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We pursue our stories through what we’re calling The Markup Method, an approach rooted in the scientific method. Here’s how this applies to our reporting of #WheresMyEmail📭: themarkup.org/google-the-gia…
It started with a tip that some political organizations had seen a sudden drop in the percentage of Gmail users opening email around April 2018.
Email is critical to political organizing and fund-raising, and Gmail’s dominance in the email market means that any change in senders’ reach is a big deal. The groups wanted to know: Did Gmail reduce the visibility of their emails? And if so, why?
Step 1: Build. We created a Gmail account and signed up for more than 200 email lists so we could test how Gmail’s algorithm filters political email into different sections of the inbox—some less visible than others.
Step 2: Bulletproof. After we analyzed the data, we sent a copy of our experimental inbox and a summary of the methodology and findings to Google. The company didn’t raise any issues with our approach.
We’re not talking just names and email addresses being sent to Facebook.
The personal information @varlogsimon, @angiewaller, and @colinlecher found included:
• Income
• Filing Status
• Refund amount
• Health savings account usage
• Dependents’ college scholarship amount
Take TaxAct: When we went through the site’s filing process, the information below went straight to Facebook. (The data in these screenshots is not from real people.)
NEW: In cities across the U.S., four major internet providers are charging the same price for drastically different speeds.
And the worst deals were disproportionately offered to lower-income and least-White neighborhoods, @LeonYin and @ASankin found. mrkup.org/broadband
Take New Orleans: Shirley Neville, who lives in a middle-class, largely Black neighborhood, said her @ATT connection left her struggling to join video meetings.
Meanwhile in a mostly White, upper-income neighborhood, @ATT offered speeds almost 400x faster—for the same price.
Across Kansas City, @ATT gave the worst deals to historically redlined areas.
We found the same pattern in every city in our analysis where digitized historic redlining maps were available—22 in all.
So you’re about to get in your car and go about your day.
Unbeknownst to you, your moves are being captured.
Here’s what happens next:
If your car came with built-in internet connection, dozens of sensors then emit data to your car’s computers.
You’ve unlocked the door; you’re in the driver’s seat; the temperature is 86° F; the sunroof is open; you’ve pressed the ignition; a trip has started from X location.
Your car’s internal computers then process these data points and transmit them to the manufacturer’s servers.
When we clicked a button to schedule an appointment at the following hospitals, Facebook was sent a packet of data that included details like our IP addresses, selected doctors’ names, and more.
Even data from password-protected patient portals made its way into Facebook’s hands.
We found seven health systems sending data as sensitive as medication names, appointment details, and descriptions of allergic reactions.