New York Times: As Elites Switch to Texting, Watchdogs Fear Loss of Transparency. “Secure messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Confide are making inroads among lawmakers, corporate executives and other prominent communicators. Spooked by surveillance and wary of being exposed by hackers, they are switching from phone calls and emails to apps that allow them to send encrypted and self-destructing texts. These apps have obvious benefits, but their use is causing problems in heavily regulated industries, where careful record-keeping is standard procedure.”
business
Duke University: Kenan’s Human Rights Center unveils database to track collaborative initiatives on business and human rights
Duke University: Kenan’s Human Rights Center unveils database to track collaborative initiatives on business and human rights. “The Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan Institute for Ethics has helped launch a new database that tracks multi-stakeholder initiatives, voluntary initiatives that involve some form of collaboration between governments, NGOs, and private companies, aimed at improving businesses’ treatment of, and respect for, human rights. The goal of the project is to increase public understanding of an emerging source of international standards for responsible business and government conduct.”
Philadelphia Inquirer: Desperate for help, heroin addicts get ‘hijacked’ to Florida
Philadelphia Inquirer: Desperate for help, heroin addicts get ‘hijacked’ to Florida. “Targeting vulnerable drug addicts and their families, deceptive marketers have been ‘hijacking’ the phone numbers of drug treatment centers in the Philadelphia area and elsewhere, then rerouting them to Florida treatment centers. The ploy takes advantage of a Google feature that allows people to edit a business’ phone number on the search engine.”
Irish Times: Start-up database to reveal Ireland’s tech movers and shakers
Irish Times: Start-up database to reveal Ireland’s tech movers and shakers. “A new public database aimed at providing a detailed portrait of Ireland’s start-up scene is about to go live. The initiative aims to map, track and showcase innovation across the Republic to give a full overview of the Irish technology ecosystem.”
Dear Google: 4 suggestions for fixing your massive problem with fake reviews (Search Engine Land)
Search Engine Land: Dear Google: 4 suggestions for fixing your massive problem with fake reviews. “If you’re reading this, you already know that fake reviews on Google have been a hot topic lately — and it appears the problem is getting a lot worse, resulting in a huge headache for small business owners. Rather than outlining all the issues and turning this post into a huge rant, I wanted to offer some suggestions that I think would help solve some of the major issues we are seeing in the Local SEO world.”
Officially Live: Google My Business Launches Website Builder (SEO Roundtable)
SEO Roundtable: Officially Live: Google My Business Launches Website Builder. “Earlier this year, Google was beta testing a website builder for Google My Business customers. Well, that tool is now available globally for any business within Google My Business.”
TechCrunch: Google Maps updates its Local Guides program with a new points system and more levels
TechCrunch: Google Maps updates its Local Guides program with a new points system and more levels. “Local Guides in Google Maps, Google’s gamified program for getting its users to update data in Google Maps and upload photos of local venues, is getting a bit of an overhaul today. Most importantly, Google is changing how it rewards points and how its leveling system works.”
