All the Ways Europe Is Ditching American Technology

A WIRED timeline shows how dozens of governments, companies, and other organizations across Europe are moving, or planning to shift, away from US Big Tech...

The EU Is Going Through a Trump-Fueled Breakup With Big Tech

France is already moving on from Zoom and Microsoft Teams in favor of homegrown alternatives. Other countries are quickly following suit...

A week in security (April 20 – April 26)

Last week on Malwarebytes Labs: Medical data of 500,000 UK volunteers listed for sale on Alibaba How cyberattacks on companies affect everyone Apple fixes iOS bug that kept deleted notifications, including chat previews Roblox clamps down on chats and age checks as legal pressure builds Malicious...

Big Tech can stop scams. They just don’t (Lock and Code S07E08)

This week on the Lock and Code podcast … A dreadful thing happens far too often whenever an older adult falls for a scam: They get blamed for it. Not the scammers who lied and cheated their victim out of money. Not law enforcement for failing to recover funds. Not even the Big Tech companies that...

Scientists Need a Positive Vision for AI

For many in the research community, it's gotten harder to be optimistic about the impacts of artificial intelligence. As authoritarianism is rising around the world, AI-generated "slop" is overwhelming legitimate media, while AI-generated deepfakes are spreading misinformation and parroting...

AI in the 2026 Midterm Elections

We are nearly one year out from the 2026 midterm elections, and it's far too early to predict the outcomes. But it's a safe bet that artificial intelligence technologies will once again be a major storyline. The widespread fear that AI would be used to manipulate the 2024 US election seems rather...

Trump Administration and Big Tech want you to share your health data

US President Donald Trump announced a loose plan Wednesday to allow Americans to voluntarily upload and port their medical records across hospitals, clinics, technology companies, and health apps, with broad participation from Google, Apple, OpenAI, Amazon, and more. While the system could help...

The Privacy-Friendly Tech to Replace Your US-Based Email, Browser, and Search

Thanks to drastic policy changes in the US and Big Tech’s embrace of the second Trump administration, many people are moving their digital lives abroad. Here are a few options to get you started...

How to Avoid US-Based Digital Services—and Why You Might Want To

Amid growing concerns over Big Tech firms aligning with Trump administration policies, people are starting to move their digital lives to services based overseas. Here's what you need to know...

Trust Issues in AI

This essay was written with Nathan E. Sanders. It originally appeared as a response to Evgeny Morozov in Boston Review's forum, "The AI We Deserve." For a technology that seems startling in its modernity, AI sure has a long history. Google Translate, OpenAI chatbots, and Meta AI image generators...

The Pressure Is on for Big Tech to Regulate the Broken Digital Advertising Industry

Brands have been at the mercy of the algorithm when it comes to where their ads appear online, but they’re about to get more control...

AI and the Evolution of Social Media

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. A decade ago, social media was celebrated for sparking democratic uprisings in the Arab world and beyond. Now front pages are splashed with stories of social platforms’ role in misinformation, business conspiracy, malfeasance, and risks to mental health. In a 2022...

How Public AI Can Strengthen Democracy

With the worlds focus turning to misinformation, manipulation, and outright propaganda ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, we know that democracy has an AI problem. But were learning that AI has a democracy problem, too. Both challenges must be addressed for the sake of democratic...

Apple’s iPhone Hack Attack Warnings Spark Political Firestorm in India

By Waqas Big Tech vs. Big Brother: Apple Defies India Pressure over iPhone Hacking Alerts. This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Apples iPhone Hack Attack Warnings Spark Political Firestorm in India...

Signal Is Finally Testing Usernames

Plus: A DDoS attack shuts down ChatGPT, Lockbit shuts down a bank, and a communications breakdown between politicians and Big Tech...

The AI Dividend

For four decades, Alaskans have opened their mailboxes to find checks waiting for them, their cut of the black gold beneath their feet. This is Alaskas Permanent Fund, funded by the states oil revenues and paid to every Alaskan each year. Were now in a different sort of resource rush, with...

On the Need for an AI Public Option

Artificial intelligence will bring great benefits to all of humanity. But do we really want to entrust this revolutionary technology solely to a small group of US tech companies? Silicon Valley has produced no small number of moral disappointments. Google retired its "dont be evil" pledge before...

France Fines Microsoft €60 Million for Using Advertising Cookies Without User Consent

France's privacy watchdog has imposed a €60 million $63.88 million fine against Microsoft's Ireland subsidiary for dropping advertising cookies in users' computers without their explicit consent in violation of data protection laws in the European Union. The Commission nationale de l'informatique...

Is Apple about to embrace third-party app stores?

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Apple is preparing to allow access to third-party app stores on all iPhone and iPad devices owned by EU users, in anticipation of a new EU competition law coming into force in mid-2024. If the reporting is correct, then in future users in the EU will no longer ...

How to Advocate for Data Privacy and Users' Rights

Want to speak up against Big Tech, unjust data collection, and surveillance? Here's how to be an activist in your community and beyond...