Apple Privacy Changes: A response to Ad-based social media platforms
I have been following this news progress since first learning of Tim Cook (Apple’s CEO) publicly criticized social media platforms (though thinly veiled referenced to Facebook Inc. in particular) over online privacy concerns. This week, we discussed advertising regulation and how digital media has escaped the stringent advertising regulations that traditional media has been required […]
Interoperability of Social Media
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/01/twitter-and-interoperability-some-thoughts-peanut-gallery Hi everyone, I came across an interesting blog post talking about the possibility of an interoperable internet and the pros/cons for such interoperability. The idea behind an interoperable internet is that “digital walls” between social platforms are eliminated so that users can choose whichever platform they want but still be able to interact with […]
Privacy from the Corporate Standpoint – OPC requirements per PIPEDA
Like many of you, I believe privacy is a seriously pressing concern in the modern age. As users of social media, we are subject to data collection that can then be shared with organizations with whom we have never had direct contact. However, I think it’s interesting to think about it not just from the […]
Social Media: Self-regulation vs. Government regulation
Many of us have seen the Netflix documentaries The Social Dilemma or The Great Hack. Both documentaries give a glimpse into the complexity, and challenges we face with social media’s influence over our minds and decision making abilities. The problems that social media companies have created is complex and multifaceted. The article by Bill Curry […]
Why are so many Hollywood productions filmed in Canada?
Building on the discussion today on the “Canadianness” or lack thereof of programs produced in Canada, I am reminded of discussions from my undergrad in film studies of how a surprising amount of (Hollywood and other) movies and programs are filmed in Canadian cities. What is the reason behind this? I identify two reasons. 1. […]
Should Schitt’s Creek be Considered Canadian Content?
Last class we discussed the policy considerations surrounding Canadian content and I immediately thought of one of my favourite Canadian television series, Schitt’s Creek. For me, the show demonstrated that Canadian casts and crews (without the help of Hollywood’s prestige, experience or money) could create content that was smart, funny and respectful of diverse perspectives […]
The Question of Monitoring on Private Forums – what can you say?
I came across this articling briefly explaining the situation as between WallStreetBets, Reddit, and the stock market. The situation transpiring within the last few days made me alert to the issue of free speech and the right to post and self-monitor on online discussion platforms. It seems that private communication sites (i.e Reddit, Facebook, Discord) […]
Apple’s New Privacy Feature
Hello! I have been exploring articles on the subject of privacy concerns, data collection and in particular Apple’s soon-to-be-released App Tracking Transparency features. Apple’s new feature will require apps to get the explicit permission of users before tracking their data. I have attached several articles and a brochure to this post. I was shocked to […]
Story about Enron emails
I just listened to an interesting episode of 99% Invisible podcast about Enron email corpus (You’ve got Enron mail). Apparently sometime around 2000 a mass group of Enron emails were released to the public (which included some private emails of employees). This corpus of some 600, 000 emails was then used by researchers to study […]
Google responds to Australia proceeds with a new code requiring payment to use media content
Hello Class, I hope everyone had a restful weekend! As I was browsing the news tab of Google (ironically) I came across an article that may be of interest. Australia is planning on introducing a new law which would force Google and Facebook inc to pay media companies for the right to use its content. […]
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