This week started with a controversial, widely derided meeting between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin[1], and ended with… an invite for round two! And yes, all manner of craziness managed to happen in between.
That includes yet more denials on Trump’s part that Russia interfered—and continues to—with US democracy, a stance that has serious repercussions[2], however many times he walks it back. The Putin press conference performance also prompted concern across the aisle, as senators Marco Rubio and Mark Warner cast it as a major setback in efforts to safeguard the election[3]. For what it’s worth, here’s what special counsel Robert Mueller’s been up to lately[4], and where he’ll likely go next.
The week wasn't a total Trumpapalooza. RealNetworks offered a new facial recognition tool to schools for free, introducing a host of privacy-related concerns[5]. And a company called Elucd is helping police better gauge how their precincts feel[6] about them by pushing surveys out through apps.
Good news could be found as well! We talked to the Google engineers who built Secure Browsing[7], a suite of technologies that underpin security for a huge amount of the modern web. We profiled Jonathan Albright[8], the academic who has shined the brightest spotlight on Russian influence campaigns in the 2016 election and beyond. And we took a look at two tools Amazon has tested that could help its leaky cloud problem[9].
There's more! As always, we’ve rounded up all the news we didn’t break or cover in depth this week. Click on the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.