Kashmir Hill

4/10/19

This Simple Tool Will Reveal the Secret Life of Your Smart Home

We live in the glorious future that technophiles have long dreamed of. Almost everything can now connect to the…

4/5/19

Airbnb Doesn't Want White Nationalists On Its Platform—But How Hard Is It Looking for Them?

Every spring, nearly 300 white nationalists convene in Burns, Tennessee for the American Renaissance Conference—and…

3/22/19

Facebook Ruins Woman's Attempt to Pin Crime on Her Sister

Last week, a sheriff’s office in South Carolina posted a pretty crazy story to its Facebook page about how…

2/25/19

Amazon and Chase Are Still Confusingly Opaque About What They Do With Your Credit Card Data

Last month, I tried to find out what Amazon learns about people who have an Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card from…

2/7/19

I Cut the 'Big Five' Tech Giants From My Life. It Was Hell

Week 6: Blocking them all

2/6/19

Apple Is Removing 'Do Not Track' From Safari

Do Not Track is apparently dead, and Apple is now taking steps to shed itself of the failed privacy project.

2/5/19

I Cut Apple Out of My Life. It Was Devastating

Week 5: Apple

1/31/19

I Cut Microsoft Out of My Life—or So I Thought

Week 4: Microsoft

1/29/19

I Cut Google Out Of My Life. It Screwed Up Everything

Week 3: Google

1/24/19

I Cut Facebook Out of My Life. Surprisingly, I Missed It

Week 2: Facebook

1/23/19

Amazon and Chase Will Not Give Me a Straight Answer About What They Do With My Credit Card Data

Whenever I go out to dinner with a bunch of friends, and we split the check, multiple people wind up throwing in…

1/22/19

I Tried to Block Amazon From My Life. It Was Impossible

Week 1: Amazon

1/22/19

Life Without the Tech Giants

Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple collectively make products that we love, products that we hate (but…

1/9/19

How Cartographers for the U.S. Military Inadvertently Created a House of Horrors in South Africa

The visitors started coming in 2013. The first one who came and refused to leave until he was let inside was a…

12/19/18

Amazon and Facebook Reportedly Had a Secret Data-Sharing Agreement, and It Explains So Much

Back in 2015, a woman named Imy Santiago wrote an Amazon review of a novel that she had read and liked. Amazon…

12/18/18

Turning Off Facebook Location Tracking Doesn't Stop It From Tracking Your Location

Aleksandra Korolova has turned off Facebook’s access to her location in every way that she can. She has turned off…

12/12/18

How Facebook Schemed Against Its Users

Last year, I was trying to solve a mystery. Facebook’s “People You May Know” tool was outing sex workers’ real…

12/5/18

Facebook Was Fully Aware That Tracking Who People Call and Text Is Creepy But Did It Anyway

Back in 2015, Facebook had a pickle of a problem. It was time to update the Android version of the Facebook app, and…

11/27/18

Be Warned: Customer Service Agents Can See What You're Typing in Real Time

Next time you’re chatting with a customer service agent online, be warned that the person on the other side of your…

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