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‘Ban on downloading is pointless’
The ban on downloading from illegal sources doesn’t do much good in the Netherlands. That’s what jurist and technology expert Danny Mekić told the Dutch news agency ANP. In order to enforce this ban, the government would need to monitor all internet data traffic. That would soon lead to privacy issues, Mekić thinks. Furthermore, to…
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Self-driving cars: who is to blame is not the question
Who is to blame when a self-driving car crashes? This question is posed by Elmar Degenhart, chief executive of Continental (Companies & Markets, March 7), and it’s easier to answer than he implies. Just as in a “regular” traffic accident, the movements of each car will need to be scrutinised and compared to the relevant traffic…
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Privacy panic – Should we rush to delete our Facebook and Whatsapp profiles?
Privacy panic – Should we rush to delete our Facebook and Whatsapp profiles? Or do we just carry on, and trust that no one will be meddling with our privacy and that our data will not be up for grabs? The news that as of last week, Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg owns not only Instagram…
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Tracking devices and counting cars
What’s the difference between seeing a red car and seeing a mobile device, Peter Beijer asked (NRC, Saturday), in response to Bas Heijne’s reaction to the news that Dixons and other stores track our behaviour using the unique signals of our mobile phones. The answer depends on whether it’s a person or a machine that…
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Imprisoned in Facebook
Once anyone has started a social life on Facebook, it’s very difficult to quit again. „Quitting Facebook is like throwing away your own diary”, internet expert Danny Mekic’ says. „You build up something personal that you won’t want to lose any more.” For that reason, many hundreds of millions of users can’t go a day…