More
important than ever: With most people in the U.S. and many other
countries ordered to stay at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, a
lack of Internet access in rural and poor areas is making people feel more
disconnected than ever, according to an Associated Press story at
NWAonline.com. Stella Ashcraft “lives from check to check and can’t afford
internet. Her senior-citizen center, where she plays bingo, does puzzles and
gets lunch five days a week, is closed. So is her church and the library where
she checks email. ‘I feel very withdrawn, isolated, alone,’ she said.
Spotlight on Zoom’s privacy: With many people working
from home, web-conferencing app Zoom has become a crucial service for many.
However, with the increased use of Zoom is also coming increasing scrutiny.
While the company has marketed its service as offering end-to-end encryption,
that’s not really the case, The
Intercept reports. Zoom Video Communications, the company behind Zoom, has
been hit with a class-action lawsuit for allegedly sharing user data with
Facebook, CBS
News adds. Finally, Zoom has pledged to focus on privacy and security
issues, TechXplore
reports.
Homework hotspots: As most students in the U.S. and other countries are trying to manage remote learning, many schools are coming up with innovative ways to help students with poor Internet service or no service at all. In Colquitt County, Georgia, the school district is helping students find “hotspots for homework,” open WiFi networks that allow them to connect to the Internet, WALB.com reports.
No news here: An Internet shutdown in a region of
Pakistan is keeping residents there from learning about the coronavirus, Slate.com
reports. Internet service in the former Federally Administered Tribal
Area has been suspended since June 2016. “In mid-March, a journalist from
the Khyber region … told me that most of the people in tribal regions have not
heard of the term coronavirus, let alone know what it is about.”
A new type of PC virus: A new type of PC malware malware “borrows the coronavirus name, and the filename COVID-19.exe, to scare victims, to amuse its creators and possibly to get publicity,” Tom’s Guide says. The digital coronavirus can infect a PC through a download, an email attachment, or a fake application update. “If you get hit by it, your Windows PC will go through a few steps and pop up an image of an actual coronavirus before it reboots into a gray screen displaying the words, ‘Your computer has been trashed.’”
Learn about our work to help close the global digital divide.
The post The Week in Internet News: Stay-at-Home Orders Highlight Need for Internet Access appeared first on Internet Society.