TikTok Takedown Order: National Security recommendations to prevent actionable surveillance of American Citizens by a Hostile Foreign Power (China)

(Uploaded 8/25/20) TikTok is a very popular app with over 1 Billion downloads, which translates to almost 1/7th of World Population. This app is very popular among youngsters here in the USA, just as it has taken the world by storm. TikTok like all other “free” social media platforms, treats its users as their product, their personal data as its currency, and their Business Model is predicated on trading one’s personal information to use these “free” services. The app’s privacy policy says TikTok “may share your information with a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of our corporate group” while

Big Tech Breakup – Considerations and Reality – Our Thoughts

Netflix is an amazing digital success story – starting out almost 15 years ago as a predominantly DVD subscription service, Netflix was able to pivot along the way and take advantage of rapidly evolving mobile technology and ever-improving internet speeds to become one of the largest video distribution networks on the planet. The success of Netflix is an excellent example of “creative destruction,” a term originated in the 1940s by economist Joseph Schumpeter, who described it as the “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new

Personal Privacy – A Mirage in today’s Tech World? Call to action to protect us!

Are we giving up our privacy for convenience without thinking about the consequences? It seems that we all desire data privacy, but our actions often seem to indicate otherwise! We have always been calling for users to be careful of what they post online. My kids are familiar with my saying to them all the time “think before posting / texting / tweeting anything online… because once you do, it will stay there forever!”. It is our view that people do not fully appreciate how pervasive our online digital footprint is and the amount of information (related every aspect

Race to 5G Implementation: Our National Security Considerations need to be paramount

Published Dec 24, 2018 Based on what we see and read in the media, “5G” stands for fifth generation of internet connectivity. This next-generation technology promises unprecedented speeds and coverage with more stability than existing telecommunication networks. This 5G network is expected to facilitate revolutionary technologies such as “autonomous vehicles” and “smart electricity grids” and provide a quantum leap in capabilities with connected (IoT) devices just as 4G enabled us to have applications like Uber. Among various benefits being reported is the promise of 5G to support building of “smart cities” with an advanced network that connects an array

Silicon Valley Tech Titans Succession Planning

Published earlier in Sep 2015 in my earlier Blog – Ported here in Aug 2017: As you may have noticed, some of the original Tech Titans, who have founded great Tech companies and have changed our lives for the better forever, are now slowly planning their retirement. We saw this earlier this year with Google appointing a new CEO while Oracle a little while ago appointed two Co-CEOs. We believe that Messrs. Larry Page, Sergei Brin and Larry Ellision would have considered what happened to Steve Jobs, earlier in the 1980s, where he lost control of Apple to Sculley, and had to

Microsoft: The Boss is back – le bon temps roulette

Published earlier in Feb 2014 in my earlier Blog – Ported here in Aug 2017: You may have seen the news recently that Microsoft will now have a new CEO in place of Steve Ballmer. This had to be done in response to Wall Street angst with the direction that MSFT has been heading under Steve Ballmer. Along with this announcement came the news that Bill Gates will now assume the new role as “Founder and Technical Advisor” and spend considerable time “assisting” the new CEO and the technical teams. Microsoft is now at a crossroads and this was an opportunity for