Melanie Ehrenkranz, Author at Gizmodo

Mozilla Has a New Tool for Tricking Advertisers Into Believing You’re Filthy Rich

If you notice the ads being served to you are eerily similar to stuff you were just browsing online, it’s not all in your head, and it’s the insidious truth of existing online without installing a bunch of browser extensions. But there’s now a tool that, while comically absurd in execution, can stick it to…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 26

Wayfair CEO Refuses to Stop Furnishing Concentration Camps: Report

Wayfair, an e-commerce giant that sells home goods, is reportedly fulfilling an order for $200,000 worth of bedroom furniture to a government contractor managing the border camps. Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that Wayfair employees are planning a walkout at the company’s Boston headquarters on Wednesday as an act of protest after discovering the company’s…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 25

Audio Surveillance Systems at Schools Appear To Confuse Laughter With Aggressive Behavior

The deeply founded fear of school shootings is being capitalized on by tech companies shilling their surveillance systems that can purportedly detect the threat of violence. But according to a recent report, these systems are still far from dependable. ProPublica published a report on Tuesday that tested Sound Intelligence’s aggression detector, one of the audio…

Privacy & Security Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 25

Venmo Users Have Feelings About Your Crappy Etiquette

Venmo is a service for financial transactions. It’s also designed like a social network. It’s a strange duality that predictably leads to some awkward questions of what good form looks like on the service. To somewhat answer that question, Venmo commissioned a survey for some insight into what its users believe is good etiquette. The…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 25

Researchers Send Fake Presidential Alerts to Stadium of 50,000 Using LTE Vulnerability

Researchers figured out a way to exploit the system that sends presidential emergency alerts to our phones, simulating their method on a 50,000 seat football stadium in Colorado with a 90 percent success rate. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder published a paper this month that details how they were able to spoof attack…

Privacy & Security Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 24

Claims YouTube Illegally Tracked Kids Reportedly Spark Federal Investigation

YouTube’s perpetual failure to ensure its product doesn’t exploit children has prompted an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into the company. According to a report from the Washington Post on Wednesday, the FTC investigation into YouTube for how the company deals with the personal information of its youngest users is in its late stages…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 19

The Life of a Facebook Moderator Sounds Even Worse Than You Imagined

For years, reports have emerged detailing the toll moderating online content takes on those tasked with cleaning up the websites of the most powerful tech companies. Facebook announced in May that it would make some changes so that a chunk of this moderator workforce (though not all of it) would be paid a little more…

Social Media Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 19

The New York Subway Is Afraid of the Humble Vulva

A startup focused on sexual wellness is suing the New York public transit system after its sex toy ad campaign was rejected. The company, Dame Products, includes a pretty exhaustive list of other sexually-oriented advertisements that the MTA has run, including erectile dysfunction medication, condoms, women’s libido medication, dating apps, and the Museum of Sex.…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 18

Hong Kong Hospitals Accused of Leaking Protestors’ Patient Data to Cops

A lawmaker and doctor in Hong Kong claimed on Monday that he received tips that the statutory body that runs all the hospitals in the region was leaking the patient information of protestors. Several protestors have been arrested after being treated at Hong Kong hospitals as authorities in mainland China crackdown on dissent. “We are…

Privacy & Security Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 17

California Tests Mental Health App That Tracks Everything Patients Do on Their Phones

The way we interact with our devices is to an increasing extent an extension of our innermost selves. It’s no wonder startups view the data gleaned from these behaviors as a window into our mental health—and the foundation for their business model. California mental health officials have been in talks with two startups about developing…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 17

Comcast to Pay Millions After Judge Finds It Illegally Screwed Over Customers 445,000 Times

Comcast violated the Consumer Protection Act a whopping 445,000 times, a Washington State court ruled on Thursday. The ruling stems from accusations by the state’s attorney general that the telecom giant signed up tens of thousands of customers for a shitty monthly program without their consent. King County Superior Court Judge Timothy Bradshaw’s ruling in…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 7

An Algorithm Generated Eerily Accurate Portraits Based Only On Someone’s Voice

Technology can learn a lot about us, whether we like it or not. It can figure out what we like, where we’ve been, how we feel. It can even make us say or do things we’ve never said or done. And according to new research, it can start to figure out what you look like…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 7

Look Upon What Amazon Hath Designed, for It Soon Will Blanket the Sky

If you’ve ever gazed upon the sky and thought, look at all the space for more shit up there, then you are not alone. Amazon too sees our beautiful blue airspace as prime real estate for getting junk to you even faster. On Wednesday, CEO of the Amazon’s worldwide consumer division Jeff Wilke unveiled at…

Commerce Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 5

In Troubling Experiment, UK University To Monitor Students’ Social Media To Prevent Suicide

A university in the UK announced that it will surveil student social media posts, among other data, to try and determine whether they are suicidal. The project is part of a pilot program and will reportedly be deployed across all British institutions if it works as intended. Northumbria University is leading the pilot, called Early…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 5

Tesla Is Blocking Its Employees From Accessing an Anonymous Social Network for Workplace Complaints

Blind is an anonymous social network that has been used by tech workers to speak freely about grievances related to the workplace, among other concerns. Thousands of Tesla employees have signed up for the service, but now the company is reportedly trying to suppress its workers from joining the network. Verdict reports that Tesla employees…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 4

Apple’s Voice Control Feature Lets You Use Your Mac or iPhone With Only Your Voice

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote is a time for company execs to stand on a big stage and shout a bunch of new features and changes to a bunch of clapping geeks. While many of these changes are expected refreshes of Apple operating systems, one announcement is a major milestone for the company in terms of…

Tech News Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 3

The Russian Government Now Requires Tinder to Hand Over People’s Sexts

Tinder users in Russia may now have to decide whether the perks of dating apps outweigh a disconcerting invasion of privacy. Russian authorities are now requiring that the dating app hand over a wealth of intimate user data, including private messages, if and when it asks for them. Tinder is the fourth dating app in…

Privacy & Security Melanie Ehrenkranz Jun 3

Internet Providers in Maine Will Soon Have To Get Consent Before Selling Customer Data

Internet service providers gobble up a disconcerting amount of information about you—your browsing history, your geolocation information, your financial information, and a lot (a lot) more. There have been many attempts to pass state-level bills that prevent ISPs from selling this type of data—since Republicans in Congress eliminated federal protections in 2017—but nearly all of…

Privacy & Security Melanie Ehrenkranz May 31

Facebook Screws Up a Critical Piece of Its Anti-Revenge Porn Tech

At the end of 2017, Facebook announced a pilot program that lets users send the company their intimate photos and videos that they don’t want to be shared on its main platform as well as Instagram. Facebook said in March that it is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect that content, and in…

Social Media Melanie Ehrenkranz May 31

Nancy Pelosi Says Facebook’s Policy Toward Faked Video Shows It Is Complicit in Political Meddling

Last week, a manipulated video of Nancy Pelosi went viral, slowed down so the House Speaker’s words were slurred, giving off an appearance of intoxication. Facebook left the video up, albeit alongside a message indicating the video is manipulated and lowering its reach. On Wednesday, Pelosi made her feelings about the social network known in…

Social Media Melanie Ehrenkranz May 30

Melanie Ehrenkranz

Mozilla Has a New Tool for Tricking Advertisers Into Believing You’re Filthy Rich

Wayfair CEO Refuses to Stop Furnishing Concentration Camps: Report

Audio Surveillance Systems at Schools Appear To Confuse Laughter With Aggressive Behavior

Venmo Users Have Feelings About Your Crappy Etiquette

Researchers Send Fake Presidential Alerts to Stadium of 50,000 Using LTE Vulnerability

Claims YouTube Illegally Tracked Kids Reportedly Spark Federal Investigation

The Life of a Facebook Moderator Sounds Even Worse Than You Imagined

The New York Subway Is Afraid of the Humble Vulva

Hong Kong Hospitals Accused of Leaking Protestors’ Patient Data to Cops

California Tests Mental Health App That Tracks Everything Patients Do on Their Phones

Comcast to Pay Millions After Judge Finds It Illegally Screwed Over Customers 445,000 Times

An Algorithm Generated Eerily Accurate Portraits Based Only On Someone’s Voice

Look Upon What Amazon Hath Designed, for It Soon Will Blanket the Sky

In Troubling Experiment, UK University To Monitor Students’ Social Media To Prevent Suicide

Tesla Is Blocking Its Employees From Accessing an Anonymous Social Network for Workplace Complaints

Apple’s Voice Control Feature Lets You Use Your Mac or iPhone With Only Your Voice

The Russian Government Now Requires Tinder to Hand Over People’s Sexts

Internet Providers in Maine Will Soon Have To Get Consent Before Selling Customer Data

Facebook Screws Up a Critical Piece of Its Anti-Revenge Porn Tech

Nancy Pelosi Says Facebook’s Policy Toward Faked Video Shows It Is Complicit in Political Meddling

Circle CEO Addresses Lack of Stablecoin Freezes During Crypto Thefts

This $2/mo VPN Puts Others to Shame: Best-in-Class Privacy for 83% Less

We Just Saw a Full Scene From ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

Sam Altman’s Home Allegedly Attacked for a Second Time

This Memory Chip Survives Temperatures Hotter Than Lava

OpenAI Exec Reveals New Strategy in Leaked Memo: Attack Anthropic

GMKtec G3 Pro Mini PC Gets Nearly 40% Off First for Amazon Prime Members for a Limited Time

Popular Musician Loses Life Savings Through Malicious Crypto Wallet in Apple’s App Store

Peter Capaldi’s Biggest ‘Doctor Who’ Regret Was That He Couldn’t Be a Little Bit Miserable

Some Good News About the Upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled