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Tesla wants the public to decide where its next Superchargers should go
Tesla is asking the public via a new Twitter poll to tell it where they want the next superchargers to be installed.
The US Postal Service secretly tested a blockchain mobile voting system
The US Postal Service has revealed that it tested a blockchain mobile voting system before the 2020 election.
Google search now shows you where to vote or drop off your ballot
Google has added a tool to find voting and ballot drop off locations in search and in Maps, helping Americans vote in the 2020 election.
Study finds security holes in online voting for New Jersey and West Virginia (updated)
Researchers say they've found privacy and security issues in OmniBallot's online voting platform.
West Virginia will allow people with disabilities to vote by smartphone
More governments in the US are offering the option to vote by smartphone. West Virginia's governor is poised to sign a bill requiring that all counties offer people with disabilities a way to vote online, just in time for the 2020 presidential election. It'd be the first state to provide the option. While the details have yet to be established, Secretary of State Mac Warner said it would most likely offer the mobile app Voatz, just like it did when it allowed online voting for overseas troops.
Lyft expands free voter rides to all US primaries
Lyft is bringing back its free rides for voters during the 2020 US election cycle, and this time it won't be limited to the final vote. The ridesharing firm is expanding its Voting Access Program to offer no-cost rides to polls through the entire primary calendar and general election, starting with the Iowa Caucus in early February. As before, it's partnering with nonprofits like the League of Women Voters, National Urban League and Voto Latino Foundation to make the rides available.
Seattle-area election will let residents vote by smartphone
Claims that Americans could vote by phone have usually been hoaxes, but Seattle-area residents will get to try the real thing before long. NPR has learned that a King County board of supervisors election on February 11th will let all eligible voters cast their ballots by smartphone -- the first time this has been an option in the country. You'll have the mobile voting option from today (January 22nd) through to the actual election day.
House passes controversial copyright bill that could be abused by trolls
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted in favor (410-6) of a controversial copyright bill known as the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019, or CASE Act. The bill is meant to give independent creators an affordable and accessible way to defend their intellectual property. But critics question whether it is constitutional and argue that it could be abused by trolls, potentially bankrupting the creators it's meant to benefit.
The FCC voted to approve the T-Mobile-Sprint merger
Today, the FCC formally approved the contested T-Mobile and Sprint merger, The Verge reports. But commissioners are still speaking out. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks released statements explaining their decisions to vote against the transaction.
Software firm may have exposed North Carolina to election hackers in 2016
Voting system security is problematic enough, but one company might have unintentionally laid out a welcome mat for hackers. Politico claims VR Systems, a voting software firm targeted by Russians, took a gigantic risk in 2016 by using remote access software to connect to a computer in North Carolina and troubleshoot a voter list management tool in the last two days before the election. As the tool downloaded the Durham County voter list straight from the state's Board of Elections, intruders could have altered local (and potentially state-level) records to prevent people from voting in key precincts.
EU law could fine sites for not removing terrorist content within an hour
The European Union has been clear on its stance that terrorist content is most harmful in the first hour it appears online. Yesterday, the European Parliament voted in favor of a new rule that could require internet companies to remove terrorist content within one hour after receiving an order from authorities. Companies that repeatedly fail to abide by the law could be fined up to four percent of their global revenue.
Amazon shareholders will vote to ban facial recognition tech
Amazon shareholders will vote to ban the company's controversial facial recognition technology next week in a key symbolic process. Amazon set the vote date, May 22nd, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected the company's request to have the motion squashed. A group of shareholders, led by nonprofit Open MIC, asked Amazon's board to stop selling the deep learning tools until a third party can confirm "it does not cause or contribute to actual or potential violations of human rights."
Nearly half of the votes in Estonia's election were cast online
While many parts of the world are still struggling with voting machines, Estonia appears to be embracing online voting with gusto. In the country's recently finished parliamentary elections, nearly 44 percent of votes were cast through the i-voting system -- a major milestone when just 16 percent of Estonians voted online in 2009's EU elections. The result isn't a total surprise when the nation has spent most of the past two decades digitizing government functions, but it's still no mean feat given everything involved.
Snapchat helped register 418,000 US voters in two weeks
It's easy to be cynical when you hear about voter registration campaigns from social networks. How many people really sign up because of a digital nudge? Quite a few, apparently. Snap told the New York Times that its Snapchat campaign had helped 418,000 people register in the space of a two-week period, many of them in hotly contested states like Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas. The initiative had combined a registration button on users' profiles with snap videos asking them to register.
USA Today thinks chat bots can keep voters informed during midterms
USA Today is no stranger to using technology as a hook for political coverage, but this time it could be particularly helpful in performing your civic duty. It's rolling out chat bots across its properties that will help you keep tabs on various aspects of the 2018 midterm elections, including national news, regional election info and the hot-button issues of the day. And crucially, the bots will help you find polling stations -- you'll know both where local politicians stand as well as where to vote on November 6th.
Reviewing election cybersecurity in this week's primary states
Since learning of Russia's attempts to hack into the elections systems of 21 states during the 2016 US presidential race, legislators have been on high alert. Cybersecurity experts have warned it's likely the Kremlin will attack again, and already it's been caught attempting to infiltrate legislators' computers and use phony social media accounts to influence the outcome of 2018 state primaries. Four states are holding elections on Tuesday -- Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington -- and some lawmakers are doing more than others to protect their systems against cyber attacks. Here's a breakdown of each state's approach to elections cybersecurity, as of August 2018:
Pusha T’s ‘heir’ app lets users vote on hip-hop tracks
Pusha T is making moves in the tech world, announcing a new app he's working on called "heir." With heir, users will be able to vote on hip-hop tracks, upvoting them with a fire emoji or downvoting them with a skull and crossbones. Voters can also earn a digital currency called Crown -- upvoting a track that turns out to be popular can you earn you Crown, for example, while upvoting one that's a flop with other users could cause you to lose it.
Senate officially introduces resolution to restore net neutrality
Last week, the FCC officially published its net neutrality rollback plans, which were voted on back in December. Today, the next stage of the battle begins. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced his Congressional Review Act "resolution of disapproval" that would begin the process of undoing the FCC's vote.
You get to pick the next free games on Twitch Prime
Twitch has been giving away free games with a Prime membership for awhile now, but now you'll have a say in what's handed out each month. With the Indie Amplifier program, users can pick from eight indie games and the one with the most votes will be given away March 15th. Here's what's in the running:
House votes to extend NSA’s warrantless surveillance capabilities
Today, the US House of Representatives voted to renew the law that allows the National Security Agency to surveil communications between American companies and foreigners located outside of the country without a warrant. It's Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, and the House extended its provision for six years. It still needs to go through the Senate, but according to The New York Times, there are fewer advocates of major overhaul to current spying laws in that chamber, so it will likely pass without too much difficulty.
