Two pieces caught my attention this week: one sets up the core problem of Facebook in society today. The other sets out a (surprisingly) simple and well-thought-out way to solve it. I wrote about it on Working Paper in more detail, and started a discussion of what it might mean for news organizations, too.
While the two authors didn’t intend to speak to one another directly, they are a part of the same conversation.
Ian Bogost reviews the history of consumer data brokerage, and how we got to the modern advertising system. He describes the core problem today (accurately, in my view), that:
“The real difference between the old and the new ages of data-intelligence-driven consumer marketing, and the invasion of privacy they entail, is that lots of people are finally aware that it is taking place.”
In a fit of link-clicking on Lawfare I ended up at a 2016 Atlantic article by Jack Balkin and Jonathan Zittrain, arguing that a simple legal mechanism to regulate tech companies might be the idea of “information fiduciaries,” or companies that are shielded from some liability if they agree to act in our interest.
Historical context for our problem and an elegant update to a historical idea for the solution.
Nice.
Hope you had a great weekend,
Andrew
P.S. Media Mail worked — the library arrived.
Media
- Universities are producing investigative journalism, not just teaching it. That’s a good thing.
- As I’ve long argued, we should care much more about the outcomes we get from such reportage than we do about the institutions that create it.
- Better still, in this case, the journalism program isn’t siloed. ASU is pulling from “accountancy, anthropology, history, law, medicine and many other fields,” to teach it’s students.
- In other news, BuzzFeed is working on a membership program like The Guardian’s, in conjunction with the Google News Initiative.
- More revenue sources are better than fewer, but I wonder why news organizations aren’t asking tech companies to help in ways they are better suited.
Hacks
- I’m late to the mesh-networking party… But if you have more than one room to cover with fast, consistent WiFi, you need a mesh network.
- It’s the same concept of WiFi repeaters… It just works a LOT better.
- I’m still playing with my new router of choice, but so far, I’ve never had better coverage.
Upgrades
- TripIt is simply a must. It organizes all your travel info in one place. It helped me keep all the moving parts straight during the week-long move/drive/ship/family birthday extravaganza.
- Forward your trip confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com; the service creates an in-app itinerary.
- You can also share these with family/co-workers/friends.
- Automatically syncs to your calendar (and does a better job than Gmail’s automatic calendar events).
- Pro tip: because it keeps a history, with TripIt you can also find that hotel you stayed at in Kyoto 8 years ago with ease…
I’m Reading
- “It’s Too Late to Protect the 2018 Elections.” Says Facebook’s Former Chief Security Officer.