Big Tech Wants Points for Jobs
Yes, tech companies are hiring. Here’s why they want you to notice.
Here’s one more way that technology companies are becoming more like conventional corporations: When they talk about jobs, it’s often a political message.
But it’s still odd to see tech companies playing this same game of corporate soft power. This was an industry that for a long time said it didn’t need to do the usual corporate muck of lobbying and courting political power. This was never really true, but it’s gotten even less so.
As more people and politicians worry about the influence of technology companies in the economy and our lives, digital corporations have been forced to try harder to keep people feeling warm and fuzzy about them. One way to do that is to copy what boring old companies have always done: Get attention for their hiring and growth.
It’s a compelling message. Few companies in the history of the United States have hired people at the rate Amazon has recently. And many towns and states want Amazon facilities in their backyards — and politicians want credit for bringing those jobs to their area.
Tech companies are becoming just like every other for-profit corporation. They want to be seen as contributing to society, not just making money.
Many of us rely on our smartphones for our everyday cameras. But our phones collect lots of data about us, and camera software can automatically make a note of our location when we snap a photo. This is more often a potential safety risk than a benefit.
Let’s start with the positives. When you allow your camera to tag your location, photo management apps like Apple’s Photos and Google Photos can automatically sort pictures into albums based on location. That’s helpful when you go on vacation and want to remember where you were when you took a snapshot.
But when you’re not traveling, having your location tagged on photos is not great. Let’s say you just connected with someone on a dating app and texted a photo of your dog. If you had the location feature turned on when you snapped the photo, that person could analyze the data to see where you live.
Just to be safe, make sure the photo location feature is off by default.
To do this on iPhones: Open the Settings app, select Privacy, then Location Services and finally, Camera. Under “Allow Location Access,” choose “Never.”
On Androids, inside the Camera app, tap the Settings icon that looks like a gear cog. Scroll to “tag locations” or “save location,” and switch the toggle to the off position.
You might choose to turn the location feature on temporarily to document your vacation, but remember to turn it off when your trip is over.
Category: Technology
Source: New York Times