Big Tech Is Watching You. We’re Watching Big Tech.
Maddy Varner extracts datasets from public documents and databases to help build a more concrete understanding of how organizations use technology to predict and affect behavior—and the problems in those assumptions.
Before The Markup, she was a researcher at ProPublica, where she was on a team that won a Loeb Award for Beat Reporting in 2017 for “Monetizing Hate,” a series of stories that examined Facebook’s ad practices.
Privacy
California requires law enforcement to report the controversial warrants to a state database—but The Markup found massive discrepancies in how they’re reported
Blacklight
Such organizations often deal in sensitive issues, like mental health, addiction, and reproductive rights—and many are feeding data about website visitors to corporations
News
The Emergency Broadband Benefit fund was supposed to be widely available, but not everyone is getting the money
Working for an Algorithm
The Markup confirmed 124 carjackings and attempted carjackings of ride-hail drivers across the country. Drivers say the companies are doing little to help
The Breakdown
Companies like Afterpay and Klarna make money when you overspend, but not in the way you think
News
The ride-hail giants are orchestrating a complex PR scheme to sway public opinion to ensure drivers aren’t classified as employees
Show Your Work
New York City schools’ extensive use of screens to choose students is cementing segregation
Machine Learning
New numbers show how many students are locked out by the system
Privacy
Data brokers’ millions of dollars in lobbying spending in 2020 rivaled that of some Big Tech firms
News
The Markup found several vendors selling high-capacity ammunition magazines and firearm accessories on Etsy
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