The hidden cost of convenience: How your data pulls in hundreds of billions of dollars for app and social media companies

Many of the apps and social media platforms you use every day may not charge you money, but often there is a price to pay – your privacy.

Jack West, PhD Student in Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison • conversation
July 1, 2025 ~13 min

Fitness apps can reveal your location – updated laws would help plug this hole in our personal security

More awareness is needed of security issues with tech used to track our exercise goals.

Pin Lean Lau, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Bio-Law, Brunel University of London • conversation
Nov. 8, 2024 ~5 min


How your online world could change if big tech companies like Google are forced to break up

Less domination could lead to more choice and innovation.

Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University • conversation
Oct. 18, 2024 ~6 min

Apps like Uber and Lyft curb racial discrimination

"...this technology has mitigated the effects of driver discrimination on riders. But the bigger picture is more complicated."

Carnegie Mellon • futurity
Oct. 4, 2024 ~6 min

Cuffing season: an evolutionary explanation for why people want to settle down for the winter months

Another reason could be men’s testosterone levels increase over the winter months.

Martin Graff, Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Relationships, University of South Wales • conversation
Oct. 3, 2024 ~6 min

Complicated app settings are a threat to user privacy

Knowing you should set your apps’ privacy permissions might not be enough to protect you. A cybersecurity expert explains how complicated privacy settings can trip you up.

Joseph K. Nwankpa, Associate Professor of Information Systems & Analytics, Miami University • conversation
Aug. 16, 2024 ~7 min

Offensive names dot the American street map − a new app provides a way to track them

A newly released app allows users to search for discriminatory roadway names, helping communities grasp the ubiquity of inequalities embedded in everyday spaces and the harm they cause.

Joshua F.J. Inwood, Professor of Geography and Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State • conversation
Aug. 14, 2024 ~10 min

Making your phone annoying may get you to cut screen time

How can you cut screen time? Messing with your phone’s swiping and tapping functions could make it easier to quit scrolling.

U. Michigan • futurity
May 28, 2024 ~6 min


Billions are spent on educational technology, but we don’t know if it works

Technology is being used in schools without extensive research to show whether it has a positive impact.

Natalia Kucirkova, Professor of Reading and Children’s Development, The Open University • conversation
May 13, 2024 ~6 min

How TikTok’s algorithm personalizes what you see

An expert explains how TikTok recommends videos, the impact that has on users, and how to possibly mitigate unwanted effects.

Stefan Milne-U. Washington • futurity
April 25, 2024 ~10 min

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