election2020
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Podcast: Xbox Series X/S reviews and the election aftermath
This week on the show, we dive into early thoughts on the PlayStation 5 vs the Xbox Series X.
Podcast: Are the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro worth it?
This week on the show, we dive into our thoughts on the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, AOC's Among Us stream and the death of Quibi.
Report finds many US election officials vulnerable to phishing attacks
Security researchers have determined that some US election officials are vulnerable to phishing attacks, whether through accounts or software.
TikTok users and K-pop fans say they wrecked Trump's Tulsa rally
TikTok users and K-pop fans say they sabotaged Trump's Tulsa rally through campaigns to reserve tickets and not show up.
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.
Elizabeth Warren campaign open sources its organizing tools
The impact of Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign might be felt well after it ended. The Warren for President team is open-sourcing some of its key get-out-the-vote projects to help other politicians and cause supporters with their own efforts. These include the peer-to-peer texting platform Spoke, the polling location search tool Pollaris, a Caucus App used in Iowa (above) and the data handling app Redhook, among other tools.
Facebook labels manipulated video of Biden 'endorsing' Trump as 'partly false'
Twitter isn't the only one flagging a manipulated Trump video to warn users. Facebook has labeled a video of presidential hopeful Joe Biden appearing to endorse Trump as "partly false information," citing independent fact-checking from Lead Stories. The company told Engadget in a statement that it was both "reducing [the video's] distribution" and applying warning labels, and that it was applying the treatment to a politician just as it would for a bogus video shared by anyone else.
Facebook removes Trump campaign's 'census' ads
Facebook has removed more than a thousand of Donald Trump's campaign ads for breaking its rules prohibiting misinformation related to the 2020 U.S. census. The ads, which were first reported by journalist Judd Legum, urged users to participate in the "Official 2020 Congressional District Census," and redirected to a survey on the Trump campaign website.
The Iowa app debacle is a bad omen for modernizing our elections
The American electoral system is a weird arcane thing. And primary politics even more so. Honestly, I could spend the next 2,000 words trying to explain the caucus process and, chances are, I'd still only be scratching the surface. So, I've got to hand it to the Iowa Democratic Party for managing to make things even more confusing with its half-baked attempt to bring modern technology into the process. It took the party nearly a week to certify the results and award Pete Buttigieg the most delegates. It's worth noting that most news outlets, including the Associated Press, which usually verifies election results, have so far refused to declare a winner. And now Bernie Sanders' campaign is asking that some precincts be re-canvassed. It's been over a week and this thing shows no signs of ending. How did we get here? Well, like so many tragedies, this is a story of good intentions gone awry.
Iowa Democrats say sloppy app code delayed caucus results
We're still waiting for a full explanation about what, exactly, went wrong during Iowa's caucus Monday night, but the state's Democratic party claims a "coding issue" in a new app is the biggest reason for the delayed results. The app, which the WSJ reports was developed by the Washington, DC-based company Shadow, managed to accurately record caucus data submitted by precincts across the state. But the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) claims a programming error made the app only report partial data. The organization managed to locate and fix the error, but now it's in working on confirming the caucus results via paper records. (Update: The IDP says it plans to announce results by 5PM ET today, the Washington Post reports.)
Iowa Caucus results delayed, link to mobile app problems is unclear (updated)
Technology is already creating hiccups for the 2020 election mere hours into the caucuses. Democratic county chairs in Iowa told Bloomberg that precinct chairs were having problems downloading or signing into the mobile app used to tabulate and share results from the roughly 1,700 sites. They could still provide results through a phone line, but the problems threatened to delay reporting on results for hours.
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.
Apple News partners on a presidential debate for the first time in February
Apple isn't just offering in-depth election news -- for 2020, it'll have a degree of participation in the process. Apple News will partner on its first political debate on February 7th, when it cooperates with ABC and WMUR-TV for the eighth Democratic debate in Manchester, New Hampshire. Apple hasn't outlined just what it will do as part of its co-hosting duties (we've asked it for details), but it's safe to presume that the debate will receive priority coverage in the News app.
Facebook's plan to label state media is taking longer than expected
Facebook's effort to label state-backed media has hit some snags. The social network was due to start labeling outlets in November, but CNN Business found that the company clearly missed the target, and didn't have a specific answer as to when the transparency move might be ready. A spokesperson would only say that Facebook will "begin [labelling] soon," and that there would be a gradual rollout as the firm worked with publishers and third-party advisors to ensure it "get[s] this right."
Bernie Sanders proposes $150 billion for public broadband improvements
Bernie Sanders has unveiled his plan for US broadband if he wins the 2020 presidential election, and it won't surprise you to hear that his strategy would focus on making high-speed internet as widely accessible as possible. He intends to earmark $150 billion (as part of the Green New Deal) for infrastructure grants and technical help for "publicly owned and democratically controlled, co-operative or open access" broadband. He would also ensure free broadband in public housing and override state laws (frequently written by private ISPs) that block municipal internet.
Google bans political ad targeting by affiliation and voter records
Google is the latest internet giant to rethink its approach to political ads. The company is limiting the targeting options for election ads to age, gender and general location. US advertisers will no longer be allowed to target based on political leanings or public voting records, for example. The new strategy will take effect in the UK next week (just before the country's General Election), in the EU by the end of 2019, and all other countries by January 6th, 2020.
Microsoft: Iranian cyberattack targeted a US presidential campaign
Iran has apparently been engaged in a large-scale cyberattack bent on compromising American politics. Microsoft reported that Phosphorous, a known group it believes is linked to the Iranian government, attacked 241 email accounts in a 30-day period between August and September, including those for a US presidential campaign as well as current and former US officials, journalists covering world politics as well as "prominent" expatriate Iranians. Four of these accounts were compromised, though this didn't include the presidential run or any officials.
State Department revives investigation of Clinton's private emails
Hillary Clinton's private email server may once again be a hot-button issue three years after the FBI said it wouldn't press charges. Washington Post sources claimed State Department investigators have contacted "as many as" 130 officials to let them know that emails sent to Clinton's private inbox have been retroactively classified, making them possible security violations when they weren't at the time they were sent. The Department had started reaching out roughly a year and a half ago, according to the report, but fell quiet before resuming in August.
Facebook, Google meet intelligence agencies to talk 2020 election security
Both intelligence agencies and tech companies are gearing up to secure the 2020 US election, and that apparently includes some heart-to-heart conversations between the two. Bloomberg sources have learned that Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter are meeting members of the FBI, Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to discuss the industry's security strategy. This reportedly includes plans for tighter coordination between tech and government, as well as curbing disinformation campaigns.
