Tuesday, May 24, 2022

We never said you had to, but we kinda think you should…

https://www.databreaches.net/ftc-blog-the-ftc-act-creates-a-de-facto-breach-disclosure-requirement/

FTC Blog: “The FTC Act Creates a De Facto Breach Disclosure Requirement”

Joseph Lazarrotti of JacksonLewis writes:

On May 20, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission’s Team CTO and the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection published a blog post entitled, “Security Beyond Prevention: The Importance of Effective Breach Disclosures.” In the post, the FTC takes the position that in some cases there may be a de facto data breach notification requirement, despite there currently being no section of the Federal Trade Commission Act or implementing regulation imposing an express, broadly applicable data breach notification requirement. Businesses should nonetheless take this de facto rule into account as part of their incident response plans.

Read more at Workplace Privacy, Data Management & Security Report.





Assumption: Fighting crime is more important than privacy.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/mexican-supreme-court-rules-in-favor-of-warrantless-access-to-bank-data-but-strikes-down-national-registry-of-cell-phone-biometric-data/

Mexican Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Warrantless Access to Bank Data but Strikes Down National Registry of Cell Phone Biometric Data

The Supreme Court of Mexico confounded privacy advocates in recent weeks by ruling in favor of greatly expanded government access to the bank data of private citizens, but also striking down a plan for a biometric data registry for cell phone users.

Both of the propositions were based on crime issues that are currently hot topics in the country. The warrantless search measure comes as part of the current presidential administration’s campaign to rein in big companies attempting to dodge taxes and stymie money laundering by criminal cartels, while the biometric data scheme was in response to an endemic kidnapping problem that saw overall numbers drop in 2021 but violence against kidnapped migrants increase.

The finance agencies of the nation will now have automatic access to the bank data of citizens, something that previously required a court-issued search warrant.

The Supreme Court ruled that citizen’s right to privacy was secondary to the need for access to bank data to fight money laundering and tax evasion. The decision was sparked by the defense of a businessman in a tax fraud case, who argued that he should not be compelled to hand over bank data as it is private information protected by the country’s constitution.





A call for papers…

https://www.pogowasright.org/ftc-calls-for-research-presentations-for-privacycon-2022/

FTC Calls for Research Presentations for PrivacyCon 2022

The Federal Trade Commission today called for research presentations on a wide range of privacy and data security topics such as commercial surveillance and automated decision making for its annual PrivacyCon event, which will take place virtually on November 1, 2022.

PrivacyCon 2022 will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss the latest research and trends related to consumer privacy and data security. As part of this event, the FTC is seeking empirical research and demonstrations, including rigorous economic analyses, on such topics as:

    • Algorithmic bias and ensuring fairness in the use of algorithms;

    • Commercial surveillance including workplace monitoring, surveillance advertising, and biometric surveillance;

    • Potential new remedies and approaches to improve privacy and security practices such as the deletion of algorithms or other products developed using data illegally collected from consumers; and

    • Children’s and teen’s privacy risks, harms, and vulnerabilities, particularly those presented by emerging technologies.

More details on other topics and information on how to submit presentations can be found in the Call for Presentations. The deadline for submitting a presentation for PrivacyCon is July 29, 2022.

The event is free, open to the public, and will be webcast on the FTC’s website at www.ftc.gov. The agenda will be posted to the event page prior to the event.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

Source: FTC





Perhaps my AI should not share it’s inventions with me? Or should I lie and claim that I invented it?

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01391-x

Artificial intelligence is breaking patent law

In 2020, a machine-learning algorithm helped researchers to develop a potent antibiotic that works against many pathogens (see Nature https://doi.org/ggm2p4; 2020 ). Artificial intelligence (AI) is also being used to aid vaccine development, drug design, materials discovery, space technology and ship design. Within a few years, numerous inventions could involve AI. This is creating one of the biggest threats patent systems have faced.

Patent law is based on the assumption that inventors are human; it currently struggles to deal with an inventor that is a machine. Courts around the world are wrestling with this problem now as patent applications naming an AI system as the inventor have been lodged in more than 100 countries1. Several groups are conducting public consultations on AI and intellectual property (IP) law, including in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe.

If courts and governments decide that AI-made inventions cannot be patented, the implications could be huge. Funders and businesses would be less incentivized to pursue useful research using AI inventors when a return on their investment could be limited. Society could miss out on the development of worthwhile and life-saving inventions.

Rather than forcing old patent laws to accommodate new technology, we propose that national governments design bespoke IP law — AI-IP — that protects AI-generated inventions. Nations should also create an international treaty to ensure that these laws follow standardized principles, and that any disputes can be resolved efficiently. Researchers need to inform both steps.





The miracle of AI…

https://thenextweb.com/news/mits-ai-cant-determine-a-persons-race-from-medical-images

No, MIT’s new AI can’t determine a person’s race from medical images

That's not how AI works

… Prediction and identification are two entirely different things. When a prediction is wrong, it’s still a prediction. When an identification is wrong, it’s a misidentification. These are important distinctions.

AI models can be fine-tuned to predict anything, even concepts that aren’t real.

Here’s an old analogy I like to pull out in these situations:

I can predict with 100% accuracy how many lemons in a lemon tree are aliens from another planet.
Because I’m the only person who can see the aliens in the lemons, I’m what you call a “database.”
I could stand there, next to your AI, and point at all the lemons that have aliens in them. The AI would try to figure out what it is about the lemons I’m pointing at that makes me think there’s aliens in them.
Eventually the AI would look at a new lemon tree and try to guess which lemons I would think have aliens in them.
If it were 70% accurate at guessing that, it would still be 0% accurate at determining which lemons have aliens in them. Because lemons don’t have aliens in them.

In other words, you can train an AI to predict anything as long as you:

  • Don’t give it the option to say, “I don’t know.”

  • Continue tuning the model’s parameters until it gives you the answer you want.



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