With the Bitcoin exchange rate going skyhigh (1 XBT = € 2232 at 4/7/17) one could easily forget about the underlying technology: the blockchain. The Bitcoin blockchain technology can be regarded as a distributed ledger system in which the transactions are permanently time-stamped and stored on many computers simultaneously and made secure by cryptographic means.…
The discussion on data privacy continues to be a hot topic. And for good reasons. Our online presence is becoming more and more an integral part of our daily life. Only two decades ago sending mail (snailmail) was protected by a law that explicitly stated that mail was not to be opened during transport to…
A few weeks ago Samsung explained their privacy message regarding their smart TV in a much clearer tone: Samsung is not listening in on your private conversations when watching TV if the speech recognition option is not activated. This statement was absolutely necessary as media reported on Samsungs privacy policy phrase: “Please be aware…
Monopolies are markets with just one provider for a service or product. They are considered harmful as the lack of competition generally results in market inefficiencies at the expense of buyers. Most countries therefore have laws against the abuse of a company’s (near) monopolistic market position. In the past anti-trust suits were filed against AT&T…
The right to be forgotten was at stake in the EU court last week. It also was a classic David vs Goliath battle: the case of a Spanish citizen against information giant Google. The Spanish individual simply wanted to have the links removed that pointed to two pages of La Vanguardia newspaper mentioning a real…
Earlier on METISfiles commented on the smart home concept. While we were wondering whether a smart home is such a good idea Microsoft and Google were moving forward with respectively HomeOS and Android@home, seeking to make a smart killing. Although both are developing holistic concepts for a smart automated home not much has been heard…