A handful for May Day

A departure from the one-story-one-post approach.

1. “Israel Targets Iran Accord,” The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2018 A1. Israel releases Iranian documents about a nuclear weapons program found in an abandoned warehouse. At least two themes: (a) What does information mean? Did Iran lie during negotiations? (b) Do you destroy documents/information that are/is no longer useful to you?  What does it say when you don’t?
2. “‘Fake News’ Law Snares an Offender,” The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2018 A16. A visitor to Malaysia convicted and sentenced for publishing “fake news” about how quickly/slowly emergency services responded to a shooting. Interesting that the first conviction under the new law was of a foreigner.
3. “Banks Draw Bead on Guns,” The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2018 B1. Banks and credit card companies discuss tracking your purchases of guns.  What will they do with that information? Is there other information they can deduce from your purchases that someone would like to track? Would your health insurer/doctor like to track your food and alcohol purchases?  Whose information is that, anyway?
4. “Guilty Verdict in Autonomy Case,” The Wall Street Journal, May 1, B2.  Former CFO of Autonomy convicted of fraud in connection with the sale of Autonomy to HP for $11 billion in 2011.  This was not some lower-level accountant accused of misstating aspects of a tax-motivated deal. Instead, the fraud overstated Autonomy’s revenue and generally misstating financial results.  The former CEO has also been sued in the UK for damages.
5. “Facebook Shares the Shared,” The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2018 B5. Now you can download any of 25 categories of the information that Facebook keeps on you.  Your search history.  When you liked or didn’t like something.  Which and how many advertisers have your contact information.  How many categories does Facebook have?  We don’t know.