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FTC Warns Tax Prep Companies Against Invasive Online Tracking
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned five tax preparation companies that they may face civil penalties for sharing confidential data from taxpayers through tracking pixels and other means. Tax Filing Websites Have Been Sending Users’ Financial Information to Facebook. The move from federal regulators follows an investigation by...
How We Approach Visual Storytelling Accessibility at The Markup
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hello, world! I’m Soo (rhymes with “zoo”), an editor here at The Markup and one of the new...
Plain Text Zine: How We Illustrate Tech (and AI) at The Markup
Read this zine with images. We used this blog post as a guide to writing a transcript that would make this comic more accessible. Cover illustration featuring panels of rough pencil sketches of illustrations that The Markup has published. The center of the cover has the header text “How We Illustrate Text (and AI) at” in its own bubble. Below that is The Markup logo in a speech bubble. At the top and bottom of the cover are the Chinese characters 標記 which translate to “The Markup.”
Private Companies Like Axon Expand Their Reach With Public Dollars. We Want to Look Into That
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. What’s up, world? 🤓 I’m Ese Olumhense, one of the latest hires at The Markup. I’ll be reporting...
Axon’s Ethics Board Resigned Over Taser-Armed Drones. Then the Company Bought a Military Drone Maker
This article was co-published with WIRED. This article has been updated to include an emailed statement from Axon. Less than 10 days after the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, late last May, Axon Enterprises CEO Rick Smith announced the company had formally started developing Taser-equipped drones. The technology, Smith argued, could potentially save lives during future mass shootings by incapacitating active shooters within seconds.
Help Us Investigate Immigration, Criminal Justice, and Government Accountability
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hello readers,. Happy Labor Day weekend. I’m Monique O. Madan (pronounced Mad-din), one of The Markup’s newest investigative...
Solving the Case of the Tricky Timeout Bug
About the LevelUp series: At The Markup, we’re committed to doing everything we can to protect our readers from digital harm, write about the processes we develop, and share our work. We’re constantly working on improving digital security, respecting reader privacy, creating ethical and responsible user experiences, and making sure our site and tools are accessible.
The Markup Wins ONA Award in Technology Reporting
The Markup’s investigative series on internet disparities, “Still Loading,” has won the Online News Association’s (ONA) Excellence in Technology Reporting award in the small and medium newsroom category. The award recognizes excellence in digital journalism focusing on coverage of technology, including pieces that address all aspects of technology, like culture, policy, and economic impact.
Tell Us About Your Experience With Multi-Level Marketing Companies and Tech
Pyramid Schemes Are Illegal. MLMs Are Not. What About the Tech That Powers Them?. I hope you’re well! I’m investigative reporter Malena Carollo, and I’m back to talk with you about an unexpected space where technology is central: the multi-level marketing world. For the uninitiated, multi-level marketing...
Announcing Three New Features for the Blacklight Privacy Inspector
The Product and Technology team at The Markup has been busy with what we’ve lovingly called “Blacklight Summer,” and we’ve made some major updates to Blacklight, our popular real-time website privacy inspector. As of August 18, Blacklight has three new features that allow you to:. Scan...
Pyramid Schemes Are Illegal. MLMs Are Not. What About the Tech That Powers Them?
Multi-level marketing companies sometimes face allegations of operating as pyramid schemes, in part because of how they’re structured. In both illegal pyramid schemes and legal multi-level marketing companies, sales representatives sell products or services while recruiting people to join them. These businesses have captured the zeitgeist in recent years, thanks to docuseries (LuLaRich) and podcasts (“The Dream“) exploring their ills.
How to Legally Scrape EU Data for Investigations
About the LevelUp series: At The Markup, we’re committed to doing everything we can to protect our readers from digital harm, write about the processes we develop, and share our work. We’re constantly working on improving digital security, respecting reader privacy, creating ethical and responsible user experiences, and making sure our site and tools are accessible.
AI Detector Bias and Higher Ed Coverage at The Markup
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hi, readers. I’m excited to introduce myself to all of you! I’m Tara García Mathewson, one of The...
The Markup Wins NABJ Salute to Excellence Award
The Markup’s investigation into internet disparities, “Dollars to Megabits, You May Be Paying 400 Times As Much As Your Neighbor for Internet Service,” won the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2023 Salute to Excellence award in the category of digital media, single-story feature. The award recognizes the best journalism covering the Black experience or addressing issues affecting the worldwide Black community.
AI Detection Tools Falsely Accuse International Students of Cheating
Taylor Hahn, who teaches at Johns Hopkins University, got an alert while grading a student paper this past spring for a communications course. He had uploaded the assignment to Turnitin, software used by over 16,000 academic institutions across the globe to spot plagiarized text and, since April, to flag AI-generated writing.
This Is What Happens When People Start Actually Reading Privacy Policies
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hi, I’m Aaron Sankin, a reporter at The Markup. I’m here to talk about how if you do...
Magic Spreadsheets That Equip the Public
About the LevelUp series: At The Markup, we’re committed to doing everything we can to protect our readers from digital harm, write about the processes we develop, and share our work. We’re constantly working on improving digital security, respecting reader privacy, creating ethical and responsible user experiences, and making sure our site and tools are accessible.
How We Create Custom Graphics at The Markup
About the LevelUp series: At The Markup, we’re committed to doing everything we can to protect our readers from digital harm, write about the processes we develop, and share our work. We’re constantly working on improving digital security, respecting reader privacy, creating ethical and responsible user experiences, and making sure our site and tools are accessible.
The One Page on Every Website That Tells You the Truth
Hello World is a weekly newsletter—delivered every Saturday morning—that goes deep into our original reporting and the questions we put to big thinkers in the field. Browse the archive here. Hello again, readers. It’s Ryan Tate, an editor here at The Markup. I’d like to say a...
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