Month: February 2015
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A victory against Bell’s use of customer information
Michael Geist, law professor at the University of Ottawa, has criticized Bell Mobility’s Relevant Ads Program (RAP), saying it “falls short on privacy.” His main concern is that it is opt-out, but he also points out some of the other problems of a telecom provider mining and selling user data. Much is coming to light…
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An overly positive contribution — A review of How We Got to Now
How We Got to Now: The History and Power of Great Ideas by Steven Johnson I have mixed feelings about this book. I am a big fan of Steven Johnson, and my familiarity of his work might be why I didn’t love this book. In How We Got to Now Johnson explores the scaffolding of…
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Pulling back the tattered ethical rags of the sharing economy
Mike Bulajewski has written a lengthy reflection on ethical consumerism singling out the “sharing economy.” His premise: We’re led to believe that as consumers and suppliers for these services, we’re supporting ethical values of kindness, community-building and trust between strangers; living more sustainably by sharing unused property; building community wealth; reducing the power of centralized…