WeeklyTech #97

What we can learn about Biblical ethics from the storyline of scripture

The study of Christian ethics is an underdeveloped area within the evangelical tradition, as many of the resources on biblical ethics come from the Roman Catholic moral tradition. While this is an area that has seen a recent surge of interest in the last few decades, there are several works from past generations that the church would do well to pick up and read with a discerning mind. One of these volumes is Principles of Conduct by theologian John Murray written in the 1950s. While it may seem odd to look back at an older work on biblical ethics given the rapidly shifting culture all around the church today, especially in light of modern technological innovations, many of these older works are not only prescient in their insights but also remind today’s believers that the core of the Christian moral tradition remains unchanged from generation to generation because the biblical witness and the metaphysical realities do not change with the passing winds of culture.


The Rundown

Privacy tech industry explodes – Kim Hart | Axios

As COVID-19 pushed consumers online in droves, companies — from Fortune 500 firms to the corner coffee shop — had to grapple with how to legally handle personal data. The privacy-tech companies who know how to do it have been raking in the cash.

How the U.S. got boxed in on privacy – Margaret Harding McGill, Kim Hart | Axios

Three years after the EU’s GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation) law went into effect and six months after California’s strict privacy statute (the California Privacy Rights Act) became official, the U.S. is still nowhere close to passing nationwide privacy rules.

Senators reveal further Capitol riot security failures in bipartisan report – Nicholas Wu | Politico

Capitol security officials tracking threats of violence on Jan. 6 saw social media posts as early as late December 2020 about a plot to breach the complex — complete with maps of the building’s tunnels and explicit threats of violence against members of Congress.

MoviePass Deceived Users So They’d Use It Less, F.T.C. Says – Daniel Victor | The New York Times

“MoviePass and its executives went to great lengths to deny consumers access to the service they paid for while also failing to secure their personal information,” Daniel Kaufman, the F.T.C.’s acting director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

Tech forgets about the needs of the 99% – Shira Ovide | The New York Times

But I can’t help thinking that it would be better for tech companies and us if they focused more of their energy and marketing muscle on what matters to the 99 percent of people who use technology.