Google’s threat to block its search engine in Australia reminds us how increasingly powerful and assertive big tech is.
Category Archives: Politics & Policy
Government regulation, tech sovereignty, trade, digital rights
Calling time on the COVIDSafe app
The COVIDSafe app has delivered an abject lesson that with computer solutions, complexity isn’t better than simplicity.
NSW mandating QR codes is a game changer
The decision by NSW to mandate QR codes at venues and centralise the collection of check-in data is a major new step in using digital contact tracing.
Decision time for Google in Australia
The $US1 trillion valued Google is playing hardball with Australian media over demands it pays to use their content.
Infrastructure a heightened risk
Australia’s industrial infrastructure faces a heightened security risk from state sponsored hackers.
Wuhan lab records reveal untold deaths
COVID-19 case data allegedly hacked from China’s Wuhan lab suggests the number of cases has been under-reported.
China’s Wuhan Labs hacked
An Australian cyber security expert says the Wuhan Labs in China have been hacked in what appears to be a deliberate attack on health organisations.
News fact checker coming to Oz
A company that rates news websites and exposes misinformation will begin analysing Australian sites from around July.
Sex, lies, video and elections
Malevolent countries soon will be able to saturate social media with machine-written false stories.
Snooping on Google reveals stream of data from our phones
Meet Chuck and Diane, two Android smartphones loaded with software that feed you the information they feed the tech giant.
Parkes dishes up Apollo 11 magic
A big weekend of celebrations are planned for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.
Safety in numbers
Researchers are using artificial intelligence to predict and alleviate natural disasters such as earthquakes, bushfires and floods.
Washington Post expands tech reporting
With newspapers globally downsizing staff, The Washington Post’s move to hire 11 new technology journalists has grabbed attention.
Secrets and lies
Federal parliament passed amendments last month to give Australian agencies more tools to access encrypted conversations.
NASA lacks tech to colonise Mars
Colonising Mars could take much longer than previously thought.
Every move you make
Google may go past seeing what we buy to swaying our choices.
Sex and drugs revealed in Silicon Valley
A tell-all book is about to lift the lid on sex and drugs parties hosted by powerful figures in Silicon Valley.
Mission to Mars takes first steps
I interview Jason Crusan, director of advanced exploration systems at NASA, who is in charge of planning its Mars mission.