Let's learn about The Markup via these 71 free stories. They are ordered by most time reading created on HackerNoon. Visit the /Learn Repo to find the most read stories about any technology.
1. We Ought to Get Better at Recognizing Dark Patterns
Companies advertising online have developed a series of unethical practices that some describe as Dark Patterns, which can mislead consumers on the internet.
2. Facebook Crypto Scammers are Imitating Zuckerberg, Musk, and Bezos
The ads, until recently available for view in Facebook’s public ad library, were frauds that slipped through Facebook’s content moderation process...
3. Does Amazon Follow the Law?
Amazon lists its own brands and exclusives above competing products with better ratings.
4. What Happens When you Try to Opt Out of Personalized Ads
The Digital Advertising Alliance has a website that you can use to opt out of personalised ads. The problem is, it doesn't really work like it is supposed to.
5. A Letter from TheMarkup.org President Nabiha Syed
My dad brought home a computer when I was 3 years old. He hoped that it would teach me things — and it did. I learned to spell in English by playing Reader Rabbit and the Fabulous Word Factory.
6. Who Can Spy on My Kids Online?
What the United States’ children’s privacy law does and doesn’t do
7. Hey Google, Show me Non-Discriminatory Job Ads
Google's advertising system as allowed employers and landlords to discriminate against nonbinary and some transgender people by excluding them from ads.
8. What Is “Suckers List” And Why Texas Drivers Sued Its Creator
A joint investigation by The Markup and Consumer Reports was cited in a lawsuit over discriminatory car insurance rates
9. The Markup Investigation: Congressman Says that Google engineered a “Walled Garden”
Comment comes as part of big tech CEO grilling by antitrust committee
10. Is There a Valid Cause for Using Facial Recognition Tools in Schools
The deployment of facial recognition technology in a school in the US marks a disturbing trend with the protection of identity and the safety of students.
11. Are Time Clock Machines With Fingerprints Legit?
You don’t always have to give your boss the finger
12. Are Students Being Entrapped by Fake Test Answer Sites?
There are fake test answer websites that are being used to entrap students looking for answers during online tests.
13. What is Causing the Worrisome Increase in Ransomware
Ransomware has become a much more common crime online in recent days. But why is this the case and what can people even do about this massive problem?
14. Does Anonymization of Data Guarantees Privacy?
Anonymization of data isn’t enough to guarantee privacy
15. Facebook Peeked at Your Info When You Applied for Student Aid Online
For millions of prospective college students, applying online for federal financial aid has also meant sharing personal data with Facebook, unbeknownst to them.
16. Can I Avoid Facial Recognition At The Airport?
Technically, yes, but it is not always easy
17. A Letter from TheMarkup.org Editor Julia Angwin
Dear Readers,
18. Life360 to Stop Selling Precise Location Data
Life360, a safety app, claims it will stop selling precise location data.
19. Many Minneapolis Uber and Lyft Drivers Were Victims of Reported Carjackings Last Fall
A lot of ride-share drivers were victims of carjacking in Minneapolis last fall. Here is what spokespeople, the police, and the drivers have to say about it.
20. Online Unemployment Systems Are Showing Signals of Strain
Newly laid-off workers face crashes, long load times, and messages offering phone callbacks as states struggle to adjust
21. How Unemployment Benefits Systems Are Failing During The Pandemic
Long wait times, passwords sent by mail, and shutdowns thwart applicants
22. How Are Gig Workers Coping During the Crisis
Workers fight for hazard pay, protective equipment, and better sick leave
23. Over 50 U.S. Gig Workers Murdered on the Job in the Past Five Years
A new study says more than 50 gig workers have been murdered in the U.S. over the past five years.
24. Could There Eventually Be a Ban on Behavioral Advertising?
Could behavioral advertising be on its way out?
25. Why One State's Testing Procedures Vary From a Neighbor's?
We want to know the ways one state’s testing procedures may vary from a neighbor’s, and the reasons why.
26. What Do U.S. Politicians Have to Say About Mortgage Discrimination Against Minorities?
American politicians react to The Markup's findings that minorities are getting discriminated against when they apply for a mortgage.
27. The Concerning Results of Investigation Into Google’s YouTube Ad Placement Blocklist
An investigation by The Markup has shown that YouTube has been surpressing Black Lives Matter-related ads while doing nothing to prevent white supremacist ads.
28. Are You Paying 400 Times More for Your Internet Than Your Neighbor? You Might Be
AT&T, Verizon, EarthLink, and CenturyLink disproportionately offered lower-income and least-White neighborhoods slow internet service for the same price...
29. Why Are Prices On Amazon So Insanely Volatile?
Dynamic pricing algorithms on Amazon aren’t just about supply and demand
30. Official Retailers Dragged Into Battle
In April 2019, fans of the makeup influencer Jaclyn Hill noticed her new eyeshadow palette, normally $38, on Walmart.com for the unbelievably low price of $16.39. Many rushed to buy; others were skeptical: Hill had announced that the palette would be available only through certain retailers, and Walmart wasn’t one of them.
31. What To Do if Denied Housing or Apartment Due to Inaccurate Background Report
32. Access to Coronovirus Testing Will Depend On Your Location
Five scenarios that show the differences in states’ testing algorithms
33. Pitfalls Of Court Hearings On Zoom
34. What To Do if The Bank Mistakenly Reported You as Deceased
Investigate, complain, and maybe sue
35. Already Struggling with School? The Pandemic Made it Worse.
The Pandemic Didn’t Start Educational Disparities—but It Has Made Them Worse. Vulnerable students get hit the hardest via online learning.
36. Algorithmic Auditing: Can We Actually Eliminate Algorithm Bias
Algorithmic auditing got press recently when HireVue, a popular hiring software company used by companies like Walmart and Goldman Sachs faced criticism.
37. Can You Tell What Products On This List Are Prohibited On Amazon?
Amazon is the largest retailer in the world, but a majority of the sales on the site come from third-party sellers. Along with toasters and mops, the site’s a target for people trying to sell dangerous and illicit products.
38. This Online Abortion Pill Provider Used Tracking Tools That Gave Powerful Companies Your Data
The trackers notified Google, Facebook’s parent company Meta, payments processor Stripe, and four analytics firms when users visited its site.
39. New Report Finds That Facebook Still Runs Discriminatory Ads
We found discriminatory ads can still appear, despite Facebook's efforts
40. Are Your Photos Exposing You?
You may be accidentally sharing personal information in your photos
41. Big Tech Vs. Big Government: The Choice is Pretty Bleak
A group of bipartisan lawmakers hopes to pass antitrust legislation that takes aim at tech giants buying out the competition and hoarding data.
42. Can You Speak The Google Language, Please?
The Markup obtained internal documents that coach new employees to avoid creating “very real legal risks” in using words like “market” and “networkeffects”
43. Can Robots Manage Health Benefits?
In an attempt to manage soaring health care costs, some government officials and health care companies are turning to algorithms to determine how to allocate limited benefits, who to provide care to first, or whether a person should receive care at all.
44. How Tenant Screening Companies Can Use Your Speeding Ticket Against You
Estimated 9/10 landlords, under pressure to ensure their properties are safe, use companies like Rentgrow to perform background checks on potential tenants.
45. The Truth About Less Biased Data-Informed Predictive Policing
Critics say it merely techwashes injustice
46. How Geofence Warrants Are Affecting The Legal System
Geofencing itself simply means drawing a virtual border around a predefined geographical area. Data can then be gathered on users who enter that area.
47. How To Make Millions With Unemployment Sites That Don't Work
48. Will Google's and Apple's Contact Tracing Preserve Privacy?
The proposed system is anonymous but vulnerable to trolls and spoofing
49. Reasons Why Your Internet Is Slow
What’s the problem here? It might be you (sorry). It might be the infrastructure you’re working with. It might be your internet provider.
50. How Popular is Right-Wing Content on Facebook?
Facebook has been criticized in the past because many believe they are allowing right-wing content to run rampant on the site.
51. How Facebook Serves Targeted Ads by Big Pharma
We found drug ads targeted at users interested in everything from bourbon to therapy on Facebook, with significant implications for privacy for users.
52. Introducing a Browser Extension to Detect Amazon Brands
Amazon isn't completely upfront with what brands they own or don't. That's why The Markup created a browser extension to help with this problem.
53. What Was Different About The 2020 Census And Its Challenges
54. Facebook Ads Market Potentially Dangerous “Abortion Reversal” Procedure
The Markup has found that Facebook is serving up ads and posts for the so-called “abortion pill reversal” procedure...
55. How Pandemic Testing Protocols Vary Across The USA
56. Amazon's 'Essential Item' Policy Upsets Everyone
Currently that appears to include a 10-pack of rubber chickens
57. Why are so Many Opposing the Right-to-Repair Laws
The right-to-repair movement has drawn an unusual coalition of stakeholders, including environmentalists, libertarians, engineers, gamers, and hobbyists.
58. Testing the Perfornace and Privacy Settings of COVID-19 Vaccine Websites
The government websites responsible for helping citizens get their COVID-19 Vaccines have been found to have less-than-ideal accessibility and privacy features.
59. If You're Ready To Protest Your Phone Should Be Ready Too
60. Allstate's Car Insurance Algorithm: How Insurance Algorithm Squeezes Big Spenders
Seven years ago, Allstate Corporation told Maryland regulators it was time to update its auto insurance rates. The insurer said its new, sophisticated risk analysis showed it was charging nearly all of its 93,000 Maryland customers outdated premiums. Some of the old rates were off by miles. One 36-year-old man from Prince George’s County, Md., who Allstate said in public records should have been paying $3,750 every six months, was instead being charged twice that, more than $7,500. Other customers were paying hundreds or thousands of dollars less than they should have been, based on Allstate’s new calculation of the risk that they would file a claim.
61. How Much Exactly are Podcasts Able to Track us
Traditionally, the podcast ecosystem has been tracking-resistant, in part because podcasters release their shows through RSS, free technology dating back to '99
62. Tell Me Your Secrets: How Many Workers Review Posts on Amazon?
63. How Automated Background Checks Can Freeze Out the Wrong Renters
64. How Many Americans Don't Have Internet Access?
The COVID-19 crisis highlights the costs of the U.S. digital divide
65. Is the Data We Share with Pay Apps Private at all
Using a payment app of any kind, no matter how privacy-preserving it is, always introduces a middleman: an agent that uses data to execute a demand.
66. Tech Titans Hammered By Congress At Antitrust Hearing
Lawmakers allege abuse of monopoly power and political bias
67. Identifying Fake Reviews On Amazon
68. How We Pay For Free Websites With Our Privacy
An array of free website-building tools, many offered by ad-tech and ad-funded companies, has led to a dizzying number of trackers loading on users’ browsers.
69. Allstate's Car Insurance Algorithm: How Insurance Algorithm Was Analyzed
State regulators and consumer advocacy groups have scrutinized Allstate Corporation’s use of big data and personalized pricing in the way it calculates how much the company charges its private auto insurance customers.
70. There's Something Wrong With Google Search Results
The search engine dedicated almost half of the first page of results in our test to its own products, which dominated the coveted top of the page
71. What Analyzing Google Search Results Revealed About Google
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