Modernization

New App Uses QR Codes to Trace Coronavirus Exposure

A free, open-source smartphone app permits contact tracing for potential coronavirus infections while preserving privacy.

Ideas

Crashing the Party: Beware the Cyber Risks of Virtual Meet-up Apps Like Houseparty

The app’s booming popularity come with a growing number of questions about how safe and secure these kinds of apps really are.

Emerging Tech

Wi-Fi Peeks into Buildings to Check Social Distancing

Mapping the Wi-Fi strength of mobile devices can reveal how people move and gather.

Ideas

Why Singapore's Coronavirus Response Worked—and What We Can All Learn

The first thing that helped with its response was it was ready before the outbreak even occurred.

Policy

Trump Relaxes Patient Data Rules to Allow Doctors to Use Personal Phones for Telehealth

The administration broadened telehealth coverage to all Medicare beneficiaries and eased HIPAA regulations for the duration of the pandemic emergency.

Modernization

New Federal Rules Will Pave the Way for Electronic Health Records on Smartphones

Officials said it’s part of a push to give Americans more control over their personal data. 

Cybersecurity

3 Essential Steps to Help Ensure Data Protection in the Mobile Workforce

Federal agencies can protect their most valuable assets by taking security measures at multiple touchpoints.

Cybersecurity

West Virginia Scraps Voatz Mobile Voting App

The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office announced it would use a different electronic absentee voting technology after researchers raised security concerns with the previous voting app it had used.

Policy

House Bill Wants to Curb Foreign Robocallers Targeting Americans

The legislation would create a task force to crack down on malicious calls that originate outside the U.S.

Ideas

'Surfing Attacks' Could Let Hackers Read Your Texts

“We want to raise awareness of such a threat,” says Ning Zhang, assistant professor at the Washington University in St. Louis.

Modernization

App Tells You Who's Collecting Your Data and Why

Find out what internet of things devices around you may be tracking you.

Modernization

GAO Launches Upgraded, Mobile-Friendly Website

Agency officials hope it’ll increase users’ access to the watchdog’s work.

Ideas

Longer Thumbs Lead to More Smartphone Touch Errors

It's not your big, dumb thumbs, it's your long, dumb thumbs.

Ideas

Charging Your Phone Using a Public USB Port? Beware of 'Juice Jacking.'

Those in need of a battery boost need to keep some security tips in mind.

Artificial Intelligence

Report: Federal Agencies Must Be 'Better Connected, More Collaborative'

Agencies need to work together and with the private sector to improve how they manage IT systems, data and their workforces, researchers say.  

Cybersecurity

Iowa’s Lesson: Political Parties Are Not as Good as Government Officials at Counting Votes

Most primaries are run by state and local governments. But caucuses are different—and Iowa shows how that can be a problem.