Tech rages at Trump’s visa ban
Image: The White House

Source Code: Your daily look at what matters in tech.
To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing. you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.
Good morning! This Wednesday, the tech industry condemns Trump's visa ban, the rush to protect a beloved blogger, and how people really feel about online privacy.
(Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get Source Code every day.)
On Protocol: The best way to increase diversity is to work on it like it's a product, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer said:
Twitter added another day to its holiday calendar, head of design and research Dantley Davis said:
Satya Nadella wrote a remarkably specific note to staff about how Microsoft will help fight racial injustice, with plans like this one:
Want to know the fastest way to make your fintech app fail? Plaid CEO Zach Perret knows it:
After President Trump signed the executive order freezing new visas — including the H-1B visa that so many tech companies use to bring skilled workers to the U.S. — leaders of companies across Silicon Valley continued to express their dismay.
Others offered themselves up as examples, as living proof that the visa program is a good thing:
There was a YouTube video going around yesterday, from 2011, in which Dr. Michio Kaku said that "the United States has the worst educational system known to science," and that its economic systems might collapse without immigration.
The industry's fairly aligned on this one, but the question still remains: What will it do about it? And where will entrepreneurs no longer allowed to enter the U.S. go instead?
Protocol's Shakeel Hashim writes: Tech people love blogs — and they really love Slate Star Codex, "a blog about science, medicine, philosophy, politics, and futurism." So when the site's pseudonymous author, Scott Alexander, deleted the blog because The New York Times was about to reveal his identity, Tech Twitter reacted exactly as you'd expect.
Village Global's Erik Torenberg once called Alexander "one of the great public intellectuals most people have never heard of." And with over 40% of the blog's audience in computing-related jobs, those who have heard of him tend to be techies.
Alexander made a compelling case for pseudonymity on the blog, and said he doesn't think the Times is doing anything malicious. It simply sees the world differently. "I come from an Internet culture where you have a presumed right to anonymity unless you do something wrong; I think [the NYT comes] from a culture where they have a presumed right to give your name unless you have an ironclad excuse like being a dissident in a dictatorship."
CLEAR's touchless identity verification is available in 34 airports nationwide. Members verify their ID with their eyes and scan their boarding pass on a mobile device. With iris first technology, heightened cleaning, and social distancing set in place, you can travel safer with CLEAR. Touchless. No Crowds. Keep moving.
We here at Source Code love a good survey. And here's a fascinating one: Okta polled 12,000 people across the globe to see how they thought about privacy, and how they understood the state of things. Turns out, they mostly don't.
COVID-19 seems to be changing things a bit. 26% of the survey's respondents said coronavirus and contact-tracing have made them more aware of data tracking, both good and bad, and many said they're more comfortable with the idea of being tracked for the purpose of fighting a pandemic.
The broad takeaway seems to be this: People don't think or worry much about the implications of what they buy, watch, listen to or look at. But when it comes to things that feel more personal — location, biometrics, that sort of thing — they get skeeved out fast.
The study's especially fascinating in light of Apple's privacy announcements this week, and the tech industry's more general push toward more transparency and information. We can have an honest conversation about privacy and data collection, but not until people understand what's actually happening. And as Okta found, most people don't. Not even close.
Stacy Brown-Philpot is stepping down as TaskRabbit's CEO. She'll stay in the job until the end of August to allow the company to find her replacement, and said this has been the plan for months. As The New York Times points out, Brown-Philpot has plenty of projects still on her plate.
Palantir reportedly added three new board members, including journalist Alexandra Wolfe Schiff, Zillow founder Spencer Rascoff, and 8VC partner Alexander Moore. Wolfe Schiff, who will be the first woman to join the company's board, resigned from The Wall Street Journal to take up the role.
It's easy to laugh now, but the Segway was supposed to change everything. Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs loved it (though Jobs hated the early design), and it became almost a given that there would someday be Segways everywhere. But outside of cops and tour groups, that didn't happen. And now the original Segway is no more. But don't be sad for the Segway! What started with that big-wheeled goober is now built into the tech and ideas behind the scooters, hoverboards and e-bikes taking over streets near you: As part of Ninebot, the Segway idea is bigger than ever. So raise a glass to the original, as it heads to prowl the big mall in the sky.
CLEAR's touchless identity verification is available in 34 airports nationwide. Members verify their ID with their eyes and scan their boarding pass on a mobile device. With iris first technology, heightened cleaning, and social distancing set in place, you can travel safer with CLEAR. Touchless. No Crowds. Keep moving.
Today's Source Code was written by David Pierce, with help from Shakeel Hashim. Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to david@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day, see you tomorrow.