NEW RESOURCES

National Security Archive: A Diplomatic Domain? The Evolution of Diplomacy in Cyberspace. “The recent passage of the ‘Cyber Diplomacy Act of 2021’ by the House of Representatives suggests U.S. lawmakers are eager to expand the U.S.’s toolbox for addressing cyber threats to explicitly include diplomacy, according to a compilation of policy records posted today by the nongovernmental National Security Archive. Introduced on the heels of the SolarWinds breach, the bill would establish a new ‘Bureau of International Cyberspace Policy.'”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

NiemanLab: Facebook is going to ask you more often what you want in your News Feed. “Facebook announced a batch of changes in how it organizes your News Feed today, and their organizing principle seems to be: Maybe we should ask people what they want to see?”

CNN: See the complete list of Oscar winners. Also includes the nominees and images for each winner.

USEFUL STUFF

ProPublica: What Forms Do I Need to File My Taxes and Where Can I Get Them?. “For 2021, the tax deadline for individuals was extended to May 17. This list highlights the most common tax forms and which ones you might need, depending on your circumstances.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

BBC: Facebook v Apple: The ad tracking row heats up. “A new feature is being introduced to iPhones and iPads this week which is causing a huge rift between Apple and Facebook. It will allow device users to say no to having their data collected by any app. Facebook has been put in a spin by this because user data – and the advertising it can generate – is what makes the company so profitable.”

ABC News (Australia): National Archives of Australia warns historial recordings, films and images could soon be lost . “While the National Archives has long warned that its collection was at risk, it’s the first time it has detailed specific items that could disappear, including recordings from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, ASIO surveillance footage and original films of early Australian Antarctic research expeditions.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Transparency International: Albania: Alarm Over Indications Of Personal Data Breach, Election Campaign Violations. “On 11 April, an Albanian media portal published a database containing personal data and private information of 910,000 individuals, allegedly maintained by the country’s ruling Socialist Party. It was revealed – and since then confirmed – that ‘patrons’ were assigned to voters who tracked their political preferences. Additional comments, recorded by the patrons, reportedly detail their interactions with citizens, with some instances amounting to possible voter intimidation.”

Sydney Morning Herald: ACCC, Senator Bragg to help small outlets strike Google, Facebook deals. “Google and Facebook are facing the prospect of another crackdown by the competition regulator after smaller independent news outlets raised concerns they were unable to successfully negotiate payment for their articles. Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has separately written to Facebook and Google about the absence of commercial deals with several smaller outlets and will seek to represent their interests to ensure the technology platforms pay for use of content.”

IP Watchdog: Non-Fungible Tokens Force a Copyright Reckoning. “The cycle of copyright law trying, and generally failing, to adapt and keep pace with emerging technology has meant copyright stakeholders have been always at a disadvantage because legal enforcement lagged so far behind innovative infringement. But during a year in which vast swaths of life moved online, the internet has forged and driven to prominence a powerful new tool for protecting copyright owners’ unique assets: the non-fungible token (NFT).”

RESEARCH & OPINION

Wired: NFTs and AI Are Unsettling the Very Concept of History. “The archival world is a world of inadequate budgets and financial constraint, filled with underpaid workers and massive, poorly resourced projects like digital preservation, and the challenging task of digitizing analog materials. Will archives be tempted by the potential upside of NFTs and tokenize digital representations of their crown jewels (or the rights to these assets)? This would worsen an already bad situation, where institutions like our Library of Congress hold physical copies of millions of films, TV programs, and recordings that can’t be touched because someone else holds the copyright.” Good afternoon, Internet…

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