Louise Matsakis

Cell phone signal boosters are powerful devices. Installed in a home or office, they can potentially amplify one signal bar into five. In rural areas with poor cell coverage, or in buildings where signals have trouble penetrating, they can be lifesavers, providing reliable access to communication networks and emergency services. But boosters also have a dark side: if misconfigured or poorly manufactured, they can knock out service for everyone who happens to be nearby. That’s why the Federal Communications Commission began regulating the devices in 2014.

President Donald Trump lobbed another attack against Twitter on its own platform, calling the company “very discriminatory” and saying “they don’t treat me well as a Republican." It turns out the President was scheduled to meet Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Twitter policy head Vijaya Gadde notified employees that their boss was supposed to meet with President Trump in a 30-minute, closed-door meeting. Later the President tweeted, "Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter.

Twitter announced a new policy addressing “dehumanizing speech,” which will take effect later in 2018, and for the first time the public will be able to formally provide the company with feedback on the proposed rule.

A host of companies believe, rather than fiber optic cables, the better way to connect the estimated half of Earth’s population that’s still offline is to launch “constellations” of smaller satellites into low Earth orbit, around 100 to 1,250 miles above our planet. Facebook is officially one of them.  Emails between the company and the Federal Communications Commission show that Facebook wants to launch Athena, its very own internet satellite, in early 2019.

Every time you visit a website, you leave behind a trail of information, including seemingly innocuous data, like whether you use an Android or Apple device. And while that might feel like a mere personal preference, it turns out that lenders can use that type of passive signal to help predict whether you'll default. In fact, new research suggests that those signals can predict consumer behavior as accurately as traditional credit scores. That could disrupt the traditional credit bureau industry that's dominated since the 1980s—and have serious ramifications for privacy.