Privacy

Consumer Watchdog Group Targets Uber

September 8, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="content__segment">In the midst of Uber Technologies self-driving cars increasingly inhabiting Pittsburgh traffic, a nonprofit advocacy organization called on the company to make details public about their autonomous vehicles and answer questions about its program's plans.</p> <p class="content__segment">In a letter to Uber, Consumer Watchdog asked 10 questions and requested four commitments regarding information relating to reports and data on all self-driving cars in Pittsburgh and any crashes that occur with them.</p>

Uber Pressed To Make Self-Driving Service Info Public

September 8, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><i>Washington</i> — Uber Technologies Inc. is being pressed to make public information about any accidents or other problems with its self-driving cars as it prepares to begin operating autonomous Ford Fusion hybrids to pick up customers in Pittsburgh.</p>

Consumer Group Wants Details About Uber’s Driverless Car Project

September 7, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="entry-content"> <p>Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog called on Uber Technologies Inc. to make public information about crashes involving driverless cars that the company is testing on Pittsburgh roads.</p>

How Treating Consumers Like Partners Will Rescue Advertising From Itself

September 6, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong><span class="subheadline">Ad Blocking will cease if respect is established</span></strong></p> <p>Unsubscribe is our favorite toggle in our inbox. Skip, our favorite prompt when viewing online videos. Block, our go-to option for internet browsing. Why? Because advertising's relationship with the consumer is fundamentally broken.</p> <div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin: 15px 0px 15px 15px;">  <p class="caption"> </p>

How a Fatal Tesla Crash Could Shape America’s Autonomous Car Laws

September 1, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<h2 class="dek">What will keep your self-driving car from killing you in the future?</h2> <div class="section"> <p><span class="dropcap">B</span>y the end of the year, the biggest scoop about self-driving cars won’t be that Uber is testing them in Pittsburgh, that a Singapore company has already put them on the street, or that Google’s steady progress shows no signs of stopping. Nor will it be Apple chief executive Tim Cook’s non-denial denials about the so-called Project Titan. Rather, it will be a story about the fatal crash that killed Joshua Brown.</p>

Danville’s Bob Pack On Verge Of Seeing Legislative Dream Come True

August 26, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="bodytext"><span id="mn_Global"><span id="mn_print">DANVILLE -- For more than a decade, Bob Pack has been haunting the hallways in and around the state Capitol, knocking on doors of California lawmakers, lobbyists and doctors' groups, hoping his family's tragic tale would persuade them to pass legislation that might stop his nightmare from recurring.</span></span></p>

Who’s Watching? Privacy Groups Warn Changes To Driverless Vehicle Bill Could Ease Driver-Data Protections

August 23, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="bodytext"><span id="default"><span id="CCT_print">CONCORD -- The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog agency is questioning the removal of key privacy protections in a bill that would allow testing of a driverless shuttle in Contra Costa County.</span></span></p>

If The Age Of Self-Driving Cars Is Upon Us, What’s Keeping Them Off The Roads?

August 22, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>As Google and Uber trial prototypes, the future of fully driverless cars and safer roads should come sooner than anyone thought – but they’re in no mood to rush</strong></p>

Uber Buys Self-Driving Truck Biz, Tests Autonomous Cars in Pittsburgh

August 19, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Just months after its public launch, the self-driving truck startup Otto has been purchased by the ride-hailing giant Uber for an undisclosed amount. According to a Bloomberg estimate, the deal could be valued at about $680 million.</p>

Ford’s Driverless-Car Path Will Run Through Washington

August 18, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><em>Washington</em> — Ford Motor Co.’s ambitious declaration that it will have a fully driverless car by 2021 will require big changes in federal and state laws to clear the way.</p>

Will Cosmetic Regulation Kill Independent Beauty Brands?

August 18, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="inaugural"><a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2016/08/18/51378/will-cosmetic-regulation-kill-independent-beauty-b/">Click here to listen to this radio broadcast segment</a>.</p> <p class="inaugural">A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/us/politics/cosmetics-industry-congress-regulation-wen.html">new bill </a>has been proposed to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to test cosmetic ingredients, as well as recall products that prove to be unsafe for consumers.</p>

Access, Accountability Reporting and Silicon Valley

August 18, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>With the lines between media firms and tech firms blurring, coverage of the tech sector presents one of the most profound accountability challenges in modern journalism</b></p> <p>The first time I visited Facebook’s office in Washington, D.C., I was asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement. I didn’t.</p> <p>Then there was the time I got through an entire interview with a product manager at Apple, only to be told, after the fact, that it was presumed to be on background. “Everyone knows this is how we do things,” a spokesman explained apologetically. Nope.</p>