User entity behavior analytics

Silicon Valley giants are drawing battle lines over personal data collection practices and targeted ads as the threat of regulation looms. As Apple presses ahead with plans to give users greater control over their privacy, companies like Facebook and Google have aligned themselves over the latter's more measured approach to scaling back tracking features. In what was billed as the latest step toward data privacy, Google announced this week that it would not replace its tracking features used for personalized ads once it phases out its existing method. ADVERTISEMENT That move came after Apple drew Facebook's ire with its own anticipated anti-tracking feature, which could significantly affect the social media giant's revenue given its reliance on targeted ads. Experts and pro-privacy advocates say that while Google’s update may be a small step toward giving users more control over their data protection, the change may hurt Google’s rivals more than the company itself. … [Read more...] about Tech giants in brewing battle over tracking, ads

The Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol has renewed calls for federal domestic terrorism statutes akin to existing laws targeting foreign terrorist groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda. Similar demands were made in the aftermath of Robert Bowers’s anti-Semitic attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. At the time, some legal experts argued that it was a moral imperative to label domestic violent extremists as terrorists equal to Islamist extremists. Following the 2019 mass shooting perpetrated by Patrick Crusius at an El Paso Walmart, several law enforcement officers also sought a federal domestic terrorism rule. Such calls for enhanced legal authority may seem understandable when viewed in the context of the aftermath of senseless, tragic attacks. However, U.S. laws treat foreign perpetrators of violent extremism and domestic perpetrators differently for good reason — namely, protections granted to U.S. citizens under the Constitution make aspects of foreign terrorism laws unworkable … [Read more...] about We cannot let fear create a new PATRIOT Act for Americans

Photo-Illustration: retailers We write about hundreds of products a week. Here, in our version of the Sunday circular, we’ve plucked out some of our favorites — expert-recommended essentials , life-changing stuff you didn’t know you needed, newly launched gizmos, and the very good deals we uncovered while trolling the vast online-shopping universe this past week, including Jenny Han’s secret seasoning for at-home movie-theater popcorn, a Goldilocksian notebook for every type of journaler, and 11 items to support organizations supporting the AAPI community. Vornado Velocity 3R Whole Room Space Heater $80 $80 Though there’s lots of different ways to work out at home, “if you’re a hot-yoga devotee, you’ve probably found it a bit more difficult to duplicate the feel of your sweltering studio,” writes Karen Iorio Adelson. And though there have been accounts of yogis taking extreme measures to achieve the studio heat, Karen … [Read more...] about 11 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Space Heaters to a ‘Soothing’ Salad Bowl

Photo-Illustration: Megan Paetzhold. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Everyone has had a co-worker who aggravates them, who posts on social media constantly and keeps on forcing awkward conversations about conspiracy theories. But what happens when your office is the House of Representatives? That’s the challenge for the 434 other members of Congress, who now have to spend the next two years working alongside Marjorie Taylor Greene. “Whenever I see her in the Capitol, she is trailed by staffers with cell-phone videos rolling as she spews her stream of consciousness for social media followers. It is the show all the time,” said Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat. “I’m sure [other members] are really nice to her, but as for me I haven’t said a word to her, and I don’t really care to,” said Adam Kinzinger, a Republican Trump critic from Illinois who has engaged online with Greene. Marie Newman, a Democrat and fellow freshman from … [Read more...] about No One Likes Marjorie Taylor Greene, But Can Anyone Stop Her?

If you want to get a gander as to where our narcissistic, snowflake culture is at these days, actress Kelly Marie Tran just scored a full-blown Hollywood Reporter cover story for — get this — “surviving” mean tweets. You remember Kelly Marie Tran, the poor woman stuck with that awful Rose Tico role in 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rose Tico is not Tran’s fault. She didn’t create that dreadful, humorless, self-righteous character. Nor is it her fault that director Rian Johnson thought it would be appealing to have her spend the entire movie walking around with a smug face — a face that would be deemed “punchable” on a man. Nevertheless, the unfair world being what it is, she was still hit with some of the blowback, and now we’re being asked to celebrate her fearlessness for “surviving” mean tweets. Here are some lowlights in an article titled: “The Resurrection of Kelly Marie Tran: On Surviving ‘Star Wars’ Bullying, the Pressures of Representation, and ‘Raya and the … [Read more...] about Nolte: Rich, Privileged Kelly Marie Tran Hailed for ‘Surviving’ Mean Tweets