{"title":"Differential Privacy at a TechnologySociety Lens: The Critical Role of Privacy Policies","authors":"Chunqiang Hu;Jiajun Chen;Ruinian Li;Pengfei Hu;Tao Xiang;Jiguo Yu","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3660666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3660666","url":null,"abstract":"The rapid expansion of data collection and analysis has intensified societal concerns regarding personal privacy. Although differential privacy (DP) provides rigorous mathematical guarantees, its practical deployment requires closer alignment with user rights, evolving privacy norms, and public policy principles. This article addresses the gap between DP’s technical mechanisms and broader socio-ethical expectations by introducing user-defined privacy and secret specifications as formalized representations of personalized privacy requirements. Building on this foundation, we propose the policy-driven DP (PDDP) model, which integrates these specifications directly into the DP framework, enabling user-centric and policy-responsive privacy protection. We develop a tailored randomized response mechanism to operationalize PDDP, providing fine-grained and adaptable privacy protection. Experimental results on real datasets demonstrate that PDDP delivers improved privacy-utility tradeoffs while accommodating heterogeneous user preferences. Beyond technical results, we discuss how PDDP strengthens user trust and promotes alignment between privacy technologies and regulatory and societal trends. Finally, we outline several future research directions, including extending PDDP to decentralized settings, expanding supported query types, and examining its role in adaptive governance and evolving privacy policies.","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"23-33"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459451","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147579047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender and Ability Bias in TechMeredith Broussard (Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2023, paperback edition 2024)","authors":"A. David Wunsch","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3662084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3662084","url":null,"abstract":"Presents reviews for the following list of books, (More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender and Ability Bias in TechMeredith Broussard (Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2023, paperback edition 2024)).","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"48-50"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459365","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147578991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology","authors":"","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3667368","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3667368","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"C4-C4"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459420","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147579043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IEEE Connects You to a Universe of Information!","authors":"","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3674296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3674296","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"56-56"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459426","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147579051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World—Allison Pugh (Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press, 2024, 384 pp.)","authors":"Rachelle Linner","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3662098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3662098","url":null,"abstract":"Presents reviews for the following list of books, (The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World—Allison Pugh (Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press, 2024, 384 pp.).","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"60-61"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459414","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147606194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bridging the Educational Divide: A Delay-Tolerant Networking Approach for Equitable Digital Learning in Rural Areas","authors":"Salah Abdeljabar;Mohamed-Slim Alouini","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3666145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3666145","url":null,"abstract":"Access to quality education remains unequal, particularly in rural areas where internet connectivity is limited or nonexistent. This article introduces a framework for a digital learning platform that uses delay-tolerant networking (DTN) to extend educational opportunities to underserved communities. Unlike conventional models that rely on continuous internet access, DTN offers an affordable and sustainable solution by leveraging existing transportation infrastructure. Beyond its technical contributions, the framework addresses ethical imperatives by promoting educational equity and digital inclusion. We present a prototype tested on a university campus, demonstrating the feasibility of DTN for educational delivery. By addressing the digital divide, this framework aligns with global goals of inclusive education and sustainable development.","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"97-108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147578997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Framing the Machine: Teaching Children to Question Al’s Voice","authors":"Savvas A. Chatzichristofis","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3652471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3652471","url":null,"abstract":"Children are already encountering AI-generated answers in their learning journeys. The critical question is whether these encounters are framed with pedagogical care, ethical oversight, and developmental awareness or left to the fluency of systems optimized for prediction, not truth. This column argues for structural safeguards in educational AI: tools, interfaces, and delays that prioritize human interpretation over algorithmic authority. At stake is not simply what AI says, but how we choose to hear it, and how we prepare learners to respond. We, therefore, advocate educator-governed interaction layers that mediate between learners and model outputs by operationalizing delays, human oversight, and auditability; one such reference implementation has been piloted in primary classrooms.","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"15-22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459416","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147579046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine Publication Information","authors":"","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3667302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3667302","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"1-1"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459421","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147579054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution—Joyce E. Chaplin (New York, NY, USA: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025, 422 pp.)","authors":"Karl D. Stephan","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3662094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3662094","url":null,"abstract":"Presents reviews for the following list of books, (The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution—Joyce E. Chaplin (New York, NY, USA: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025, 422 pp.)).","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"51-53"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459412","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147606195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Update Your IEEE Profile","authors":"","doi":"10.1109/MTS.2026.3674298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2026.3674298","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55016,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Technology and Society Magazine","volume":"45 1","pages":"96-96"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11459423","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147579048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}