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Technology

How Big Tech Impacts Our Lives

136 stories published since 2014

A Banking App Has Been Suddenly Closing Accounts, Sometimes Not Returning Customers’ Money

by Carson Kessler,

How China Spreads Its Propaganda Version of Life for Uyghurs

by Jeff Kao, ProPublica, and Raymond Zhong, Paul Mozur and Aaron Krolik, The New York Times,

The Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Hackers Had a Secret Weapon: Self-Promoting Cybersecurity Firms

by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden,

Addressing Rape in Four Minutes or Less: Dating App Reps Left Unprepared to Respond to Assault Victims

by Brian Edwards, Elizabeth Naismith Picciani, Sarah Spicer and Keith Cousins, Columbia Journalism Investigations,

Senator Says Censorship in Turkey Raises “Serious Questions” About Facebook's Commitment to Free Expression

by Jack Gillum,

Tinder and OkCupid Could Soon Let You Background Check Your Date — for a Price

by Brian Edwards and Elizabeth Naismith Picciani, Columbia Journalism Investigations,

America’s Drinking Water Is Surprisingly Easy to Poison

by Peter Elkind and Jack Gillum,

Sheryl Sandberg and Top Facebook Execs Silenced an Enemy of Turkey to Prevent a Hit to the Company’s Business

by Jack Gillum and Justin Elliott,

Twenty-Six Words Created the Internet. What Will It Take to Save It?

Stephen Engelberg,

The U.S. Spent $2.2 Million on a Cybersecurity System That Wasn’t Implemented — and Might Have Stopped a Major Hack

by Peter Elkind and Jack Gillum,

Leaked Documents Show How China’s Army of Paid Internet Trolls Helped Censor the Coronavirus

by Raymond Zhong, Paul Mozur and Aaron Krolik, The New York Times, and Jeff Kao, ProPublica,

Trump Won Florida After Running a False Ad Tying Biden to Venezuelan Socialists

by Jeremy B. Merrill for ProPublica, and Ryan McCarthy, ProPublica,

Trump ganó Florida tras publicar un anuncio falso que vinculaba a Biden con los socialistas venezolanos

por Jeremy B. Merrill, en reporte especial para ProPublica y Ryan McCarthy, ProPublica,

Una mano sostiene un smartphone sobre un fondo de círculos rojos, azules y violetas.

Al menos 800,000 residentes de estados clave recibieron robocalls pidiéndoles que se “quedaran en casa” el día de las elecciones. El FBI está investigando.

por Jack Gillum, ProPublica y Jeremy B. Merrill for ProPublica,

A hand holds a smartphone over a background of red, blue and violet circles.

Robocalls Told at Least 800,000 Swing State Residents to “Stay Home” on Election Day. The FBI Is Investigating.

by Jack Gillum, ProPublica, and Jeremy B. Merrill for ProPublica,

Foreign Hackers Cripple Texas County’s Email System, Raising Election Security Concerns

by Jack Gillum, Jessica Huseman, Jeff Kao and Derek Willis,

Facebook’s Political Ad Ban Also Threatens Ability to Spread Accurate Information on How to Vote

by Jeremy B. Merrill for ProPublica,

Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First

by Renee Dudley,

2020 Political Ad Collector

by Quartz and ProPublica,

Millions of Americans Might Not Get Stimulus Checks. Some Might Be Tricked Into Paying TurboTax to Get Theirs.

by Justin Elliott and Paul Kiel,

The Hate Store: Amazon’s Self-Publishing Arm Is a Haven for White Supremacists

by Ava Kofman, ProPublica, and Francis Tseng and Moira Weigel for ProPublica,

When the State Shifted to E-learning, This Rural School Superintendent Shifted to the Copy Machine

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Some Election-Related Websites Still Run on Vulnerable Software Older Than Many High Schoolers

by Jack Gillum,

TurboTax Is Still Tricking Customers With Tax Prep Ads That Misuse the Word “Free”

by Will Young,

Dating Apps Can Be Dangerous. Congress Is Investigating.

by Keith Cousins, Columbia Journalism Investigations,

The IRS Decided to Get Tough Against Microsoft. Microsoft Got Tougher.

by Paul Kiel,

Like Voldemort, Ransomware Is Too Scary to Be Named

by Renee Dudley,

Kansas Abandons Technology Trumpeted by Kris Kobach, Trump’s Onetime Voter Fraud Czar

by Jessica Huseman,

Person holding bouquet of flowers, with face blurred.

We Are Investigating Sexual Violence and Dating Apps

by Keith Cousins and Elizabeth Naismith Picciani, Columbia Journalism Investigations,

YouTube Promised to Label State-Sponsored Videos But Doesn’t Always Do So

by Ava Kofman,

The Ransomware Superhero of Normal, Illinois

by Renee Dudley,

Millions of Americans’ Medical Images and Data Are Available on the Internet. Anyone Can Take a Peek.

by Jack Gillum, Jeff Kao and Jeff Larson,

Report on Election Security Gains Attention, and a Sharp Rebuke

by Jessica Huseman,

How Kentucky Gambled for Hundreds of Millions of Dollars From a Broadband Program It Didn’t Qualify for

by Alfred Miller,

How Amazon and Silicon Valley Seduced the Pentagon

by James Bandler, Anjali Tsui and Doris Burke,

New York Is Investigating Whether Facebook Lets Advertisers Discriminate

by Ariana Tobin,

Civil Rights Groups Have Been Warning Facebook About Hate Speech In Secret Groups For Years

by Ariana Tobin,

People Are Using Secret Facebook Groups To Spread Hate We Can’t See. We Need Your Help.

by Ariana Tobin, Thalia Beaty and Lucas Waldron,

Aggression Detectors: The Unproven, Invasive Surveillance Technology Schools Are Using to Monitor Students

by Jack Gillum and Jeff Kao,

Methodology: How We Tested an Aggression Detection Algorithm

by Jeff Kao and Jack Gillum,

Sting Catches Another Ransomware Firm — Red Mosquito — Negotiating With “Hackers”

by Renee Dudley,

The Trade Secret: Firms That Promised High-Tech Ransomware Solutions Almost Always Just Pay the Hackers

by Renee Dudley and Jeff Kao,

We’re Reporting on Ransomware. Do You Know Something About an Attack?

by Renee Dudley and Jeff Kao,

A High-Speed Internet Boondoggle Is Now a Campaign Issue in Kentucky

by Alfred Miller, Louisville Courier-Journal,

Kentucky’s $1.5 Billion Information Highway to Nowhere

by Alfred Miller, Louisville Courier-Journal,

The Missing Millions: Some States Are Still Waiting for the Gambling Windfall

by Derrick Clifton,

Prosecutors Dropping Child Porn Charges After Software Tools Are Questioned

by Jack Gillum,

HUD Sues Facebook Over Housing Discrimination and Says the Company’s Algorithms Have Made the Problem Worse

by Ariana Tobin,

Legalized Betting Could Change How We Watch Sports

by Derrick Clifton,

Facebook Won’t Let Employers, Landlords or Lenders Discriminate in Ads Anymore

by Jack Gillum and Ariana Tobin,