Thanks to the success of projects like Let’s Encrypt and recent UX changes in the browsers, most page-loads are now encrypted with TLS. But DNS, the system that looks up a site’s IP address when you type the site’s name into your browser, remains unprotected by encryption. Read more at: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/09/encrypted-dns-could-help-close-biggest-privacy-gap-internet-why-are-some-groups Encrypted DNS Could Help Close the Biggest Privacy Gap on the Internet. Why Are Some Groups Fighting Against It? | Electronic Frontier Foundation Advertisements Continue reading Encrypted DNS Could Help Close the Biggest Privacy Gap on the Internet. Why Are Some Groups Fighting Against It? | Electronic Frontier Foundation

China’s “social credit” system, a high-tech operation that tracks and assigns points in relation to the daily activities and behavior choices of its citizens, is being developed in Silicon Valley.

The Communist government’s digital efforts, which have been in place since 2014, to control the actions of the people has been extensively utilized to manipulate them into compliance with their preferred way of conduct.

Reports indicate that it is increasingly common for Chinese people who refuse to go along with what the regime deems as good behavior to be denied the ability to travel by air or business class train tickets, among other things. Thus, if people want to live a normal life they are incentivized to keep their social credit score positive.

Although not sponsored by any government entity, similar efforts are underway in the United States. Meanwhile, talk is emerging of cyborgs and non-human beings taking over the world.

In a Monday Fast Company essay, Mike Elgan explained that private companies such as Uber and Airbnb are employing tactics that mimic the Chinese state. Continue reading Is China’s ‘social credit’ surveillance system coming to America? – The Christian Post

BRANDS INCREASINGLY SEEK to provide “frictionless” experiences—a sense of ease and efficiency that enables users to engage with them on their terms. However, in a small but growing number of cases, frictionless means eliminating cash as an accepted payment method. This is a seemingly minor but significant shift in the retail landscape. As a society, it signals a shift away from inclusive commerce toward what might better be described as the age of the preferred customer. Click link for more: https://www.wired.com/story/cashless-retail-excludes-customers-in-the-name-of-efficiency/ Continue reading Cashless Stores Alienate Customers in the Name of Efficiency | WIRED