This will likely go down as the year in which technology, once envisioned as an empowering and equalizing force, finally went headlong down the path toward dystopia and oppression. Our story this summer about Google planning to return to China with censored search at first shocked Silicon Valley, but it was the dark nature of what followed — internal dissent squelched, executives dissembling, Chinese users to be closely tracked — that proved most surprising.
Other depressing developments seemed right out of an ominous sci-fi film like “Blade Runner,” whether it was reporting that revealed the National Security Agency’s prowess at voice recognition, Facebook’s plans to use artificial intelligence to predict users’ future behavior, or just how badly ultrawealthy Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was exploiting underlings. As tech enters 2019, its brightest days seem to be well behind it.
Illustration: Other Means
Search app that will “blacklist sensitive queries” could be launched in six to nine months, according to documents and people familiar with the plans.
By Ryan Gallagher
Photo: Bill O’Leary/Getty Images
The feds are mad that, in a pilot program, airlines are keeping flights on time by letting passengers skip a facial recognition procedure at boarding.
By Sam Biddle
Illustration: Brandon Blommaert
Classified documents from the Snowden archive reveal the NSA has been developing technology to automatically identify a speaker from the sound of their voice.
By Ava Kofman
Photo: Elaine Thompson/AP
In Arizona, new data suggests that 1 in 3 of the company’s own employees depend on SNAP to put food on the table.
By H. Claire Brown
Still: The Intercept
Sam Biddle, Glenn Greenwald, and Briahna Gray debate how the left should consider free speech issues in the context of powerful online platforms.
By Briahna Gray
Illustration: Erik Blad
A new patent shows how Alexa could derive ethnic origin and emotion by analyzing speech. Experts think the government could come after the resulting data.
By Belle Lin
Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP
The Shadow Brokers leak showed the NSA was tracking at least 45 nation-state hacking operations. Experts explain how the agency stepped up its monitoring.
By Kim Zetter
Illustration: Erik Blad
Facebook can identify people “at risk” of jumping ship from one brand to a competitor. The technology raises ethical alarms among experts.
By Sam Biddle
Illustration: Soohee Cho
Local organizers in Toronto have united to push Google out of their government.
By Ava Kofman
Photo: David Goldman/AP
A December 4 runoff for secretary of state will help determine how Georgia handles decisions around securing voting machines and purging voter rolls.
By Kim Zetter
Photo: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
The officials were unaware that Russia was trying to infiltrate their voting systems until months after the elections took place.
By Sam Biddle
Illustration: Angie Wang
Gatherings like Def Con and RSA are notorious for sexist behavior and alienating women — problems that plague the tech industry as a whole.
By Ava Kofman
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The simplicity of the email, which included a malicious election software manual, is part of the playbook of an advanced attacker, an expert said.
By Sam Biddle
Illustration: Scott Gelber
When you tell people you’ve been tracking them across the internet, they freak out and avoid buying your product, research at the Harvard Business School found.
By Sam Biddle
