Category: Technology

The California legislature has stepped back from a plan that would have expanded its age-gating law, removing language that could have compounded serious threats to users’ speech, privacy and security just to browse the internet. A.B. 1856, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, will now move forward through the legislature without its most problematic pieces. EFF […]

Oura Rings, Garmin GPS fitness watches, Apple Watches, Whoop bands—every year, more and more tech devices are promising to monitor our health and fitness, guide us toward healthier living, and provide useful health metrics to take to our doctors. But few of these tools provide the sorts of privacy and security promises we demand from […]

The effort to age gate the internet is back in Washington—and now it has a new name. Recently passed by the House of Representatives, the KIDS Act is a sprawling package of proposals to control what we can see and say online. Supporters claim the KIDS Act is needed to protect minors online. But if […]

An international team has discovered a third planet orbiting the nearby star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b, the first planet discovered in the same system. It is among the lightest exoplanets ever imaged from the ground. This first clear detection of Beta Pictoris d […]

One of the best bulwarks against monopoly is interoperability—that is making a new product or service work with an existing product or service. Interoperability allows users, and not the manufacturers of their devices or largest player in a market, to decide what application best serves them. Unsurprisingly, companies like Apple have worked hard to resist […]

This year the state of New York had the dubious honor of being the first to pass a controversial provision to mandate all 3D printers come with surveillance and censorship. That means not only is there a ticking clock to protect every artist, researcher, engineer, and hobbyist in the state, but there is a real […]

There’s a growing interest in alternatives to traditional burials as well as making the process more environmentally friendly in many countries. For many people it’s about the environmental impact of the funeral industry globally. In the US, for instance, a surface equal to the size of Hawaii (1.6 million hectares) is deforested each year for […]

As part of his visit, he officially opened the UK Space and Defence Gateway. The Gateway is aligned with the principles of the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s (SMI) Astra Carta, a global framework launched by His Majesty, as Prince of Wales. These are designed to ensure the space sector supports a sustainable future. During the visit, […]

ClimbWhenReady/Shutterstock.com Millions of people will take to the roads this holiday season, only to end up spending frustrating hours sitting in traffic jams. Congestion costs drivers time, fuel and patience – while also increasing pollution and placing huge pressure on transport networks. If you’ve ever found yourself staring enviously at the lane next to you, […]

Legal intern Suzanne Castillo co-authored this post. Playstation’s decision to kill physical game discs is the latest attack on our diminishing rights to access and engage with culture digitally. Rent-seeking corporations and negligent lawmakers share the blame–and they can do better.  We’ve seen the same playbook used in the move to digital distribution of  film, […]