transparency
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Kickstarter wants projects to be more transparent about their budget
Crowdfunding is great in theory, but many projects fail to meet their fundraising goals, end up asking for more money or fall apart entirely. In an attempt to help creators avoid those fates, Kickstarter is launching a new tool called Project Budget.
Vape maker PAX launches PodID to explain what's in your cannabis oil
Consumers want to know what's in the stuff they buy and where it comes from, whether that's food, electricals or clothing -- so why should cannabis be any different? Vape company PAX Labs is rolling out a new feature for its mobile app which gives users detailed information about what makes up their oil concentrate.
Google's 2020 transparency reports will include enterprise data requests
Google's twice-per-year transparency reports are about to feature more details on government snooping. At the start of next year, the company says it will include a section in the documents that details the number of enterprise Google Cloud and GSuite data requests the company has fielded from governments.
Facebook’s 2020 election 'protections' still allow for lying politicians
Today, Facebook outlined new measures to stop abuse and interference in the 2020 election. They include safeguards meant to make Facebook more secure and transparent, but they make one glaring omission. The new policies don't change Facebook's rules that allow political candidates to lie in their political ads.
YouTubers are unionizing, and the site has 24 days to respond
A group of YouTubers is teaming up with Europe's largest trade union to lobby for greater transparency. Until recently, the YouTubers Union was a community group with little power of its own, but it has now teamed up with IG Metall, the German Metalworker's union. IG Metall is one of the oldest unions in Germany and over its lifetime has expanded to cover workers in industries including electrical engineering, IT, plastics and textiles.
Facebook will offer more info on the ads you see
There's a good chance some strange ads have popped up in your Facebook News Feed. Now, the company wants to give users more clarity about why they're seeing specific ads. In the past, users could click "Why am I seeing this ad?" But the answers were fairly vague. Now, Facebook will share more detailed reasoning, like which of your interests matched you with a specific ad.
Surprise: People are listening to your Google Assistant queries
It's no secret that Google records your conversations with Google Assistant after you say a "wake word." But what you might not know is that Google uses contractors to manually review a handful of those recordings, about 0.2 percent. Yesterday, VRT NWS released reports detailing how it listened to thousands of recordings leaked by a whistleblower working for Google. At least one audio clip included a couple's address and personal information about their family.
Facebook's political ad transparency tools roll out worldwide
Facebook's efforts to improve transparency in political ads are now a truly global affair. The social site has made its transparency tools available to advertisers worldwide, letting them post political and issue ads so long as they're authorized. The disclosure policies remain the same -- if someone else paid for an ad, you should see a "paid for by" disclaimer. The ads themselves will sit in an Ad Library archive for seven years alongside data like the view count and demographics.
Kickstarter warns creators against calling projects 'the world's best'
Kickstarter is asking its users to tone down the hyperbolic language and to layoff the misleading imagery. In an attempt to promote transparency, the now 10-year-old platform issued new rules and guidelines aimed at "honest and clear presentation."
Facebook has taken down over 2 billion fake accounts in 2019
Facebook took down 2.19 billion fake accounts during the first quarter of 2019, the company has announced. In addition to that, Facebook said it disabled 1.2 billion fake accounts in Q4 2018. These numbers are quite staggering when you consider that Facebook has 2.38 billion monthly active users, as reported in its Q1 2019 earnings. "For fake accounts," Facebook said in a blog post, "the amount of accounts we took action on increased due to automated attacks by bad actors who attempt to create large volumes of accounts at one time."
Facebook, Google and others join Christchurch Call to curb extremism
In the two months since the Christchurch attack in New Zealand, social media companies have struggled to remove videos of the violence from their platforms. And they've grappled with the role they may unintentionally play in the spread of terrorism. Today, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Google, YouTube and Amazon signed their support to the Christchurch Call, which aims to address terrorist and violent content online. The companies join several countries -- though the US has not pledged support -- and are committed to a nine-point plan that outlines next steps.
Sidewalk Labs' street signs alert people to data collection in use
As Sidewalk Labs builds its "smart city" in Toronto, there have been growing concerns that the sensor and camera-laden neighborhood may invade the privacy of citizens. To deal with some of those issues, the subsidiary of Alphabet announced today that it is working on creating icons that would help people better understand the technology they run into while navigating cities. The images would be displayed on hexagon-shaped signs that would highlight what type of data is being collected in an area and how it is being used.
Mozilla says Facebook isn't transparent enough with political ads
It's not just activist groups complaining that Facebook's browser add-on policies are hurting political ad transparency. Mozilla has sent a letter to the European Commission contending that Facebook's approach is creating a "lack of transparency." The browser developer wants to launch a Firefox Election package for the EU's upcoming parliamentary elections, but Facebook's recent changes will prevent an add-on in that package from identifying ads and showing how they're targeting users. Mozilla further noted that Facebook's political ad archive toolkit is still private and limited to a "small number of privileged researchers."
Facebook ad blocker safeguards limit political transparency campaigns
Facebook's efforts to protect user data are creating some headaches for attempts to improve accountability for political ads. The Guardian has learned that at least a few political ad transparency campaigns, including those from ProPublica and WhoTargetsMe, have lost some of their ability to monitor Facebook ads. The social network has been clamping down on web plugins like ad blockers that could potentially swipe data, and its changes have broken the functionality of research tools that need the info to show where ads are really coming from.
France fines Google $57 million over data transparency
The European Union's GDPR is relatively young, but Google is already in hot water over claimed violations. France's CNIL regulator has fined Google €50 million (about $57 million) for allegedly failing to provide transparent, "easily accessible" data consent policies. Google reportedly made it hard to learn about and control how it used personal data, including for targeted ads. It can sometimes take "5 or 6 actions" before you know what Google is doing, CNIL said, and the company spread ad targeting information across "several documents."
Apple received over 32,000 user data requests in six months
Apple's bi-annual transparency report is here and it now has its own interactive page on Apple's website. As usual, it details the personal data requests Apple received from governments worldwide. Only the new look makes it easier to review and digest thanks to a slider at the bottom that lets you scroll through report cards for each country. And if you're a fan of the old ways, you can still download a PDF crammed with the same data.
Facebook won't require political ad labels for news outlets
Earlier this year, Facebook announced and enacted a plan to require all political advertisements to carry a "Paid for by" label and be listed in an ad archive. Now the company is granting an exemption for those requirements to legitimate news publications. Promoted posts and ads run by approved news outlets will once again able to appear in the News Feed without undergoing Facebook's transparency protocol. The exemption will start in the UK (today also marks the start of ad transparency enforcement in the region) and will come to the US and other countries next year.
Google Walkout leaders call for transparency on sexual misconduct
The organizers of the Google employee walkout have outlined how they want the company to address sexual misconduct at the company, and they're quite clear in their demands. The Walkout for Real Change group is primarily focused on accountability and transparency, starting with an end to forced arbitration for harassment and discrimination cases, which tends to keep cases secret. This would give staff the power to take these cases to court. Employees also want the right to bring a "co-worker, representative or supporter" with them when meeting human resources to discuss claims.
Twitter will show users when tweets are removed for policy violations
Twitter is making a couple of changes in regards to how it handles reported tweets. First, users have told Twitter that they don't necessarily want to see tweets that they've reported. So now, anytime you report a tweet, it will be hidden behind a notice that says "You reported this tweet." If you do want to take a look at that tweet for whatever reason, you can tap "View" to do so.
Facebook will show who paid for political ads in the UK
Facebook is pushing its transparency agenda again, this time with the introduction of a tool that reveals information about political ads in the UK. From today, all advertisers that run ads in the UK referencing political figures and parties, elections and legislation before parliament will have to verify their location and identity, and the adverts will have to carry a "paid for by" disclaimer.
