi, Qureshi, Elon Musk, X, ” Golin Organizations: CNN, —, Center for Digital Democracy, Meta, Center, ” Locations: —, Arkansas , Louisiana , Ohio , Utah, Austin , Texas

☆ OpenAI ditched the only 2 women on its board. So far, it's replacing them with men.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

OpenAI announced a new male-dominated board after Sam Altman won the battle to return as CEO. 'Please, more representation and balance'The departure of Toner and McCauley has put the makeup of OpenAI's new board in the spotlight. Emily Bell, a founding director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, wrote in a post on X : "OpenAI fires women on the board — board chair who oversaw fuck up stays." Tom Williams/Getty ImagesOne of OpenAI's main rivals also weighed in on the lack of diversity on the new board. Within the private sector, research from Crunchbase in 2022 showed that women held 16% of board seats among more than 660 companies they analyzed.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Adam D'Angelo, —, Sam Altman's, Bret Taylor —, Larry Summers, D'Angelo, Ilya Sutskever, Altman, Toner, McCauley, Emily Bell, Summers, Jeffrey Epstein, Bell, Tom Williams, Bret, Taylor, Emad Mostaque, Vinod Khosla, OpenAI's, Angela Hoover, Andi Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Tow Center, Digital Journalism, Deloitte, Alliance for Board Diversity, Fortune, New York Times Locations: Crunchbase, San Francisco

☆ Coinbase wins key regulatory approval to offer crypto futures in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Coinbase has won a crucial regulatory approval that will allow the platform to provide US-based investors access to the crypto derivatives market. The approval comes from the National Futures Association, a self-regulatory body designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, nearly two years after Coinbase applied to register as a futures merchant. Crypto derivatives make up more than 75% of all global crypto trades, but such products had been off-limits for investors in the United States, in part because of their complexity and high levels of risk. “This is a significant milestone for bringing federal regulatory oversight over the crypto markets,” said Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer. “Offering US investors access to secure and regulated crypto futures is key to unlocking growth and enabling broader participation in the cryptoeconomy,” said Andrew Sears, the CEO of Coinbase Financial Markets.

Persons: New York CNN — Coinbase, Coinbase, ”, Faryar Shirzad, Andrew Sears Organizations: New, New York CNN, National Futures Association, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, NFA, Securities and Exchange Commission, Binance, Coinbase Locations: New York, United States

Overall, an FDA spokesperson says that “trial participants should reflect the population that is likely to use the product if FDA-approved. Across a group of 10 novel cancer therapies approved by the FDA in 2022, data shows the share of Black participants in key clinical trials ranged from zero to 8%. “Access to clinical trials at the sites where patients are living is an important factor to changing the landscape,” Perez says. “There’s been some novel ways to recruit patients, like using the church and using barbershops to recruit Black patients,” Cho says. Haddad says a number of Mayo patients were receiving experimental therapies through clinical trials when the pandemic began.

Persons: ”, Leslie Cho, Robert, Suzanne Tomsich, it’s, Edith Perez, Bolt Biotherapeutics, ” Perez, Eli Lilly, “, Lilly “, they’ll, Craig Lipset, ” Lipset, ” Cho, “ There’s, Dr, Tufia Haddad, Haddad, Mayo, Jennifer Dahne, Larry Hawk, Hawk Organizations: Women’s Cardiovascular, Cleveland Clinic, of Cardiovascular Medicine, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, FDA, “, Health, Committee, Cancer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Centers for Disease Control, Research Alliance, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Care, Mayo’s Center for Digital Health, College of Medicine, Medical University of South, of Psychology, University, Buffalo, SUNY, JAMA Locations: U.S, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Los Angeles County, Alaska, “, Medical University of South Carolina

☆ Graphic images of Texas mall shooting spread on Twitter, rekindling debate on how much to share
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Within hours of the mass shooting on Saturday at a Texas outlet mall, some Twitter users shared gruesome pictures of bloodied bodies, purportedly from the crime scene. The apparent spread of these images has revived scrutiny around how social media platforms handle graphic content from mass shootings. There have been 202 mass shootings in the US within the first five months of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, compared to 647 mass shootings in 2022. The nonprofit and CNN define mass shootings as those in which four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter. But in a tweet Saturday night, Spainhouer slammed a photo from the mall being shared on social media.

☆ Texas mall shooting prompts Biden to renew call for gun control
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Maria Caspani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Reuters TVMay 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday called on Congress to pass gun control bills in the wake of yet another mass shooting that left nine people dead, including the gunman, at a Texas mall on Saturday. The gunman killed eight people, including children, and wounded at least seven, before a police officer killed him, police said on Saturday. Some Twitter users said people and politicians needed to see videos like this one to grasp the magnitude and horrific nature of gun violence. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats stressed the need to pass stronger gun safety legislation to curtail gun violence. One unidentified eyewitness told local ABC affiliate WFAA TV that the gunman was "walking down the sidewalk just ... shooting his gun outside."

It will pay a record penalty of $275 million for violating a children's privacy law and adopt strong default privacy settings for young people. Epic Games will also pay $245 million to refund consumers duped by so-called "dark patterns" into making purchases they did not intend to make, the FTC said. "Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children," said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a statement. The Epic Games logo, maker of the popular video game "Fortnite", is pictured on a screen in this picture illustration August 14, 2020. Children's privacy advocates were pleased with the settlement, with Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy saying that "kids should also have their data privacy rights better respected through this enforcement of the federal kids data privacy law (COPPA)."

☆ "Fortnite" maker Epic Games to settle alleged privacy violation for $520 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 19 (Reuters) - "Fortnite" creator Epic Games will pay $520 million to settle allegations that it illegally collected children's personal information and tricked people into making purchases, the Federal Trade Commission and the company said on Monday. It will pay a record penalty of $275 million for violating the children's privacy law and adopt strong default privacy settings for young people. Epic Games will also pay $245 million to refund consumers duped by so-called "dark patterns" into making purchases they did not intend to make, the FTC said. "Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children," said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a statement. The FTC said that Epic employees had expressed concern about the company's default settings in place for children, saying that people should be required to opt in for voice chat.

☆ Twitter is the world’s digital public square. What happens if it dies?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

It is much more than simply a social media website. World leaders use Twitter to communicate, journalists use Twitter to newsgather, dissidents in repressive countries use Twitter to organize, celebrities and major brands use Twitter to make important announcements, and the public uses Twitter to often monitor all of it in real-time. “Twitter vs not Twitter isn’t a simple binary, particularly not for news journalism. And, of course, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others are options. A US senator, for instance, expressed to CNN Thursday night — via Twitter direct messages — that they would miss the platform.

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