Will this eventually become a standard for all organizations?

https://www.databreaches.net/us-regulators-order-banks-to-report-cyberattacks-within-36-hours/

US regulators order banks to report cyberattacks within 36 hours

Sergiu Gatlan reports:

US federal bank regulatory agencies have approved a new rule ordering banks to notify their primary federal regulators of significant computer-security incidents within 36 hours.

Banks are only required to report major cyberattacks if they have or will likely impact their operations, the ability to deliver banking products and services, or the US financial sector’s stability.

Bank service providers will also have to notify customers “as soon as possible” if a cyberattack has materially affected or will likely affect the customers for four or more hours.

Read more on BleepingComputer.

The government notice:

Federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the approval of a final rule to improve the sharing of information about cyber incidents that may affect the U.S. banking system. The final rule requires a banking organization to notify its primary federal regulator of any significant computer-security incident as soon as possible and no later than 36 hours after the banking organization determines that a cyber incident has occurred. Notification is required for incidents that have materially affected—or are reasonably likely to materially affect—the viability of a banking organization’s operations, its ability to deliver banking products and services, or the stability of the financial sector.

In addition, the final rule requires a bank service provider to notify affected banking organization customers as soon as possible when the provider determines that it has experienced a computer-security incident that has materially affected or is reasonably likely to materially affect banking organization customers for four or more hours.

Compliance with the final rule is required by May 1, 2022.

Final Rule on Computer-Security Incident Notification Requirements for Banking Organizations and Their Bank Service Providers

Interesting, but it sounds like we are still playing catch-up. Or perhaps this is just a ‘feel good’ interview.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/whats-stake-security-nation-nsa-chief-defending-us/story?id=81258606

'What's at stake is obviously the security of our nation,' NSA chief says of defending US from cyberattacks

… The surge of ransomware is a national security issue, Nakasone said, adding that if you asked him a year ago what he thought about the response, he'd say it was a criminal matter.

(Related)

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/suspected-chinese-cyber-espionage-campaign-breached-nine-and-targeted-370-critical-organizations/

Suspected Chinese Cyber Espionage Campaign Breached Nine and Targeted 370 Critical Organizations

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers discovered that a hacking group with ties to China breached at least nine organizations in a global cyber espionage campaign.

The report indicated that attackers indiscriminately targeted about 370 organizations in the defense, healthcare, education, technology, and energy sectors.

A corollary to “we can, therefore we must!” If we are not sure what we should do, we should do everything we can and sort out the legal stuff later.

https://www.pogowasright.org/warrant-not-needed-for-moravian-college-students-school-wifi-records-in-robbery-case-court-rules/

Warrant not needed for Moravian College student’s school WiFi records in robbery case, court rules

Sarah Cassi reports:

A Moravian College student convicted of an armed robbery on campus did not have his constitutional rights violated when police collected his on-campus WiFi connection records without a warrant, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

In a 5-2 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court panel said Alkiohn Dunkins relinquished any purported expectation of privacy for his WiFi connection records and did so voluntarily when he agreed to the school’s WiFi usage terms and signed a school computing resources policy.

Read more on Lehigh Valley Live.

I am still working my way through the opinion and concurring and dissenting opinions, but the issues raised in this case are of nationwide concern and deserve serious consideration by the U.S. Department of Education and Congress to redefine or clarify exactly what is an “education record” under FERPA and whether students can be required to waive any rights in order to avail themselves of campus wide internet or other services. It also has significant implications for constitutional protections that would apply to criminal investigations and prosecutions.

There really is a lot here and side-stepping issues by basically saying, “Look, the students were told to read the handbook, the handbook told them that if they opted to automatically connect to campus wifi, they have no expectation of privacy, and the students signed waivers and statements that they understood this” puts a burden on college students that even older adults would have problems with — wading through TOS and really providing free and informed consent.

Related: Opinion
Related: Concurring and Dissenting Opinions

Start small, grow to Panamax and beyond?

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-electric-autonomous-cargo-ship-norway.html

First electric autonomous cargo ship launched in Norway

… By shipping up to 120 containers of fertilizer from a plant in the southeastern town of Porsgrunn to the Brevik port a dozen kilometres (about eight miles) away, the much-delayed Yara Birkeland, shown off to the media on Friday, will eliminate the need for around 40,000 truck journeys a year that are now fuelled by polluting diesel.

… The 80-metre, 3,200-deadweight tonne ship will soon begin two years of working trials during which it will be fine-tuned to learn to manoeuvre on its own.

The wheelhouse could disappear altogether in "three, four or five years", said Holsether, once the vessel makes its 7.5-nautical-mile trips on its own with the aid of sensors.

When farmers left for the city at the start of the industrial revolution, what jobs did they take?

https://allwork.space/2021/11/ai-will-create-97-million-jobs-but-workers-dont-have-the-skills-required-yet/

AI Will Create 97 Million Jobs, But Workers Don’t Have the Skills Required (Yet)

… Despite the misconception that automation and AI decreases job opportunities, it may actually prompt a huge spike in new positions. According to the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report, 85 million jobs will be replaced by machines with AI by the year 2025.

While that statistic might make you uneasy, the same report states that 97 million new jobs will be created by 2025 due to AI.

Can politicians agree on anything until they know what the voters want?

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/policymakers-want-to-regulate-ai-but-lack-consensus-on-how/

Policymakers want to regulate AI but lack consensus on how

… When YouGov polled tech policy experts on behalf of Clifford Chance and asked priority areas for regulation ("To what extent do you think the following issues should be priorities for new legislation or regulation?"), ethical use of AI and algorithmic bias ranked well down the pecking order from other issues:

Just 23% rate algorithmic bias, and 33% rate the ethical use of AI, as a top priority for regulation.

(Related)

https://www.pogowasright.org/new-data-indicates-americans-support-for-federal-privacy-legislation/

New data indicates Americans’ support for federal privacy legislation

Colette Doyle reports:

Nearly all the voters surveyed ( 92%) in a recent study from Privacy for America believe it is important for congress to pass new legislation to protect consumers’ personal data.

A majority ( 62%) favour federal regulation over individual state regulations. As the Covid-19-induced digital transformation of American life continues, four out of five voters ( 81%) support a national standard that prohibits harmful ways of collecting, using and sharing personal data.

The study was conducted among 1,524 Americans across a demographically representative cross section of US registered voters to better understand the impact and concerns regarding the current state of privacy in the country.

Read more on ResearchLive.

So…. never having heard of Privacy for America, I took a look at their website to find out who they are. Oh look:

Mission

Privacy for America will work with Congress to support enactment of comprehensive federal consumer data privacy and security legislation. We have outlined a bold new paradigm for a national law that would make personal data less vulnerable to breach or misuse and set forth clear, enforceable and nationwide consumer privacy protections for the first time.

Steering Committee Members

• American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s)

• Association of National Advertisers (ANA)

• Digital Advertising Alliance

• Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)

• Network Advertising Initiative (NAI)

Members

• American Advertising Federation

• Insights Association

• National Business Coalition on E-Commerce and Privacy

So wanting a federal privacy law is okay… businesses should not have to deal with a patchwork of laws. BUT: passing a federal law that is weaker than the strongest state law is NOT okay with PogoWasRight.org. Whatever Congress does should not weaken any consumer’s rights. Somehow I don’t think Privacy for America will be advocating for the kind of strong privacy protections most privacy advocates fight for.

(Related)

https://www.pogowasright.org/new-state-privacy-laws-impose-higher-restrictions-on-processing-sensitive-personal-data/

New State Privacy Laws Impose Higher Restrictions on Processing Sensitive Personal Data

Robinson + Cole LLP write:

With the passage of the Colorado Privacy Act, Colorado joins Virginia and California as early adopters of state-level privacy legislation. These laws impose higher restrictions on companies processing specific sensitive categories of data that reveal information such as sexual orientation and ethnic origin. However, the law remains unclear on what constitutes “revealing” information. For example, do the data need to be explicit or is implicit information protected as well?

Read more on National Law Review.

(Related) (Potential seminar speaker?)

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/amazon-privacy-lobbying/

Amazon wages secret war on Americans' privacy, documents show

In recent years, Amazon.com Inc has killed or undermined privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 states, as the e-commerce giant amassed a lucrative trove of personal data on millions of American consumers.

Amazon executives and staffers detail these lobbying victories in confidential documents reviewed by Reuters.

… The architect of this under-the-radar campaign to smother privacy protections has been Jay Carney, who previously served as communications director for Joe Biden, when Biden was vice president, and as press secretary for President Barack Obama. Hired by Amazon in 2015, Carney reported to founder Jeff Bezos and built a lobbying and public-policy juggernaut that has grown from two dozen employees to about 250, according to Amazon documents and two former employees with knowledge of recent staffing.

Sounds like a good topic for a law school paper…

https://www.makeuseof.com/what-does-right-click-heist-mean-nfts/

You Wouldn't Steal a JPEG: What Does the Massive Right-Click Heist Mean for NFTs?

When you buy an NFT, what do you own? The image? The commercial rights? Or is it really just a bit of HTML pointing to a JSON file on a blockchain?

Or, as the joke goes, you can own any NFT you want by simply right-clicking and hitting Save As, taking ownership of any bit of digital art you want.

But surely saving an NFT to your hard drive doesn't convey ownership, right? The answer depends on who you ask.

So when one man decided to download every NFT on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, the conversation surrounding NFTs and digital image ownership took another interesting turn.

Tools & Techniques.

https://www.makeuseof.com/best-data-visualization-methods-adds-value-to-reports/

The 9 Best Data Visualization Methods That Adds Value to Any Reports

Professional data analysts use data visualization techniques like graphs, charts, and maps to create reports from numerical data. These visual elements help others understand the patterns, trends, and outliers in any data set.

Kids today…

https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-11-20

How did this happen? I doubt Iran is a Republican bastion.

https://thehackernews.com/2021/11/us-charged-2-iranians-hackers-for.html

U.S. Charged 2 Iranian Hackers for Threatening Voters During 2020 Presidential Election

The U.S. government on Thursday unsealed an indictment that accused two Iranian nationals of their involvement in cyber-enabled disinformation and threat campaign orchestrated to interfere in the 2020 presidential elections by gaining access to confidential voter information from at least one state election website.

… As part of the coordinated election interference scheme, Kazemi and Kazemi are alleged to have attempted to compromise nearly 11 state voter registration and information websites between September and October 2020, successfully breaching a misconfigured computer system in an unnamed state to retrieve details associated with more than 100,000 voters.

The siphoned data was then used to simulate intrusions that the Democratic Party was supposedly planning to carry out by exploiting election infrastructure vulnerabilities to register non-existent voters and edit mail-in ballots, all of which were captured in the form of a "False Election Video" that was distributed to Republican Senators, White House advisors, and several members of the media.

We would never sell our data to the government. We sell it to someone who sells it to someone else who sells it to the government.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mobilewalla-says-data-it-gathered-from-consumers-cellphones-ended-up-with-government-11637242202?mod=djemalertNEWS

How Cellphone Data Collected for Advertising Landed at U.S. Government Agencies

Mobilewalla CEO writes to U.S. senator investigating location brokers: ‘Selling mobile device data for use by law enforcement agencies is not our business model’

A company that collects and sells consumer information gleaned from cellphones said it was the source of some of the advertising data used by the Department of Homeland Security and other government entities to track mobile phones without warrants, shedding new light on how device location data is harvested and sold in a secretive multibillion-dollar industry.

Mobilewalla, a closely held digital-advertising company founded in Singapore and now based in Atlanta, said in a letter last week to Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) that it had indirectly provided some of the data used by DHS, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. military for warrantless tracking of devices both at home and abroad.

… Mobilewalla harvested such data and sold it to Gravy Analytics, based in Dulles, Va., the letter said, adding that Gravy’s wholly owned subsidiary, Venntel, then provided the data to several federal agencies and to contractors with ties to the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. Those contractors include specialized software vendors that integrate phone data with social-media feeds and other open sources for use in tracking devices as part of national-security efforts, according to people familiar with the matter.

… In the collected data sets, consumers are assigned a unique alphanumeric identifier rather than being identified by name or phone number. But real-world identity can easily be inferred in most cases by cross-checking where the phone spends its evenings against databases containing home addresses.

(Related)

https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/kerr_webreadypdf.pdf

Buying Data and the Fourth Amendment

In Carpenter v. United States,1 the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment requires the government to obtain a warrant before compelling a cell phone service provider to disclose at least seven days of a user’s historical cell-site location records. This is a groundbreaking holding. For the first time, users have Fourth Amendment rights in corporate records about them that they did not make, cannot control, and likely do not even know exist.

Carpenter prompts a question: If the Fourth Amendment requires a warrant for the government to compel a provider to hand over records, is the same true if the government buys those records instead?2 Put another way, if the company is willing to sell the records to the government—or has already sold them to someone else who will sell them to the government—can the government purchase the records without a warrant as an end run around Carpenter?

This essay offers two responses. First, existing law leads to a clear answer: The government

can buy business records without a warrant or any cause.

… The second response is a caveat to the first. Although current doctrine gives a green light to buying Carpenter-protected records, a sea change in how often the government can buy records to conduct detailed surveillance might someday justify a more restrictive approach.

What can AI do today?

https://www.bespacific.com/next-big-things-in-tech-2021/

Next Big Things in Tech 2021

Fast Company: “Some of the world’s most intriguing innovations are so new that their full impact is yet to be felt. This is what we’re highlighting in the inaugural edition of Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech. The 65 honorees on our list, which includes global giants as well as intrepid startups, often harness research that’s fresh from the labs, applying cutting-edge tech to solve real-world problems in unexpected ways. Our winners, which were selected by a team of 14 Fast Company writers and editors, cover a lot of ground, from financial tech to robotics to sustainability. There’s an affordable tractor that drives itself and uses sensors to improve crop yields. The first at-home COVID-19 test that uses CRISPR technology to deliver results that are both rapid and reliable. A dashboard that helps companies gain new insights into their diversity, equity, and inclusion progress based on hard data. A technology for keeping payments safe from quantum computing attacks that could instantly crack current encryption standards. And a streaming platform that turned a billion people watching a live BTS concert into a community. Other honorees take on equally ambitious challenges—and are poised to improve our lives at home, at work, and beyond. These products, services, and technological breakthroughs may not all be on the market yet, but they’re real, and they’re reaching important milestones along the way toward availability. Their potential for the future is what excited us the most as we assessed candidates for this list.”

Another perspective.

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2847598/defense-innovation-unit-publishes-responsible-ai-guidelines/

Defense Innovation Unit Publishes 'Responsible AI Guidelines'

"DIU's RAI guidelines provide a step-by-step framework for AI companies, DOD stakeholders and program managers that can help to ensure that AI programs are built with the principles of fairness, accountability and transparency at each step in the development cycle of an AI system," Jared Dunnmon, PhD, technical director of the artificial intelligence/machine learning portfolio at DIU said.

… To view the guidelines, visit: https://www.diu.mil/responsible-ai-guidelines.

Apparently there is a very large market for software like this. Also apparent is that there is no guidance to help police departments avoid grabbing the tar baby.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/17/police-surveillance-technology-voyager

Revealed: the software that studies your Facebook friends to predict who may commit a crime

… Voyager Labs is one of dozens of US companies that have popped up in recent years with technology that purports to harness social media to help solve and predict crime.

Pulling information from every part of an individual’s various social media profiles, Voyager helps police investigate and surveil people by reconstructing their entire digital lives – public and private. By relying on artificial intelligence, the company claims, its software can decipher the meaning and significance of online human behavior, and can determine whether subjects have already committed a crime, may commit a crime or adhere to certain ideologies.

But new documents, obtained through public information requests by the Brennan Center, a non-profit organization, and shared with the Guardian, show that the assumptions the software relies on to draw those conclusions may run afoul of first amendment protections.

I haven’t looked at this in detail. Shame on me.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-protection/quebecs-new-privacy-law-regime-was-just-adopted-are-you-ready/

Quebec’s New Privacy Law Regime Was Just Adopted. Are You Ready?

On September 21, 2021, Canada’s second-most populous province quietly ushered in a new era of personal information protection with the adoption of An Act to modernize legislative provisions regarding the protection of personal information, otherwise known as Bill 64. It amends the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (PPIPS), Quebec’s private sector privacy law, and the public sector privacy law.

PPIPS applies to anyone operating a business based in or outside of Quebec that processes Quebecers’ personal information.

I have many questions and find few answers. Is it one payment for unlimited access? Is it “must take” or can Google pick and choose?

https://news.yahoo.com/google-agrees-5-deal-pay-212928887.html

Google agrees 5-year deal to pay AFP for online content: executives

Google and Agence France-Presse on Wednesday said they had signed a "pioneering" five-year deal under which the world’s biggest internet search company will pay an undisclosed sum for content in Europe.

… "This is an agreement that covers the whole of the EU, in all of AFP's languages, including in countries that have not enacted the directive," said AFP CEO Fabrice Fries, describing the deal as "pioneering" and the "culmination of a long struggle".

Some marvelous new uses for AI, and one I predict will never be implemented.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90696567/best-ai-data-innovations

AI and data: The 15 next big things, from culture-aware algorithms to password-free security

… See a full list of Next Big Things in Tech winners across all categories here.

Microsoft and InfernoRed

For securing the democratic process

These companies partnered to create ElectionGuard, an open-source system that keeps data encrypted even while it’s being processed, allowing people to check that their vote has been counted while keeping their ballot secret. It’s designed to work with both electronic voting machines and paper ballot scanners.

(Related) Podcast or transcript.

https://hbr.org/podcast/2021/11/the-ai-revolution-is-just-beginning-with-nathan-benaich-and-ian-hogarth

The AI Revolution is Just Beginning (with Nathan Benaich and Ian Hogarth)

Artificial intelligence had a breakout year, with major new developments in disparate fields, from medical biology to defense. AI investors Nathan Benaich and Ian Hogarth, who co-author the annual “State of AI” report, join Azeem Azhar to explore why AI is thriving in those sectors. In addition, they offer their take on the flood of new investments in AI and how we can best keep this technology safe for humanity.

… State of AI Report 2021 (Nathan Benaich and Ian Hogarth)

Perspective.

https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/privacy-protection/1132626/ai-fixes-for-supply-chain-logjams-carry-legal-risks-video?

AI Fixes For Supply Chain Logjams Carry Legal Risks (Video)

Partner Sarah Rathke discussed with Reuters on how A.I. and digital twin technology can aid to help solve supply chain disruptions and the potential data privacy complications companies might encounter when sharing detailed supply chain data. You can view the video interview here.

Perspective.

https://bigthink.com/the-present/wires-of-war/

Why China, Russia, and other autocracies may wield an AI advantage in global cyberwars

In his new book, The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power, Jacob Helberg outlines the future of cyberwarfare between Western democracies and autocracies like China and Russia.

As a senior adviser at the Stanford University Center on Geopolitics and Technology, Helberg proposes that artificial intelligence is a key weapon in "Gray War," his term for the global battle between democracy and autocracy. In this excerpt, Helberg explores some of the advantages that autocracies may have in cyberwarfare.

(Related) Are they potential cyber warriors?

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3640406/cyberwars-global-players-its-not-always-russia-or-china.html#tk.rss_all

Cyberwar's global players—it's not always Russia or China

Research reveals that countries such as Belarus, India, and Columbia are responsible for significant cyberattacks.

Perspective. People want to write right, right?

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/18/text-checking-software-maker-grammarly-is-worth-13-billion.html

Text-checking software maker Grammarly is worth $13 billion in latest funding round

… Grammarly’s free service picks up on misspellings, grammatical mistakes and unnecessary words. A paid version offers additional types of recommendations and detects plagiarism. Business and enterprise tiers help workers stay compliant with style guides and a common brand voice. Around 30 million people use Grammarly every day.

Google Docs and Microsoft Word can do some of what Grammarly can do. Services such as Advance Publications-owned Turnitin can find instances of plagiarism. But given all of its capabilities, Grammarly doesn’t have a single direct competitor, CEO Brad Hoover told CNBC in an interview.

Gifts for people lower down on my list?

https://www.pogowasright.org/bad-santa-amazon-facebook-top-mozillas-naughty-list-of-privacy-crushing-gifts/

Bad Santa: Amazon, Facebook top Mozilla’s naughty list of privacy-crushing gifts

Jonathan Greig reports:

Mozilla has released the latest edition of its *Privacy Not Included shopping guide, aiming to provide holiday buyers with a concrete list of how the most popular items handle privacy issues.

Mozilla researchers spent over 950 hours examining 151 popular connected gifts, identifying 47 that had what they called “problematic privacy practices.” The worst, according to Mozilla, include Facebook Portal, Amazon Echo, NordicTrack Treadmill and other workout tools.

Read more on ZDNet.

Is this concern merely the “latest thing” for activists or do they have evidence to support their claims?

https://www.engadget.com/artist-rights-groups-protest-amazon-palm-tech-100024591.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLmdvb2dsZS5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHUA5eyT9e9hdAwzgOPNdP0GvUQGKxwDeEBcJvsk-vV4G1kZMuhcTy7c6-hSx5R60RpC15W4wzZFi60Vq2xzX0D47pjk8QDvln-Er_7GyWZe7X-L-lsmBoyScr9II5bVifidhpr-7J5LFCpHSuHk9dtDd6-Uj1z-8fu4Z-u4j60A

Artists, activists demand concert venues drop Amazon's palm-scanning tech

Concert operators may like Amazon's palm recognition system, but some performers and activists are less than thrilled. A group of 200 artists and 30 rights groups has penned an open letter demanding the Red Rocks amphitheater, its ticketing provider AXS and AEG (AXS' parent company) "immediately cancel" contracts to use Amazon One scanning at any venue. They also want the firms to ban all biometric surveillance at those events.

… The letter contributors are worried Amazon might send palm data to government agencies hoping to track activists and marginalized people, particularly in light of its past collaborations with police. They're also concerned thieves might steal info from the cloud, and see AEG as inconsistent after it condemned the use of facial recognition in 2019.

We've asked AEG and Red Rocks operators for comment. There are no guarantees the letter will convince anyone to drop Amazon One. The tech theoretically helps get people into a venue sooner, and might reassure concertgoers nervous about physical contact while the pandemic lingers. The objectors have some support, though — US senators are also worried Amazon might abuse palm data.

In the Metaverse, we’ll all own virtual property. We need to figure it out now.

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/miramax-tarantino-pulp-fiction-nft-1235113383/

Miramax Sues Quentin Tarantino Over ‘Pulp Fiction’ NFT Auction

Miramax filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Quentin Tarantino of copyright infringement by selling NFTs based on the screenplay for “Pulp Fiction.”

Tarantino announced the sale at a recent crypto-art convention in New York.

“I’m excited to be presenting these exclusive scenes from ‘Pulp Fiction’ to fans,” Tarantino said in a Nov. 2 press release.

The plan is to auction off NFT — non-fungible tokens — based on excerpts from Tarantino’s original handwritten script for the film, accompanied by commentary. The NFT is pitched as “secret,” meaning that its contents will be viewable exclusively by the owner.

But according to the suit, Tarantino did not consult beforehand with Miramax — which still owns the rights to the director’s 1994 classic. Miramax’s attorneys have sent a cease and desist letter seeking to block the sale, but that has not stopped Tarantino and his team from moving forward.

(Related)

https://thenextweb.com/news/metaverse-isnt-a-place-its-a-mandatory-upgrade-for-reality

The metaverse isn’t a place – it’s a mandatory upgrade for reality

Fire. Electricity. The internet. Metaverse

Helping my AI to personhood?

https://www.bespacific.com/the-elephant-who-could-be-a-person/

The Elephant Who Could Be a Person

The Atlantic: The most important animal-rights case of the 21st century revolves around an unlikely subject. “The subject of the most important animal-rights case of the 21st century was born in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Very soon after that, a tousle-haired baby, she became trapped in human history. She was captured, locked in a cage, trucked to the coast, and loaded onto a roaring 747 that soared across the Pacific until it made landfall in the United States. She spent her earliest years in Florida, not far from Disney World, before she was shipped to Texas. In 1977, when she was 5 or 6, more men hauled her onto another truck and shipped her to New York, to a spot about four miles north of Yankee Stadium: the Bronx Zoo. In the wild, barely weaned, she’d have been living with her family—her sisters, her cousins, her aunts, and her mother—touching and nuzzling and rubbing and smelling and calling to each other almost constantly. Instead, after she landed at the zoo and for years after, she gave rides to the schoolchildren of New York and performed tricks, sometimes wearing a blue-and-black polka-dotted dress. Today, in her 50s and retired, she lives alone in a one-acre enclosure in a bleak, bamboo-shrouded Bronx Zoo exhibit called, without irony, “Wild Asia.”…

A “person” is something of a legal fiction. Under U.S. law, a corporation can be a person. So can a ship. “So it should be as respects valleys, alpine meadows, rivers, lakes, estuaries, beaches, ridges, groves of trees, swampland, or even air,” Justice William O. Douglas wrote in a dissenting Supreme Court opinion in 1972. Pro-life activists have argued that embryos and fetuses are persons. In 2019, the Yurok tribe in Northern California decreed that the Klamath River is a person. Some forms of artificial intelligence might one day become persons…”

Perspective. When you know your income steam will dry up.

https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-robots-big-gulf-nations-ai.html

Robots, big data as Gulf nations bet on AI

Robots puttering around Dubai's hi-tech Expo site could be a sign of things to come for the Gulf, where new cities are being built from scratch with artificial intelligence at their core.

The 5G-enabled Expo, covering an area twice the size of Monaco, will remain as a "city of the future" and tech industry hub, Expo's chief told AFP before its grand opening last month.

Perspective.

https://bigthink.com/the-future/ray-kurzweil-singularity/

The Singularity: When will we all become super-humans?

Futurologists point to the exponential rate of technological progress and conclude that we are rapidly approaching a revolutionary turning point. Known as "The Singularity," they predict that we will be able to enhance human intelligence and magnify creativity, entering a new evolutionary stage for mankind and a new epoch for the cosmos. There are at least three objections to this view, demonstrating that the Singularity is hardly a foregone conclusion.

My car wants to kill me…

https://thenextweb.com/news/tesla-model-y-owner-files-complaint-at-nhtsa-car-took-control

Tesla Model Y owner files formal complaint: ‘The car by itself took control’

An anonymous owner of a 2021 Tesla Model Y has filed a complaint at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), reporting their vehicle crashed while the Full Self-Driving Beta was engaged.

The accident took place on November 3, somewhere in Brea, California. Fortunately, there were no injuries or fatalities, but disturbingly enough, the owner blames the FSD for causing the crash. Specifically, the car kept entering the wrong lane and didn’t respond to driver input.

Bad news, good news?

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/cyber-insurance-claims-spike-with-major-attacks-but-ransomware-costs-down-sharply-from-2020/

Cyber Insurance Claims Spike With Major Attacks, but Ransomware Costs Down Sharply From 2020

While ransomware remains a plague on organizations around the world, a new report from commercial insurance firm Corvus indicates that ransomware costs are being cut considerably due to better preparedness. And though cyber insurance claims spiked in early 2021 due to the Microsoft Exchange vulnerability, they have been on a steep downward trend since.

The Corvus Risk Insights Index is a new study, but one that is planned to be released quarterly. This inaugural Q4 2021 edition draws from the company’s claims database, proprietary security scanning technology and select third-party sources.

(Related)

https://threatpost.com/ransomware-response-data/176360/

The Best Ransomware Response, According to the Data

A data analysis from Fox-IT, part of NCC Group, offers some best practices for how to minimize the fallout of a ransomware attack, after creating a dataset of 700 ransomware negotiations which occurred between 2019 and 2020.

Once breached, the researchers explain the optimal response is none, but of course, that’s a luxury most victims can’t afford.

… Ransomware groups already know how much their victims can afford to pay, the data shows. Their business model depends on them knowing how potentially lucrative a target might be and how likely a company is to pay.

Blame it on Covid?

https://www.zdnet.com/article/workplace-monitoring-is-everywhere-heres-how-to-stop-algorithms-ruling-your-office/

Workplace monitoring is everywhere. Here's how to stop algorithms ruling your office

The UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Future of Work warned that the growing reliance on algorithmic surveillance and management tools is associated with "significant negative impacts on the conditions and quality of work across the country".

… The group's report, The New Frontier: Artificial Intelligence at Work, came as the European Commission's Joint Research Council published separate research on electronic monitoring and surveillance in the workplace. It too found that explosive growth of AI-based tools poses a profound risk to worker wellbeing, threatening to erode trust between employer and employees and risking further psycho-social consequences unless action is taken to regulate its use.

… The APPG makes five recommendations aimed at ensuring more fairness and transparency in the UK's AI ecosystem, particularly around the use and regulation of algorithm-based monitoring, management and decision-making tools.

A change here, a change there – soon the whole world has changed.

https://boisedev.com/news/2021/11/15/veeve-albertsons/

Albertsons launches AI-powered grocery cart in local store, aims to merge ‘online and offline’ shopping

At the Albertsons store in Eagle, shoppers are trying out a new technology that could mark a significant change to the in-store shopping experience: a high-tech cart.

… The Veeve cart, which is being trialed by Albertsons in Pleasonton, California, as well as Eagle, allows customers to scan groceries as they go and check out without even visiting a kiosk. But Siddiqui says it’s more than a self-checkout on wheels.

… He said the cart could pull up product recommendations, show coupons, display a shopping list, and more.

“When you are buying tortilla chips, you can be offered to buy salsa with it.”

It also adds possibilities that are common in online shopping but less so in the store. Siddiqui said the Veeve platform could allow shoppers to buy something for delivery that might not be on the shelf.

Perspective. (Not sure this is the future I see.)

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/393219

Singularity Is Fast Approaching, and It Will Happen First in the Metaverse

… One of the most important elements is the payments infrastructure, which will undoubtedly be one of the cornerstones of the metaverse. The ability to buy, sell and most importantly, own things in the metaverse could be the most transformative part of this new era. This will lead to a situation where decentralized ledger technologies or blockchains will actually be the most practical, if not ultimate, solution for value exchange and for storing value. The opportunities for economic growth will be unfathomable, as this is literally creating a new world where users will interact, transact, own, exchange and share economic value.

Weird perspective?

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/11/harvard-expert-considers-the-literary-merit-of-ai/

When will a robot write a novel?

Wondering is a new series in which Harvard experts give informed answers to random questions. For the first installment, we asked Krzysztof Gajos, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science, to tell us when a robot will write a novel.

Tools & Techniques. If you write good it will sound good?

https://www.makeuseof.com/reedsy-indie-authors-audiobooks/

How Reedsy Can Help Indie Authors Get Started With Audiobooks

By 2020, according to Reedsy’s guide on the audiobook industry, this format outsold ebooks, making a whopping $1.2 billion.