Inside China’s unexpected quest to protect data privacy

Digital gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet 

Sponsored by IBM The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology 09.03.20 Good morning! Today: inside China's unexpected quest to protect data privacy, "digital gardens" let people cultivate their own little bit of the internet, and satellite mega-constellations could ruin astronomy forever. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Inside China’s unexpected quest to protect data privacy   In the West, it’s widely believed that neither the Chinese government nor Chinese people care about privacy. US tech giants wield this supposed indifference to argue that onerous privacy laws would put them at a competitive disadvantage to Chinese firms. In reality, this picture of Chinese attitudes to privacy is out of date. Over the last few years the Chinese government, seeking to strengthen consumers’ trust and participation in the digital economy, has begun to implement privacy protections that in many respects resemble those in America and Europe today. Even as the government has strengthened consumer privacy, however, it has ramped up state surveillance. It uses DNA samples and other biometrics, like face and fingerprint recognition, to monitor citizens throughout the country.  It has tightened internet censorship and developed a “social credit” system, which punishes behaviors the authorities say weaken social stability. During the pandemic, it deployed a system of “health code” apps to dictate who could travel, based on their risk of carrying the coronavirus. And it has used a slew of invasive surveillance technologies in its harsh repression of Muslim Uighurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. This paradox has become a defining feature of China’s emerging data privacy regime. It raises a question: Can a system endure with strong protections for consumer privacy, but almost none against government snooping? The answer doesn’t affect only China. Its technology companies have an increasingly global footprint, and regulators around the world are watching its policy decisions. Read the full story. —Karen Hao Read next:    + How China surveils the world   + The FBI’s decades-long fight against industrial espionage hasn’t really worked   + A brief history of Chinese-American espionage entanglements All of these stories are from the latest issue of MIT Technology Review, all about technonationalism. Read the rest of the magazine and subscribe. Digital gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet What are digital gardens? Essentially, they are creative reimaginings of blogs, and they have quietly taken nerdier corners of the internet by storm. A growing movement of people are creating sites that are more collage-like and artsy, and less predictable and formatted than Facebook and Twitter. They explore a wide variety of topics and are frequently adjusted and changed to show growth and learning. But… why? People are essentially using them to create an internet that is less about connections and feedback, and more about quiet spaces they can call their own. It’s all about creativity and individuality. Can I make one? Maybe. While many people are searching for more intimate communities on the internet, not everyone can spin up a digital garden: you need to be able to do at least some rudimentary coding. Ultimately, whether digital gardens will be an escapist remnant of 2020’s hellscape or wither in the face of easier social media remains to be seen. Read the full story. —Tanya Basu Satellite mega-constellations risk ruining astronomy forever A big problem: The growing number of satellites streaming through low Earth orbit is making it almost impossible to get a clear view of the sky. The true threat these mega-constellations pose to the astronomy community is only just beginning to be understood. A trickle becomes a flood: When the first SpaceX Starlink satellites launched last year, astronomers knew the train of bright lights would end up as long white streaks on the images collected by their telescopes, blotting out the actual stars and celestial objects they were trying to observe. Hundreds of satellites have launched since, and their numbers are set to swell to the tens of thousands in the coming years. Is there any solution? One way would be to reduce the brightness of these satellites by a factor of 100. Another is to make the satellites less reflective. But ultimately, any changes will require international cooperation—and for satellite operators to agree to them. Read the full story.  —Neel V. Patel We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Possibly the longest (but definitely the funnest) way to get a ping pong ball in a cup.   + A utopian fiction story imagining the US’s first “climate haven” city.   + The Mandalorian is coming back to Disney Plus, just as we totally run out of new stuff to watch.   + A virtual UCLA event honoring the late science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.   + How a wildlife park in Mozambique is rebounding from conflict. Sponsor Message EDI and the future of supplier collaboration The majority of supply chains are supported by electronic data interchange (EDI) today. Emerging technologies like blockchain, internet of things, and AI are disrupting multi-party supply chain collaboration—requiring more than your typical B2B document exchange. Learn how IBM brings these technologies together to complement EDI so you can modernize your B2B network and differentiate your supply chain. Read IBM’s view on EDI. The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 A supercomputer analyzed covid-19 and an interesting new theory emerged The Bradykinin hypothesis explains some of the weirder symptoms—and suggests new treatments. (Elemental)   + Steroids can save covid-19 patients’ lives, the WHO confirms. (NYT $)   + What the US needs to do to fix the coronavirus testing mess. (New Yorker $)   + Two US health agencies are fighting over whether convalescent plasma can help treat covid-19. (Axios)   + Google searches could help researchers better understand coronavirus. (WP $)   + Flu season is about to collide with covid-19. (Wired $) 2 The Trump administration has told states to be ready for a vaccine by November That’s… not how safe clinical drug development works. (WSJ $)   + GSK and Sanofi have started clinical trials of their coronavirus vaccine. (BBC)   + Gerald Ford rushed out a vaccine. It was a fiasco. (NYT $) 3 Coronavirus tracing apps can save lives even with low adoption rates Every notification can help to stop the spread of infections. (TR) 4 India has banned 118 Chinese apps 📵 It’s an escalation of tensions after an Indian soldier was reportedly killed by a Chinese landmine this week. (NYT $)   + Pakistan has banned five dating apps, including Tinder and Grindr, for “immorality.” (Vice) 5 How an overload of riot porn is driving conflict in the streets White militia groups have created an outrage feedback circuit on social media that’s spilling over into violence. (TR)   + A Republican Member of Congress threatened to kill armed demonstrators in a Facebook post. (Buzzfeed) 6 What if the pandemic made cities healthier? We’ve used catastrophes to improve urban life in the past—and we could do it again. (The Atlantic) 7 These students worked out how to cheat the AI grading their exams It was incredibly easy to game. (The Verge)   + AI still doesn’t have the common sense to understand human language. (TR) 8 Some colleges are not handling reopening well at all Several institutions that opened have had to backtrack, close, and alter their plans on the fly. (Wired $) 9 Astronomers detected the biggest-ever collision of two black holes 🕳️🤯 One weighed at least 85 times as much as the Sun. (Nature) 10 What replaced Silk Road? Digital black markets for illegal drugs are still thriving. (Rest of World) Prepare to lead with innovation at EmTech MIT. Our annual flagship event on emerging technology and trends is going online. Join us as we examine the technology driving and the forces influencing our digital world: AI, biomedicine, cybersecurity, diversity, equality, global-scale technology, and more. Register now. Take a stand “I thought, well, now that explains things.” —Freelance journalist Colin Munro Wood tells the New York Times how he felt when he learned he was working for a news organization that was a front for Russian influence operation. Top image credit: KEVIN FRAYER | GETTY IMAGES Please send ping pong balls to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up for free Don't settle for half the story. Subscribe to MIT Technology Review today. *View this in a browser You received this newsletter because you subscribed with your email address *Edit email preferences   |   *Unsubscribe from all emails                                         Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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