Robots are coming for all our jobs, right? It can be hard not to feel that way given the pace of automation. But if it really is inevitable, are we doing anything to prepare for it? Enter the Automation Readiness Index, a research project put together by The Economist and funded by Swiss robotics giant ABB. It’s a global list ranking the nations most prepared to smoothly integrate “intelligent automation into their economies.” Marketplace Tech Host Molly Wood spoke with Guido Jouret, ABB’s chief digital officer, about which countries came out on top and how the United States is faring. 

This week, Facebook revealed more about the way it collects data on just about everyone. The company disclosed how much data it collects when users aren’t logged in to Facebook and are just surfing the web. The company even tracks people who don’t have a Facebook account. To put the deluge of privacy news into perspective, Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Tom Merritt, host of the “Daily Tech News Show” podcast, about whether this is all just a Facebook problem.   

Many Americans rely on a cable provider to connect them to broadband internet, and streaming and other tech trends are changing the way we watch television. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Amanda Lotz about her new book, “We Now Disrupt This Broadcast,” on the role of cable and the internet in transforming the way we are entertained.      

We’re all being photographed, a lot — by each other, and by cameras in public and private spaces.  As our images become more widespread, there’s also more facial recognition technology that’s used to identify us. This week, a federal judge said Facebook must face a lawsuit over its use of facial recognition. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks with Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology about the value in this kind of technology, along with what kind of harm it can cause.

It’s Tax Day, and if you are one of the 50 million people who prepared their taxes online, you might have seen an option to talk to a real accountant through video chat. That’s because accountants are now part of the gig economy — and many certified public accountants are working gigs with TurboTax. On Marketplace Tech, we look at the need for accountants on demand and discuss how the gig economy is changing for highly educated workers. 

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear a case that will determine who collects sales tax for online purchases. Right now, many online merchants — such as Overstock and Newegg —don’t collect sales tax — which means lots of customers just don’t pay it. Next on Marketplace Tech, a look at the history of why online retailers haven’t collected sales tax — unless they have a physical presence in a state … and how likely that is to change. 

This week Marketplace Tech has been focused on the data economy, and how the practice of trading our personal information for services evolved. The revelation that Facebook data was harvested by a political data analytics firm kicked off this conversation, but it’s important to note that politics has been involved with social media for a long time. And politicians have been experts at gathering data about us for even longer. Marketplace host Molly Wood spoke with Sunshine Hillygus, professor of political science and public policy at Duke University, about the entangled history of the web and politics. 

Congress may have grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week, but generally, lawmakers have given social media and tech a regulatory pass. Now there’s at least talk about the possibility of laws that would govern our private data. So, all this week on Marketplace Tech, we’re focusing on the data economy. Today a look at the laws (or lack thereof) that have been put in place around data and technology. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks with Nuala O’Connor, who leads the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology. 

Facebook won’t stop selling ads anytime soon. But the ad business has changed in the last few decades, and data is at the heart of its new strategy. All this week on Marketplace Tech, we’re focusing on the data economy and how we got here. Host Molly Wood speaks with Safiya Noble, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication, about the evolution of advertising technology and how much it now relies on personal information, such as what Disney princess each of us is.