Markup, The
How California’s ‘once in a century’ broadband investment plan could go wrong
Californians will work to make broadband maps as accurate as possible via a challenge process running from July 8 through Aug. 5. The final maps will determine if the most in need will get internet infrastructure into their homes. But advocates say the internet access maps are highly inaccurate. Only local and tribal governments, internet service providers, and advocacy groups can demand changes to the map.
What Happens to Your Sensitive Data When a Data Broker Goes Bankrupt? (Markup, The)
Submitted by Grace Tepper on Sun, 02/25/2024 - 23:57Los Angeles Becomes First US City to Outlaw Digital Discrimination
The city council in Los Angeles (CA) passed a motion banning “digital discrimination,” which is when internet service providers inequitably deploy high-speed internet connections or disproportionately withhold the best deals for their services from racially or socio-economically marginalized neighborhoods.The legislation, authored by Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, expanded the types of discrimination the city could investigate to include digital discrimination.
Slow Internet? Find Out What Side of the Digital Divide You’re On
Does your neighborhood pay more money for slower internet compared to neighborhoods across town? This step-by-step guide helps you answer that question and more. All you need is a computer, a Google account, and (yes) internet access. The steps are as follows:
Who’s Afraid of Disparate Impact?
Over the past year, I’ve focused on investigating why the internet connection at your house is slow and what you can do about it. Tucked deep in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed by President Joe Biden in 2021, is a short provision giving
How Big Tech Rewrote the Nation’s First Cellphone Repair Law (Markup, The)
Submitted by dclay@benton.org on Thu, 02/09/2023 - 10:48Tax Filing Websites Have Been Sending Users’ Financial Information to Facebook
Major tax filing services such as H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer have been quietly transmitting sensitive financial information to Facebook when Americans file their taxes online. The data, sent through a widely used code called the Meta Pixel, includes not only information like names and email addresses but often even more detailed information, including data on users’ income, filing status, refund amounts, and dependents’ college scholarship amounts. The information sent to Facebook can be used by the company to power its advertising algorithms and is gathered regardless of whether
Dollars to Megabits, You May Be Paying 400 Times As Much As Your Neighbor for Internet Service
AT&T, Verizon, EarthLink, and CenturyLink disproportionately offered the worst internet deals to neighborhoods that were formerly redlined, whose residents are lower income and have a higher concentration of people of color than other parts of the city.