Tech News, Magazine & Review WordPress Theme 2017
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    Eset Smart Security Review

    Eset Smart Security Review

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    Norton Internet Security Review

    Norton Internet Security Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

  • Gaming
    Best Gaming Laptops of 2022

    Best Gaming Laptops of 2022

    Most Popular Online Games in 2022

    Most Popular Online Games in 2022

    Best Gaming Consoles You Can Buy in 2022

    Best Gaming Consoles You Can Buy in 2022

    The Analogue Nt Mini NES Console Review: Play Your Favorite NES Games On The Big Screen

    The Analogue Nt Mini NES Console Review: Play Your Favorite NES Games On The Big Screen

  • Gear
    • All
    • Camera
    • Drones
    • Laptop
    • Smartphone
    15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

    15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

    Trending Tags

    • Best iPhone 7 deals
    • Apple Watch 2
    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • iOS 10
    • iPhone 7
    • Sillicon Valley
  • Computers
    Top 10 PC Keyboards in 2022

    Top 10 PC Keyboards in 2022

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

  • Security
    Cybersecurity & PR: How The Human Element Can Cause Breaches

    Cybersecurity & PR: How The Human Element Can Cause Breaches

    Eset Smart Security Review

    Eset Smart Security Review

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    How To Protect Yourself While Using Public WiFi

    How To Protect Yourself While Using Public WiFi

    Norton Internet Security Review

    Norton Internet Security Review

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
    Eset Smart Security Review

    Eset Smart Security Review

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    Norton Internet Security Review

    Norton Internet Security Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

  • Gaming
    Best Gaming Laptops of 2022

    Best Gaming Laptops of 2022

    Most Popular Online Games in 2022

    Most Popular Online Games in 2022

    Best Gaming Consoles You Can Buy in 2022

    Best Gaming Consoles You Can Buy in 2022

    The Analogue Nt Mini NES Console Review: Play Your Favorite NES Games On The Big Screen

    The Analogue Nt Mini NES Console Review: Play Your Favorite NES Games On The Big Screen

  • Gear
    • All
    • Camera
    • Drones
    • Laptop
    • Smartphone
    15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

    15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

    Trending Tags

    • Best iPhone 7 deals
    • Apple Watch 2
    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • iOS 10
    • iPhone 7
    • Sillicon Valley
  • Computers
    Top 10 PC Keyboards in 2022

    Top 10 PC Keyboards in 2022

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 15 Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    ASUS Zephyrus M15 GU502LW Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Alienware Area-51m R2 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

    Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51 Review

  • Security
    Cybersecurity & PR: How The Human Element Can Cause Breaches

    Cybersecurity & PR: How The Human Element Can Cause Breaches

    Eset Smart Security Review

    Eset Smart Security Review

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    Avast Premium Security Review: The Best Anti-Malware & Cybercrime Software?

    How To Protect Yourself While Using Public WiFi

    How To Protect Yourself While Using Public WiFi

    Norton Internet Security Review

    Norton Internet Security Review

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

No Result
View All Result
ITRsearch.com
No Result
View All Result

Magid: Companies jump on COVID-19, Black Lives Matter bandwagons

June 18, 2020
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
Home News
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Magid: Companies jump on COVID-19, Black Lives Matter bandwagons

The two things you can count on from tech (and many other) companies these days are promises to keep us safe against COVID-19 and proclamations in support of Black Lives Matter. Both are important, but

Larry Magid 

merely stating your commitment is not enough. You have to do something.

Clearly there are sincere efforts on both fronts. If you ask Amazon’s Alexa “do Black lives matter,” she will tell you that Black lives matter and that “I stand in solitary with the Black community in the fight against systemic racism and injustice.”

If you say “hey Google” on an Android phone you’ll get a similar message of solidarity.” Siri simply says “Yes, Black lives matter.”  The CEOs of Uber, Facebook and many other companies have issued statements in favor of Black Lives Matter.  I even got an email from Citibank in support of the movement.  Amazon put a Black Lives Matter message on its home page and when a customer canceled an order and posted an obscenity-laced complaint about it on social media,” CEO Jeff Bezos shared it publicly saying “This sort of hate shouldn’t be allowed to hide in the shadows,” responding “you’re the kind of customer I’m happy to lose.”

While there is nothing funny about racism, I did chuckle at Jimmy Kimmel’s response to Johnson & Johnson’s Instagram post that they will release  “a range of bandages in light, medium and deep shades of Brown and Black skin tones that embrace the beauty of diverse skin,” saying they ” stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, collaborators and community in the fight against racism, violence and injustice. Kimmel quipped. “They are literally putting a Band-Aid on the problem of racism.”

This support is, I’m sure, welcome but it’s not enough. Tech companies are notorious for a lack of diversity in their workforce. In 2019, Google’s workforce was only 3.3% Black with only 2.6% of leadership positions filled by people identified as Black. Only 3.8% of Facebook’s U.S. workforce is black, and that number shrinks to only 1.5% when it comes to technical employees who are among the highest-paid workers in Silicon Valley. Women are also underrepresented in these companies, especially in technical jobs.

All the major tech companies have initiatives to hire more people of color and women, with some recent success, and the fact that they publish diversity statistics is a positive sign, but they have a lot more work to do to show that having Black employees really matters.

All of these companies are donating some money to organizations fighting racial inequality, and that’s a good thing. Amazon, Google and IBM, Microsoft and Amazon have all pledged to not provide facial recognition software to law enforcement.

Last week, Microsoft President Brad Smith said “We will not sell facial-recognition technology to police departments in the United States until we have a national law in place, grounded in human rights, that will govern this technology.”

Amazon announced  a one-year moratorium on police use of Amazon’s facial recognition technology,” though the company “will continue to allow organizations like Thorn, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and Marinus Analytics to use Amazon Rekognition to help rescue human trafficking victims and reunite missing children with their families.”

In a letter to several members of Congress, IBM said that it “firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and Principles of Trust and Transparency.”

COVID-19 safety

The other big story is, of course, COVID-19 safety with many states seeing an increase in the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Just about every business I’ve ever interacted with has sent me one or more emails on how they are protecting their customers and workers. Amazon has a FAQ on how it’s responding. Google and Facebook routinely publish links to credible sources of information on the disease while vowing (with some but not complete success) to discourage people from consuming false information.  Facebook has a COVID-19 Info Center, but there are still plenty of false stories about the disease being posted by users. I’ve seen several posts claiming that it’s either a hoax or greatly exaggerated.

Rating businesses

As states start to allow businesses to open, it’s important for consumers to know which are safe to visit.

Yelp on Tuesday announced that it’s “launching a new COVID-19 section on Yelp business pages, which features important updates, including details on health and safety measures the business has implemented and updates to their service offerings.”  That’s a good start, but it’s not enough. Dr. Yaneer Bar-Yam, who is a pioneer in the field of complex systems science and an expert in the origins of pandemics, including Ebola, has called for Yelp, Google and other sites that rate businesses to extend their ratings to COVID-19 safety. This would give customers and employees a place to weigh in on how the business is doing in its efforts to protect customers and workers. You can watch my full interview with Bar-Yam at Larrysworld.com/covidratings/.

Do your homework

I like social media but I don’t rely on it for actionable information. Instead, I go to reliable sources from reputable news sites and sites operated by experts I trust. I used to rely on government sites, but in today’s highly politicized climate, some sites operated by federal, state or even local government agencies, are bending to the political will of politicians in power rather than experts. For example, the Florida Department of Health site was once an excellent place to get accurate COVID-19 statistics from that state until they fired the department’s geographic information systems manager, Rebekah Jones. Jones now operates the independently run Florida’s Community Coronavirus Dashboard, where she posts available information for every county in Florida, including Duval County, where President Trump plans to make his acceptance speech for the 2020 Republican Presidential nomination on August 27.

Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist.

Published at Thu, 18 Jun 2020 14:00:42 +0000

Previous Post

MaiVERIC Reveals Responsible AI-Based Solution for Public Safety

Next Post

Stanford Hospital Accused of Alleged $468 Million Dollar Healthcare Billing Fraud; DOJ Filed its Second Statement of Interest in Federal Court

Related Posts

Lenovo Legion Y740 Review
Computers

Lenovo Legion Y740 Review

May 12, 2022
Quantum Computers: The Future Of Computer Technology
News

Quantum Computers: The Future Of Computer Technology

May 10, 2022
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
News

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

May 10, 2022
Robotic Process Automation (RPA): What It Is and Why Your Business Needs It
News

Robotic Process Automation (RPA): What It Is and Why Your Business Needs It

May 10, 2022
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Deep Learning: An Overview
News

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Deep Learning: An Overview

May 10, 2022
Top 8 New Technology Trends for 2022
News

Top 8 New Technology Trends for 2022

May 10, 2022
Next Post
Stanford Hospital Accused of Alleged $468 Million Dollar Healthcare Billing Fraud; DOJ Filed its Second Statement of Interest in Federal Court

Stanford Hospital Accused of Alleged $468 Million Dollar Healthcare Billing Fraud; DOJ Filed its Second Statement of Interest in Federal Court

Recommended.

Looking for Up-to-Date News on the DoD’s Cybersecurity Audit Plans?…

Looking for Up-to-Date News on the DoD’s Cybersecurity Audit Plans?…

September 28, 2020
web agency

5 Things To Look For In A Web Design Agency

February 5, 2020

Trending.

How to simplify your post-holiday mission: returning or selling those unwanted gifts

How to simplify your post-holiday mission: returning or selling those unwanted gifts

December 21, 2016
Defentect Group, Inc. Announces Acquisition Strategy

Defentect Group, Inc. Announces Acquisition Strategy

March 16, 2021
15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

July 11, 2022
ITRsearch.com

ITRsearch.com: time for you to read up on the latest IT industry news — and view the best tech recommendations to try. We cover numerous topics from computers, security, internet & more.

Categories

  • Apple
  • Apps
  • Camera
  • Computers
  • Drones
  • Gaming
  • Gear
  • Laptop
  • Microsoft
  • News
  • Review
  • Security
  • Smartphone
  • Social Media
  • Software
  • Tech
  • Wireless

Tags

Camera Dji Facebook Fujifilm Google GoPro Instagram iPhone Macbook Pro Microsoft MSI Pinterest Shopify

Recent News

Top 10 PC Keyboards in 2022

Top 10 PC Keyboards in 2022

July 13, 2022
15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

15 Best Smartwatches With Built-in GPS in 2022

July 11, 2022
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • FTC Compliance
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

© 1997-2022 ITrsearch.com, All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Apple
  • Computers
  • Gaming
  • Gear
    • Audio
    • Camera
    • Smartphone
  • Microsoft
  • Security
  • Contact Us

© 1997-2022 ITrsearch.com, All Rights Reserved.