Marketplace Tech

Tech companies know a lot about us — a lot more than we realize. The recent scandal involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica shined a spotlight on this issue and the lack of control we have over how companies track us online. But it's not just what social networks know about us that can be problematic. People-finder sites, like Spokeo, amass and sometimes sell our info. Marketplace Tech host Jon Gordon spoke with Gennie Gebhart of the Electronic Frontier Foundation to find out how much of yourself you can realistically scrub from the internet.

A self-driving Uber car struck and killed a pedestrian last week in Arizona. The state, which welcomed autonomous vehicle testing with the promise of little regulation, has suspended Uber’s Arizona operations. Uber had already voluntarily stopped all self-driving activities after the accident. Marketplace Tech host Jon Gordon spoke with reporter Jimmy Jenkins of public radio station KJZZ in Tempe, Arizona, to take a second look at how self-driving cars will be regulated.

The most profitable part of Amazon's business has nothing to do with retail. A huge chunk of the internet is powered by Amazon Web Services, ranging from Pinterest to Buzzfeed to Netflix. The thing is, cloud computing is hard, and lots of companies are turning to Amazon to make it happen. But what are the downsides? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks about it with Lily Hay Newman, who covers security for Wired.

Facebook’s data collection habits have been an eye opener for many in the past few weeks, with users learning how little control they have over their data. And Facebook isn’t just collecting data to figure out who you are, but also who you know and who your friends know. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Kashmir Hill, who covers privacy and tech for Gizmodo, to explain the so-called shadow profiles on Facebook.

"Ready Player One," the movie based on the bestselling book opens in theaters this weekend. The story is set in a dystopian version of the future where people spend more time in a virtual world, called the OASIS, than they do in the physical world. The book is full of pop culture references from the 1980s and ‘90s, as is the movie version directed by Steven Spielberg. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Ernest Cline, the author of the book and a screenwriter on the film, about whether he really thinks we’ll eventually spend all of our time in virtual reality.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Russian hackers have infiltrated the U.S. electric grid. That means they may have the ability to shut down major power plants. The targeted facilities included at least one nuclear power plant and other types of infrastructure as well. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with former U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert Latiff about the strategy behind the attacks.

Facebook has seen better days when it comes to its public image. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is the latest public relations disaster to befall the tech giant, and in response, some users are deleting their accounts. But is that realistic? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation about why quitting Facebook is a privilege that not everyone can afford.

Two U.S. senators are asking the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee to get Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress. They want Zuckerberg to explain how Facebook handles our personal information and how it let the political data firm Cambridge Analytica harvest detailed information on 50 million Facebook users without their permission. The last time Facebook was asked to appear before Congress, Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sent their legal team instead. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Republican Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana, one of the senators who penned a letter asking Zuckerberg to testify, about what he’d like to hear from Facebook.

If you’re not Apple, Google or Amazon, the music streaming business is tough. Last week, iHeartMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Pandora moved to renegotiate its costly deals with record labels last week, and Spotify is reassuring investors that it can turn a profit as it prepares to go public next month. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Paul Sweeney, media analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, about why it’s so hard to make money in streaming.

With enough data, could a company predict what you want? That’s the idea behind psychographic advertising: A company builds a profile of each customer and uses it to manipulate their emotions through marketing. This type of advertising is at the heart of a scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, which used Facebook to get this type of personal data. But how far can this type of advertising go? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Alexandra Samuel of the Harvard Business Review about what psychographic marketing really is and what its limits are.