China Introduces New “Social Credit Score” with the Help of China’s Largest Social Media Companies 

Link: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2015/10/in-china-your-credit-score-is-now-affected-by-your-political-opinions-and-your-friends-political-opinions/

The proposed credit score will take into account not only your ability to pay, but also the extent to which you and your friends espouse political opinions that are critical of the Chinese government.

Peeple, A Person-Rating App, Faces Strong Backlash

Link: http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/10/yelp-for-people-app-if-it-exists-disappears-from-the-internet/

Peeple, an app which allowed its users to rate and comment about people they know, faced harsh backlash in the media and public. Peeple’s website was quickly taken down.

Higher Credit Scores Linked with Likelihood to Form and Maintain Long-Term Committed Relationships

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/06/the-one-number-thats-eerily-good-at-predicting-your-success-in-love/

New research suggests that higher credit scores are linked with a higher likelihood of forming and maintaining committed relationships.

Federal Court Holds that Fifth Amendment Protects Passcode on Phones

Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/09/24/fifth-amendment-protects-passcode-on-smartphones-court-holds/

A federal district court in Pennsylvania held that the Fifth Amendment protected defendants from compelled disclosures of their phone’s passcodes.

EU’s Highest Court Strikes Down Safe Harbor Agreement: 

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/technology/european-union-us-data-collection.html?_r=0

The European Court of Justice struck down the US-EU Safe Harbor Agreement, providing EU data regulators with increased oversight over how companies collect and use online information of their countries’ citizens.

Porsche Chooses Apple CarPlay over Android Auto Due to Privacy Concerns

Link: http://www.macrumors.com/2015/10/06/porsche-chooses-carplay-over-android-auto/

Porsche chose Apple CarPlay over Android Auto in part because Google required massive information sharing relating to the vehicle and driver every time the driver entered the vehicle, whereas Apple CarPlay only required information about whether the car was accelerating.