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How to Quickly Get to the Important Truth Inside Any Privacy Policy
Privacy policies are horrible. They are too long, impenetrable, and full of legalese that amounts to a take it or leave it offer. But the privacy policy is one of the only places where tech companies have to tell us the truth—the truth about what personal data they are collecting, how they share and profit from that data, and at a deeper level, what sort of trade we’re making when we choose to use their apps or platforms.
Help Us Investigate Surveillance Marketing Using Facebook Data
Surveillance marketers are changing how they track you online, and The Markup is joining forces with Consumer Reports to investigate. But we need your help. Companies may now be tracking you in a way that’s completely undetectable by users and their devices. The Markup has done extensive reporting on...
How to Search for a Better Deal on Broadband
One of the first things I did upon moving into a new apartment last November was get a better deal on my broadband internet. To discover what other internet service providers (ISPs) offered service to my building, I used a handy resource that the Federal Communications Commission had just released to the public a few days earlier—a new version of the National Broadband Map. It’s an interactive tool that displays which companies offer connections at every location in the country and the maximum speed for those connections.
The Markup Nominated for Three ONA Awards
The Markup is a finalist for three Online Journalism Awards, which honor excellence in digital journalism around the world. For the second year in a row, The Markup is a finalist for the General Excellence in Journalism award, in the small newsroom category. This award honors a digitally focused news organization that successfully fulfills its editorial mission, effectively serves its audience, maximizes the use of digital tools and platforms, and represents the highest journalistic standards.
The Writers’ Strike Over AI Is Bigger Than Hollywood
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. Last weekend, the double-feature phenomenon dubbed Barbenheimer brought in a combined $244.4 million in what felt like a...
How to Buy Ed Tech That Isn’t Evil
The ed tech industry’s pandemic-era boom has meant K-12 schools and universities are receiving sales pitches for an abundance of new products—from generative AI writing tools and math tutors to robot security guards and lightboards. But with those choices, and billions of dollars being spent annually on ed tech, educators and school administrators say they also have a problem: There is no mandatory licensing process that certifies that ed tech products work as advertised or that they can be trusted with sensitive student information.
The Markup Wins National Press Club Award
Investigations in The Markup’s Pixel Hunt series won the 2023 National Press Club Consumer Journalism award in the periodical and online publications category. The awards celebrate the “very best in journalism” that serves the public. The five stories recognized by the The National Press Club detail how...
Ese Olumhense, Tara García Mathewson, Monique O. Madan, and Soo Oh Join The Markup
We’re thrilled to announce four additions to The Markup’s investigative newsroom. Three reporters—Ese Olumhense, Tara García Mathewson, and Monique O. Madan—and one editor, Soo Oh, will be joining our team. Their journalism will reflect The Markup’s work to challenge technology to serve the public good,...
The Markup’s Summer Reading List, 2023
This is my first time on the Markup mic, so I’ll introduce myself: I’m Michael Reilly, The Markup’s newly installed managing editor. I am not much of a heat person—I tend to melt when it’s really sweltering—but I do love summer. Pool parties, barbecues, long afternoons and balmy nights, and generally being outside: What’s not to love? Oh, and of course, books. Books are good all year round, but there is something special about finally getting that time to relax in your backyard on a warm afternoon or chill at the beach, letting time slow down for just a bit as you get engrossed in a book.
We Asked Researchers About How They Use Blacklight. This Is What They Said
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! I’m Ramsey Isler, and I’m the director of product here at The Markup. I manage the Product...
Congressional Report Finds Meta and Tax Prep Companies “Recklessly” Shared Taxpayers’ Data
Meta and major tax preparation companies inappropriately shared millions of taxpayers’ financial data for years, according to a congressional report released today that was spurred by a Markup article. Our investigation, which was published in November, revealed how tax filing services including H&R Block, TaxAct, and TaxSlayer were transmitting...
AI Environmental Equity: “It’s Not Easy Being Green”
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. From our work at The Markup, we know that adoption of technology so often means that some bear...
AI Is Hurting the Climate in a Number of Non-Obvious Ways
This story was published in partnership with Grist, a nonprofit media organization covering climate, justice, and solutions. Subscribe to its weekly newsletter here. “Something’s fishy,” declared a March newsletter from the rightwing, fossil-fuel-funded think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation. The caption looms under an imposing image of a stranded whale on a beach, with three huge offshore wind turbines in the background.
The Markup Honored by NAMLE for Media Literacy Work
The Markup won the National Association for Media Literacy Education’s 2023 Media Literate Media Award, which recognizes people, programs, initiatives, and organizations in media that include media literacy in their work and make outstanding contributions with national reach. NAMLE specifically recognized The Markup for creating actionable journalism for the...
What Are “Data Clean Rooms”?
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! My name is Jon Keegan, and I’m an investigative data journalist here at The Markup....
Need to Get Plan B or an HIV Test Online? Facebook May Know About It
This article was coreported with KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF. Sign up for KFF Health News’s newsletters. Looking for an at-home HIV test on CVS’s website is not as private an...
The Government Has a Controversial Idea to Track Mental Health Crisis Calls
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, everyone,. On dark days, in the midst of a mental health emergency, many Americans look to a...
The Markup Wins Digiday Media Award
An investigation by The Markup into online tracking by hospitals has won “Best Story” in the 2023 Digiday Media Awards. The awards recognize the most innovative work the industry has to offer. In the story recognized by Digiday, “Facebook Is Receiving Sensitive Medical Information from Hospital Websites,” we...
An AI Diagnosed Her with Breast Cancer. Then She Ran an Experiment to See How Accurate It Was
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. Meredith Broussard is not your usual AI scholar. Sure, the data journalist and associate professor at New York...
Suicide Hotlines Promise Anonymity. Dozens of Their Websites Send Sensitive Data to Facebook
This article was copublished with STAT, a national publication that delivers trusted and authoritative journalism about health, medicine, and the life sciences. Sign up for its health tech newsletter here. Websites for mental health crisis resources across the country—which promise anonymity for visitors, many of whom are at a desperate...
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The Markup is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates how powerful institutions are using technology to change our society.
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