Modernization
How Long Can Border Agents Keep Your Email Password?
Some data gathered from travelers going through customs can stay in a Homeland Security database for 75 years.
Digital Government
A Bot That Identifies 'Toxic' Comments Online
A Google-funded algorithm flags messages that are likely to drive others away from a conversation.
Digital Government
Why Some Apps Use Fake Progress Bars
Designers use “benevolent deception” to trick users into trusting the system.
Digital Government
The Risks of Sending Secret Messages in the White House
Communication apps with disappearing text could run afoul of presidential records laws—and might not be as secure as they seem.
Digital Government
A NASA Engineer Was Required to Unlock his Phone at the Border
A U.S.-born scientist was detained at the Houston airport until he gave customs agents the passcode to his work-issued device.
Digital Government
'Give Us Your Passwords'
What happens if border agents are allowed to demand access to your phone and online accounts—and turn you away if you don’t comply?
Digital Government
Mapping Countries That Censor the Internet
A new app can test networks around the world for government interference.
Cybersecurity
Your Browsing History Alone Can Give Away Your Identity
Researchers have found a way to connect the dots between people’s private online activity and their Twitter accounts—even for people who have never tweeted.
Digital Government
How Trump’s Immigration Rules Will Hurt the U.S. Tech Sector
Instead of beelining for Silicon Valley, the top minds from countries like Iran may start heading to Canada, Europe, or Asia instead.
Artificial Intelligence
The Demon Voice That Can Control Your Smartphone
Researchers have created creepy sounds unintelligible to humans but still capable of talking to phones’ digital assistants.
Digital Government
Why Is Obama Expanding Surveillance Powers Right Before He Leaves Office?
It could be to prevent Trump from extending them even more.
Cybersecurity
Trump’s Cyber-Appeasement Policy Might Encourage More Hacks
Casting doubt on security experts’ ability to identify the culprits behind cyberattacks could make it hard to deter the next one.
Cybersecurity
This is the Hacking Investigation Trump Wants Instead
The president-elect seems more interested in how results of Obama’s probe into Russia’s election-related hacking were leaked to the press than in the intelligence itself.
Digital Government
Why Bosses Can Track Their Employees 24/7
In many states, employers aren’t barred from monitoring workers’ locations after hours or without their consent.
Cybersecurity
Don't Read Too Much Into Vermont Hack Debacle
A botched article about an attack on the power grid was bad reporting—but it doesn't mean attributing cyberattacks is impossible
Digital Government
Obama Just Made It Harder for Trump to Create a Muslim Registry
The government is dismantling a dormant program used to track people from Muslim-majority countries.
Cybersecurity
Will Obama Order American Hackers to Dox Putin?
Cyberwar is so new, it's hard to know what a proportional response looks like.
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