Heather Kelly

A week of nonstop breaking political news stumps AI chatbots

In the hour after President Biden announced he would withdraw from the 2024 campaign, most popular artificial intelligence chatbots seemed oblivious to the news. Asked directly whether he had dropped out, almost all said no or declined to give an answer. Asked who was running for president of the United States, they still listed his name.

Utah governor signs bill to curb children’s social media use

Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) signed two bills into law that would impose sweeping restrictions on kid and teen use of social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok — a move proponents say will protect youth from the detrimental effects of internet platforms. One law aims to force social media companies to verify that users who are Utah residents are over the age of 18. The bill also requires platforms to obtain parental consent before letting minors use their services, and guardians must be given access to their child’s account. A default curfew must also be set.

Facebook tries to clarify how it collects data when you're not on Facebook

Facebook outlined its data collection practices. According to Product Management Director David Baser, some third-party websites and apps send data about their users to Facebook, regardless of whether those users have Facebook profiles. In return for that information, Facebook helps those websites serve up relevant ads or receive analytics that help them understand how people use their services. The company gets this data from websites and apps that let people share or like posts using Facebook plugins, or log into the website with their Facebook accounts.

Clinton Campaign's 'Trump Yourself' tool calls you a loser, gives e-mail address to Clinton

Trump Yourself is a new site from the Hillary Clinton campaign that takes your Facebook profile photo and turns it into insult art. It's also a sneaky move by the campaign to get your e-mail address and profile information.

When you log into hillaryclinton.com/trumpyourself with your Facebook account, you can flip through the 15 hand-picked insults. Tiny Donald Trump figures appear on your photo next to quotes such as "Hater and Loser!," "Dopey," and "Major loser with zero credibility." It sounds like harmless fun -- if you don't mind being called a "Fat Pig" -- but by logging on with Facebook, you're actually handing over valuable biographical data and contact information about yourself. HillaryClinton.com gets your public profile data, which includes your name, gender, age, and location. It also has the e-mail address you used to sign up for Facebook.