Internet giants

Technology: A Good Technology or Bad?

Nowadays, technology is viewed as a negative technology is often viewed as a bad. There are corporations who violate our privacy and harvest our data without telling us; personal assistants that capture us without our permission as well as other breaches that expose our personal information. But is it really all negative? The same tools we're concerned about can also make our lives better--from making doctors connect faster than ever before to data on patients to digital bus routes that make transport more efficient. What does this mean? Technology on its own isn't a good or a bad thing, it's the way it's utilized that's important.

The Benefits and Pros and Cons of collecting data

We published a blog post just a few weeks ago on Big Tech creating a platform that would allow healthcare professionals to access patient records. It would allow healthcare providers to access complete patient records that could result in better health and more tailored care. However there's a concern that Big Tech could use the data without people's knowledge or consent.

These kinds of discussions go beyond healthcare technologies. Consider AI that has now become a normal part of our lives--impacting our social media feeds, impacting our commutes to work by offering suggestions for traffic, and monitoring our banking transactions for fraudulent transactions. Many are concerned about the kind of data AI demands and the ways that their data could be used (for instance facial recognition, which could indicate that you're being monitored all the time). AI could help improve the quality of life for us in many ways including aiding people with disabilities to communicate, and monitoring wildlife.

Do the potential benefits of these technologies outweigh the negative effects?

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It's how it's used that matters

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Technology doesn't have to be either good or bad. It’s what culture we create around it, and the way we utilize it. VPNs are a great way to protect your privacy and, depending on the VPN they could also collect your personal data. The technology that's built around the gathering of data can be utilized to significantly enhance our lives with right regulations. However, it is a question of whether there's a push for these regulations that holds groups who violate these regulations--and people's privacy--accountable.

Google and Facebook both are affected by faulty chips that silently cause data corruption

Google and Facebook, both Internet giants, have discovered they are suffering from computer chip failures. This can cause data corruption or cause it to be difficult to unlock encrypted files removed from lock. Facebook said that hardware manufacturers need to pay attention to this issue, and it is due to the huge computing power these companies use.

Google was alerted to the problem when engineers in multiple teams reported difficulties with their calculations. However Google's diagnostic tools did not detect any issues. An exhaustive investigation revealed the problem was due to specific chips.