Activity

In April 2018, Cloudflare launched 1.1.1.1, a free public DNS resolver with a strong privacy commitment: no logging of user IP addresses, no selling of data, and independent audits by KPMG to verify compliance. The service was designed as a privacy-focused alternative to ISP and Google DNS resolvers.

In April 2018, Chegg suffered a massive data breach exposing 40 million users' names, emails, addresses, and passwords - with 25 million passwords stored in plain text. The breach also exposed sensitive scholarship data including sexual orientation and disabilities. FTC investigation revealed Chegg had no written security policy, used weak encryption, shared a single AWS admin key across employees/contractors, and required no MFA for database access.

Whistleblower Christopher Wylie testified to UK Parliament in March 2018 that a Palantir employee helped Cambridge Analytica develop its strategy for harvesting Facebook user data. Wylie stated 'senior Palantir employees would come into the office and work on the data.' Palantir initially denied any relationship, then revised its statement acknowledging an employee 'engaged in an entirely personal capacity' with Cambridge Analytica in 2013-2014. The scandal involved improper access to 87 million Facebook users' data.

On March 18, 2018, an Uber self-driving test vehicle (modified Volvo XC90) struck and killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona, at 45 mph. This was the first recorded pedestrian fatality involving a self-driving car. NTSB found the vehicle's software failed to classify Herzberg as a pedestrian (cycling through 'unknown object', 'vehicle', and 'bicycle'), and Uber had disabled Volvo's automatic emergency braking. The safety driver was watching TV on her phone. NTSB cited Uber's inadequate safety culture, lack of formal safety plan, and reduction from two to one test drivers per vehicle.

On March 18, 2018, an Uber autonomous test vehicle struck and killed Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona — the first known pedestrian fatality involving a self-driving car. The NTSB investigation revealed the vehicle's software detected Herzberg 6 seconds before impact but failed to classify her as a pedestrian or predict her path. The investigation found a 'lax attitude toward safety' at Uber's self-driving division, including disabled emergency braking. The backup driver pleaded guilty to endangerment in 2023.

In March 2018, it was revealed that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users without consent via a personality quiz app. Facebook had known about the misuse since 2015 but took no public action. The data was used for political targeting in the 2016 US presidential election. The scandal wiped over $100 billion from Facebook's market value and led to Zuckerberg testifying before Congress.

Cambridge Analytica harvested data from 87 million Facebook users without consent through a third-party app, using it for political targeting in 2016 election. When Facebook learned of the breach in 2015, Zuckerberg took Cambridge Analytica's word they deleted the data without verification and failed to notify the FTC or affected users. In April 2018 Congressional testimony, Zuckerberg admitted personal responsibility for the failures. Facebook received a record $5 billion FTC fine, $100 million SEC fine for misleading investors, and a $725 million class action settlement.

Data scientist Aleksandr Kogan's app 'This Is Your Digital Life' collected data from 87 million Facebook users (70.6M in US) without explicit consent in 2013-2014. Data sold to Cambridge Analytica and used for psychographic profiling in 2016 Trump and Cruz presidential campaigns. Facebook learned of misuse in 2015 but only asked for deletion without verification. Whistleblower Christopher Wylie exposed scandal in March 2018. Resulted in $5B FTC fine (largest ever privacy penalty), $100M SEC fine, Mark Zuckerberg Congressional testimony. Evidence showed targeted voter suppression of Black voters. Facebook misled investors about risks for 2+ years despite knowing about breach.

In March 2018, the SEC charged Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, and Sunny Balwani with raising more than $700 million through an elaborate years-long fraud involving false statements about the company's technology, business, and financial performance. Holmes settled with the SEC for $500,000 penalty and 10-year officer/director bar. In January 2022, Holmes was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit investor fraud and three counts of wire fraud involving $140 million. She was sentenced to 135 months (11 years, 3 months) in prison in November 2022, with $452 million in restitution ordered. Balwani was convicted on all 12 counts and sentenced to nearly 13 years.

Berners-Lee has been a consistent critic of Big Tech's business models. In 2018, he suggested Facebook and Google 'may have to be broken up' due to their market dominance. In 2025, he criticized the attention economy: 'The web is being hijacked from an intention economy to an attention economy. The user has been reduced to a consumable product for the advertiser.' He has also stated: 'When you make an addictive algorithm you know what you're doing.'

From 2013-2025, IBM systematically discriminated against older workers through 'Resource Actions' layoffs that targeted employees over 40. ProPublica investigation (2018) revealed IBM ousted an estimated 20,000 U.S. workers ages 40+ over five years. EEOC determined in August 2020 that IBM engaged in systematic age discrimination with 'top-down messaging from IBM's highest ranks' directing managers to reduce headcount of older workers. EEOC found over 85% of those targeted for layoff were older workers. Court documents revealed 'dinobabies' emails from executives including CEO Ginny Rometty and SVP Diane Gherson discussing plans to make older employees 'extinct species' and citing older women as 'dated maternal workforce.' Multiple class-action lawsuits and settlements followed, with discrimination continuing through 2025 layoffs and return-to-office mandates used as 'soft layoffs.'

Gebru co-authored the influential 'Datasheets for Datasets' paper proposing that every dataset used for AI training be accompanied by documentation about how data was gathered, its limitations, and how it should or should not be used. The framework became an industry standard practice adopted by major AI organizations to improve data transparency and reduce bias in AI systems.

Between 2012 and 2018, the New Orleans Police Department covertly used Palantir's predictive policing software, which analyzed criminal records, social media activity, and gang affiliations to identify potential crime risks. The program operated under the guise of a philanthropic partnership through the NOLA For Life initiative, circumventing normal procurement procedures and public oversight. The secret nature of the deployment prevented any democratic accountability or public debate about the use of surveillance technology.

Naval Ravikant has publicly opposed universal basic income and direct democracy wealth redistribution, stating: 'A basic income plus a direct democracy would essentially lead to a complete economic collapse into socialism, because the moment that the bottom 51 percent figures out they can vote themselves all the money from the top 49 percent, that's what happens.' His philosophy emphasizes individual skill-building and technology leverage over systemic wealth redistribution mechanisms.

Gebru co-authored the landmark Gender Shades study with Joy Buolamwini at MIT, which found that commercial facial recognition systems had error rates of over 34% for darker-skinned women compared to less than 1% for lighter-skinned men. The research led to significant industry changes, including Microsoft retiring gender classification in Azure Face API and IBM discontinuing general-purpose facial recognition.

In January 2018, Sandberg asked Facebook communications staff to investigate George Soros's finances days after he criticized Facebook at the World Economic Forum. Facebook hired Definers Public Affairs to push stories painting the anti-Facebook movement as a Soros-backed effort, despite Soros being the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

In now-deleted Facebook posts from 2018 and before the 2024 election, Dario Amodei compared Trump to a 'feudal warlord', called him a 'serious and legitimate threat to the rule of law', said Trump 'appoints idiots to important government positions', and urged Americans to 'vote against this clown'.

Xiaomi faced multiple complaints for failing to release kernel source code for its devices as required by GPL licensing, violating open source community norms and legal requirements.

The Internet Archive partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation to identify and fix broken links across Wikipedia. The project has repaired more than 28 million broken links and added 4.2 million new links to books and academic papers, ensuring citations remain verifiable.

According to a November 2021 Wall Street Journal investigation, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of multiple sexual misconduct allegations at the company, some of which he withheld from its board. In 2018, Kotick was informed via email that a female Sledgehammer Games employee had been raped by a male supervisor in 2016 and pressured to drink excessively at work events in 2017. The victim reached an out-of-court settlement with Activision, but Kotick did not tell the board of directors anything about the settlement or alleged rape. The board was blindsided by the California lawsuit's allegations and questioned Kotick about what he knew and why they hadn't been better informed.

At a Singapore technology conference, Pony Ma defended government internet censorship, stating: 'In terms of information security management, online companies from any country must abide by a defined set of criteria, and act responsibly. Otherwise it might lead to hearsay, libel and argument among citizens—not to mention between countries. That's why the need for online management is increasingly urgent.'

In 2018, Pony Ma was appointed Vice President of the China Federation of Internet Societies, a government-directed organization under the Cyberspace Administration of China. The organization is committed to 'implement the spirit of Xi Jinping's Strategic Thought on Building a Cyber Superpower,' further integrating Tencent's leadership with CCP digital governance objectives.

In 2018, Huawei signed agreement with Xinjiang Public Security Bureau for creation of 'intelligent security industry' hub. The company partnered on a 'joint innovation lab' focused on policing technologies. Internal documents reveal Huawei tested facial recognition systems capable of flagging Uyghurs in crowds for the bureau responsible for mass surveillance in the region.

In 2018, Stripe donated $1 million to California YIMBY, a pro-housing development lobbying organization. CEO Patrick Collison said the donation was made 'because we think broad policy change will make the most meaningful, widespread and long-term difference in the state's housing crisis, by allowing developers to build more housing – specifically lower-cost, higher-density housing.'

Fairphone established partnerships with e-waste recycling organizations in Ghana and other African countries to collect and properly recycle electronic waste. For every Fairphone sold, the company ensures that an equivalent amount of e-waste is responsibly recycled, addressing the environmental justice issue of electronic waste dumping in developing countries.

Despite widespread use and privacy advocates calling E2E encryption essential, Slack has never offered end-to-end encryption. In 2018, Slack's CISO stated paying customers were more interested in enterprise key management than E2E encryption. Slack encrypts data in transit and at rest but data remains accessible to Slack's systems and personnel, with workspace owners able to monitor all chats including private ones.

Noctua offers industry-leading product longevity: all fans rated at 150,000+ hours MTTF (approximately 17 years continuous operation) with 6-year manufacturer warranty requiring no product registration. The company provides free mounting upgrade kits enabling coolers to work across multiple CPU platform generations, directly combating planned obsolescence. Uses proprietary Sterrox liquid crystal polymer for durability.

Between 2015 and 2018, investigations found Cloudflare provided cybersecurity services to websites affiliated with designated terrorist organizations. In 2015, Congressional testimony revealed two of the top three ISIS chat forums used Cloudflare. In 2018, HuffPost documented Cloudflare servicing at least 7 US-designated terrorist groups including Al-Shabaab, Taliban, Hamas, and PKK. Cloudflare stated its position was based on legal obligations rather than moral judgment.

In 2018, Naval Ravikant co-founded Spearhead with Jeff Fagnan, an angel investment program that provides successful startup founders with $2M funds to invest as angel investors. The program removes the wealth barrier to angel investing, enabling founders with domain expertise but limited personal liquidity to participate. Across five cohorts, 81 Spearhead leads have invested $112 million into 794 startups, generating $4 billion in follow-on funding. Non-accredited investors can participate.

Palantir provided predictive policing software to the Los Angeles Police Department that designated 'chronic offenders' and generated bulletins for targeted enforcement. Analysis showed the system disproportionately targeted minority neighborhoods, with those flagged being 53% Latino and 31% Black. Criminologists found the system amplified existing racial biases in policing data, essentially automating historical injustices rather than providing neutral analysis.