New Media M.A. Research Blog | Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

Make-Up Metrics: The Downfall of the Beauty Community on Youtube?

Since its inception in 2005, YouTube has been host to an ever-expanding community of people looking to showcase their artistic and creative ideas on the platform. With over a billion hours of videos watched every day and with tools available...

By Erika Grimes on 09/23/18 Comments Off

Big Brother is watching you play football

The new football season has recently started again. Millions of people will watch the matches of their favourite professional football clubs live on one of their digital devices. For the first time in history, it will also be possible...

By Auke van de Hulst on 09/23/18 Comments Off

The Elephant in the Room: Privacy and Zoo Animals (and Humans Too)

ABSTRACT – Would you want your whole life broadcasted, without you knowing it? Thankfully, humans have rights protecting this from happening. As concern over privacy grows, paradoxically the trend to watch other animals online increases. Are we biased when...

By Daniëlle Bakker on 09/23/18 Comments Off

CareAI: A Solution for African Healthcare?

The concept of artificial intelligence as we know it today first appeared in 1956, however, it was Leonardo Da Vinci who initially set the stage for the development of this field with his sketches of Robots (Hamet and Tremblay). Since...

By Anja Duricic on 09/23/18 Comments Off

“De Sleepwet”: Why five students are trying to protect the privacy of Dutch citizens

A revised version of the Dutch law on intelligence and security is challenged by five students, because it violates the right to privacy. They started a campaign with the goal to enable a referendum, in an effort to protect...

By Leon Smits on 11/03/17 Comments Off

iClarify: About The Control and Understanding of Our Privacy.

iClarify: About The Control and Understanding of Our Privacy. “I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS AGREEMENT, AND I ACCEPT AND AGREE TO ALL OF ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS” This might be one of the biggest lies on...

By Ilja van de Rhoer on 10/24/17 Comments Off

Weeping Angel: The latest surveillance tool, that can turn your smart TV into a bug TV

Earlier this year, a revelation by Wikileaks called Vault7 refueled the privacy debate concerning intrusive media (Hacker News; The Verge, 2017). The series released documents on CIA activity between 2013 and 2016, showing how the intelligence agency gained access...

By Nina Welt on 09/25/17 Comments Off

The iPhone nudge and the choice to budge

Every time you reach into your pocket for your iPhone (sorry to exclude non-iPhone users) you’re prompted with a security code, unless this feature has been disabled. Your options are entering a 4 to 6 numerical code or...

By Phil Creamer on 09/25/17 Comments Off

Publicism: Breaking the chains of press censorship and surveillance

MEDIA FREEDOM IS INCREASINGLY FRAGILE The 2017 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters without Border (RSF), shows that media freedom is increasingly threatened not only in authoritarian regimes but also in democratic countries. For example, the Netherlands...

By Tu Quynh on 09/25/17 Comments Off

Camarilla: New Concept of Social Media or Not?

Is it not cool to have so many friends on social media anymore? Do social media undermine the definition of friendship? Are we ever more concerned about our privacy? These questions are provoked by the emergence of a social...

By Mari Fujiwara on 09/25/17 Comments Off

The Brain’s Introduction to the Internet of Things (For Neuromancer)

The Brain Logs On Our technological culture too often takes its standard of development to be “marginally better consumer gadgetry” (Williams & Srnicek). It takes some effort to puncture the hype and discern what are the leaps and bounds...

By Anon on 09/25/17 Comments Off

iPhone Face ID: Privacy issues we should worry about

On September 12th 2017, the new iPhone X was introduced by CEO Tim Cook during an Apple event that took place at the Steve Jobs Theatre in the Apple Park. Due to its features, this smartphone is considered to be the most...

By Amber de Zeeuw on 09/25/17 Comments Off

Using Personal Data to buy Art: The Data Dollar Store

Recently, Kaspersky Lab has been in the news due to so-called suspicious activity within their security software system and a supposed link with the Russian government. Both TechCrunch and Wired state that the Department of Homeland Security has “banned...

By Nadine Werner on 09/24/17 Comments Off

World Wide Web Consortium and Digital Rights Management: Innovating Stagnation

The history of “Digital Rights Management” software while relatively new, has been quite controversial. Oftentimes advocates of online privacy and security argue about the possibilities of abuse stemming from such DRM technologies, along with activists and proponents of the...

By Nikiforos Pingouras on 09/24/17 Comments Off

New Google Feed: What about privacy?

In July of this year, Google Inc. delivered a new feature for its Google app called Feed. This addition transforms the front page of the app into a news and information feed, where news articles and suggestions are presented...

By Katliin Soosalu on 09/24/17 Comments Off

“All I need is your face”: Issues of privacy and security as Apple introduces FaceID.

Apple revealed its latest tech miracle, Iphone X, and alongside came a (not-so) new feature: FaceID. Apple suggests that biometric technology is the solution to security issues and personal identification. But in a data-based economy, more often than not,...

By Nefeli Gkoni on 09/24/17 Comments Off

Is Apple our Online-Privacy Vigilante?

Abstract: Apple purports that its new Intelligent Tracking Prevention Technology integrated in Safari browser prevents 3rd-party cookies from collecting users’ data, therefore, reducing online ads, and ultimately protecting users’ privacy. This paper challenges this by arguing that ITP’s functionality...

By K. Abdulghani on 09/24/17 Comments Off