First the ransom, then the ‘little things.’ Update your plan!

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3632854/7-unexpected-ransomware-costs.html#tk.rss_all

7 unexpected ransomware costs

Indirect costs related to a ransomware attack can add up over time. These are the expenses and financial risks that CISOs should be aware of.

Some thoughts for your AI plan.

https://www.bespacific.com/harms-of-ai/

Harms of AI

NBER – Harms of AI, Daron Acemoglu, Working Paper 29247 DOI 10.3386/w29247 Issue Date September 2021. “This essay discusses several potential economic, political and social costs of the current path of AI technologies. I argue that if AI continues to be deployed along its current trajectory and remains unregulated, it may produce various social, economic and political harms. These include: damaging competition, consumer privacy and consumer choice; excessively automating work, fueling inequality, inefficiently pushing down wages, and failing to improve worker productivity; and damaging political discourse, democracy’s most fundamental lifeblood. Although there is no conclusive evidence suggesting that these costs are imminent or substantial, it may be useful to understand them before they are fully realized and become harder or even impossible to reverse, precisely because of AI’s promising and wide-reaching potential. I also suggest that these costs are not inherent to the nature of AI technologies, but are related to how they are being used and developed at the moment – to empower corporations and governments against workers and citizens. As a result, efforts to limit and reverse these costs may need to rely on regulation and policies to redirect AI research. Attempts to contain them just by promoting competition may be insufficient.”

A first, but is it enough?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/healthily-best-practice-ai-publish-113600647.html

Healthily and Best Practice AI publish world's first AI Explainability Statement reviewed by the ICO

One of the world's leading AI smart symptom checkers has taken the groundbreaking decision to publish a statement explaining how it works.

Healthily, supported by Best Practice AI together with Simmons & Simmons and Jacob Turner of Fountain Court Chambers today publish the first AI Explainability Statement to have been reviewed by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The Healthily AI Explainability Statement explains how Healthily uses AI in its app including why AI is being used, how the AI system was designed and how it operates.

The statement, which can be viewed here, provides a non-technical explanation of the Healthily AI to its customers, regulators and the wider public.

Trust in Google?

https://www.bespacific.com/small-law-relies-on-google-but-doesnt-trust-it/

Small Law Relies on Google – But Doesn’t Trust It

Artificial Lawyer: “A new report by LexisNexis on the world of Small Law shows that Google is the number one resource for legal research, however 46% said ‘it is risky to use the open web’ for that very same legal research, and only 5% ‘trust the accuracy’ of free legal information that is found there. The survey sample were 305 lawyers from small and SME-scale law firms in the UK. This type of smaller legal business makes up the vast majority of firms, not just in the UK, but across the planet. Yet, as the survey shows, they are grappling with plenty of problems – and tech is central to them…”

• The full report – Bellwether 2021: The good, the bad and the new – Exploring the issues facing independent law firms following the COVID‐19 pandemic

Is it time to end “Double Secret Probation?”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/us/supreme-court-fisa-surveillance-rulings.html

At the Supreme Court, a Plea to Reveal Secret Surveillance Rulings

Last year, six months before he was nominated to be attorney general, Judge Merrick B. Garland wrote a forceful opinion on the importance of openness in the justice system.

Court decisions, he said, are public documents. “Indeed,” he wrote, “since at least the time of Edward III, judicial decisions have been held open for public inspection.”

“At bottom,” he wrote, this “reflects the antipathy of a democratic country to the notion of ‘secret law,’ inaccessible to those who are governed by that law.”

Last month, the Justice Department led by Mr. Garland told the Supreme Court that the public had no right of access under the First Amendment to secret decisions issued by a federal court.

… His general point about secret law, though, provides an important framework, according to a brief supporting the A.C.L.U. in the new case filed by two groups that do not always agree — the Brennan Center for Justice, which leans left, and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a libertarian group affiliated with the Koch family.

“Secret law of all types causes several concrete harms that are antithetical to democratic norms,” their brief said. “Secret law prevents the public from understanding and shaping the law and thus inhibits democratic accountability; disables checks on governmental abuses of the law; and weakens the quality of the law itself.”

Worth scanning. I like #7

https://www.bespacific.com/40-one-sentence-email-tips/

40 One-Sentence Email Tips

Josh Spector: “Email doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Here are a collection of concepts to help you write better emails, optimize your inbox, and keep your sanity…”

[From the article:

7. The more your email sounds like you speak, the more effective it will be.

From each new Privacy law we see new types of Class Action suits. Were these companies getting bad legal advice?

https://www.pogowasright.org/class-action-lawsuits-filed-under-washington-state-laws/

Class action lawsuits filed under Washington State laws

Two potential class action lawsuits filed under the Washington Privacy Act caught my eye.

Ford Motor Co. Accused of Violating Privacy Law by Storing Drivers Private Conversations and Releasing Them to Cops and a Private Company

Anne Bradley-Smith reports:

Ford Motor Company uses its infotainment system to secretly download and store drivers’ private text conversations, and then turns them over to law enforcement and the private company Berla, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit was filed in Washington on Sept. 10 by lead plaintiffs Mark Jones and Michael McKee, who allege the company violated the Washington Privacy Act. The act, they say in the suit, forbids any entity in the state of Washington from intercepting or pre-recording any private communication without first obtaining consent of all the participants in the communication.

The Ford Illegal Recording Class Action Lawsuit is Jones, et al., v. Ford Motor Company, Case No. 3:21-cv-05666 in the U.S. State of Washington Thurston County Superior Court.

Read more on Top Class Actions, keeping in mind that lawsuits or complaints are just unexamined and unproven claims at this point.

Amazon sued over Sidewalk automatically connecting to networks

Christine Heath reports:

A couple have filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon.

Mary and Matthew Street filed a federal complain t on July 8 in the Western District of Washington against Amazon for violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act and unjust enrichment.

According to the complaint, Amazon manufactured, marketed, and sold the Echo and Ring devices. Embedded within Sidewalk Devices is a technology that enables those Sidewalk Devices to connect to other Echo and Ring devices nearby through their Bluetooth connections, creating a new, shared network.

Read more on Legal Newsline, keeping in mind that lawsuits or complaints are just unexamined and unproven claims at this point.

Another Oops?

https://www.databreaches.net/ftcs-health-breach-notification-rule-wait-did-you-say-ftcs/

FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule — Wait, did you say “FTC’s???”

What does it say when a HIPAA lawyer with years of experience says he didn’t know the FTC has a health breach notification rule?

Seen on Jeff Drummond’s blog:

”The U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a policy statement this week confirming that connected devices and health apps that use or collect consumers’ health information must notify users and others when that data is breached. Failure to comply, the agency said, could result in a penalty of up to $43,792 per violation per day.”

What’s getting the FTC’s attention is the fact that so many health apps and IOT devices collect so much health information, yet those apps and device makers are not HIPAA-covered entities. And those apps and devices are exploding in popularity, usage, and ubiquity. So the FTC is going to start enforcing its 10-year-old (but previously never enforced) data breach notification rule. They issued a statement to that effect here.

Wait, the FTC has a health data breach reporting rule? I never knew that! Anyway, it’s here; I’ll be reading it over the weekend, and will likely report back on the overlap (and lack of overlap) between it and the HIPAA data breach reporting requirements.

The rule went into effect in 2009, so one thing that tells me is that FTC hasn’t done a great job in reminding entities of the rule or enforcing it.

This blogger did try to get the FTC to get involved in a breach notification case but had filed it under Section 5 of the FTC Act as deception and unfairness not to notify patients that their data were up on a dark web torrent site for everyone to grab. The FTC had not done anything in that case.

I look forward to reading Jeff’s commentary.

Fear the FBI for they will find you. How does one make that contact invisible?

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/ragnar-locker-ransomware-gang-employs-new-tactics-leaking-data-if-victims-contact-the-fbi/

Ragnar Locker Ransomware Gang Employs New Tactics: Leaking Data if Victims Contact the FBI

Since it re-emerged as a major threat several years ago, ransomware has become an evolving threat. Ransomware gangs regularly add new tactics and twists to their playbooks to increase pressure on victims. The latest development comes from the Ragnar Locker group, who are now threatening to publish sensitive information if the victim even makes contact with authorities like the FBI.

Not yet in my library. The mouse that roared now has AI weapons.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003172987/disruptive-impact-lethal-autonomous-weapons-systems-diffusion-austin-wyatt

The Disruptive Impact of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems Diffusion

Challenging the focus on great powers in the international debate, this book explores how rising middle power states are engaging with emerging major military innovations and analyses how this will affect the stability and security of the Indo Pacific.

Presenting a data-based analysis of how middle power actors in the Indo-Pacific are responding to the emergence of military Artificial Intelligence and Killer Robots, the book asserts that continuing to exclude non-great power actors from our thinking in this field enables the dangerous diffusion of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) to smaller states and terrorist groups, and demonstrates the disruptive effects of these military innovations on the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. Offering a detailed analysis of the resource capacities of China, United States, Singapore and Indonesia, it shows how major military innovation acts as a circuit breaker between competitor states disrupting the conventional superiority of the dominant hegemonic state and giving a successful adopter a distinct advantage over their opponent.

This book will appeal to researchers, end-users in the military and law enforcement communities, and policymakers. It will also be a valuable resource for researchers interested in strategic stability for the broader Asia-Pacific and the role of middle power states in hegemonic power transition and conflict.

I think I understand. Can this continue?

https://pages.charlotte.edu/gordon-hull/wp-content/uploads/sites/468/2021/09/Death-of-the-Data-Subject-preprint.pdf

The Death of the Data Subject

This paper situates the data privacy debate in the context of what I call the death of the data subject. My central claim is that concept of a rights-bearing data subject is being pulled in two contradictory directions at once, and that simultaneous attention to these is necessary to understand and resist the extractive practices of the data industry. Specifically, it is necessary to treat the problems facing the data subject structurally, rather than by narrowly attempting to vindicate its rights. On the one hand, the data industry argues that subjects of biometric identification lack legal standing to pursue claims in court, and Facebook recently denied that that its facial recognition software recognizes faces. On the other hand, industry takes consent to terms of service and arbitration clauses to create enforceable legal subject positions, while using promises of personalization to create a phenomenological subject that is unaware of the extent to which it is being manipulated. Data subjects thus have no legal existence when it is a matter of corporate liability, but legal accountability when it is a matter of their own liability. Successful reform should address the power asymmetries between individuals and data companies that enable this structural disempowerment.

(Related) Another duality?

http://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/handle/7/56532

Legal challenges of the rapid growth of facial recognition technology

The emergence of new technologies always brings up a lot of ethical and legal questions. The same is true for facial recognition technology, which has raised a lot of concerns for laymen lacking knowledge about the technology and the regulatory side of it. For that reason, the author decided to address these concerns in an attempt to shed light on the topic and raise awareness of the challenges that are yet to be fully figured out. With that in mind, the objective of this thesis was to identify these issues and propose possible solutions to them by creating guidelines for those deploying this technology and those regulating it. While there were some additional issues that the author identified within the research, the author was also able to conclude how these issues should be addressed and hopefully also will be in the near future.

No doubt this debate will continue until an AI is able to make its case in court.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3919588

Artificial Intelligence Systems as Inventors? A Position Statement of 7 September 2021 in View of the Evolving Case-Law Worldwide

On 30 July 2021 the Federal Court of Australia handed down a decision in which it accepted that an artificial intelligence (AI) system called DABUS can be deemed the inventor under Australian patent law. While the decision appears ground-breaking at first sight, it was mostly based on unverified assumptions regarding the technical capabilities of AI systems in general and DABUS in particular. Furthermore, the decision omits important questions regarding the consequences that may follow from attributing inventorship to an entity that lacks legal capacity without undertaking a comprehensive analysis that would justify such attribution. This Position Statement highlights the shortcomings of the decision and points to those factual and legal questions that need to be answered first before recognising AI systems as inventors. While it responds primarily to the decision of the Australian Federal Court, the presented arguments can be of relevance for any jurisdiction dealing with the question of whether an AI system can be deemed an inventor under patent law.

Does this suggest that management might also be changing their views of AI?

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-70873-3_20

Tracking Changing Perceptions of Students Through a Cyber Ethics Course on Artificial Intelligence

The advent of technological evolution, particularly in artificial intelligence, has increased the responsibility of academics toward students today. It is important to understand how students view artificial intelligence, its development and use to provide ethical framework to help develop an understanding of standards, codes of conduct, right and wrong.

This study records changing student choices and opinions on artificial intelligence during a capstone ethics course topic taught to tertiary students across 10 years, and how introducing them to moral principles and ethical guidelines changes the way they accept or question artificial intelligence.

It is important to note that the study finds that students’ perceptions and opinions have indeed been changing over the years, with newer generations finding the concept of artificial moral agents as viable, impressive, and exciting. The study also records how students may not grasp the full implications of artificial moral agents and that a stand-alone ethics course that focuses on learning objectives that include ethical theories and framework and runs the due course of a complete semester can help to ensure students are asking the right questions, understanding their legal, social, economic, and moral responsibilities, thus emphasizing the importance of including such topics and subjects to computer and engineering degrees.

Perspective.

https://www.bespacific.com/study-finds-remote-work-is-boosting-productivity/

Study finds remote work is boosting productivity

VentureBeat: “The pandemic is changing tech priorities for many companies, according to a new report from independent research firm Omdia. Enterprises rated cybersecurity and hybrid work as the top initiatives at their organizations, with customer experience, business processes, and better empowering frontline workers following close behind. Omdia’s Future of Work survey, which compiled over 300 responses from executives at large companies, implies that working away from traditional offices will become the new norm. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they’ll either be primarily home-based or adopt a hybrid work style, while 68% of enterprises believe employee productivity has improved since the move to remote work. The report agrees with the conclusions of a recent Stanford study that found working from home increased productivity among a group of 16,000 workers by 13% over the course of nine months. Attrition rates were also cut by 50%, with employees citing a quieter, more convenient working environment as a major advantage. “The world of work has undergone significant change due to the disruptions brought about by the pandemic,” Omdia principal analyst Adam Holtby said in a press release. “Our research shows that people, process, place, and technology transformation are the foundation upon which successful digital workplace ecosystems are created.”

Only required if you have data worth protecting. If you don’t, just delete your data.

https://www.makeuseof.com/why-does-apple-need-you-to-update-your-device-immediately/

Why Does Apple Need You to Update Your Device Immediately?

Go and update your Apple devices, right now.

That's the message from Apple, delivered to its vast userbase on September 13, 2021. So if you haven't already, you really should go and update your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac computer, as Apple isn't messing around with this one.

Israel's NSO Group is exploiting what's known as the Holy Grail of remote surveillance, a "zero-click remote exploit," allowing their Pegasus spyware to infect devices without any interaction.

… In short, those with a license to use Pegasus could infect Apple devices without alerting the user, tracking texts, calls, emails, camera, microphone, and more, without requiring any user interaction.

Today a city, tomorrow the world! Note that recovery from backups is not instantaneous.

https://www.databreaches.net/city-of-yonkers-hacked-no-computers-for-the-past-week-ransom-demanded-city-hall-says-no/

City of Yonkers Hacked, No Computers for the Past Week: Ransom Demanded, City Hall Says No

This was published on September 10 by Yonkers Times:

Yonkers Rising has learned that the City of Yonkers has been the victim of a ransomware attack and for the period of the past five days, City Hall and its employees have been without their computers. We have also been told by city officials with knowledge of the situation, that Yonkers will NOT pay a requested ransom to unlock their computer servers, and instead has spent the past week trying to upload as much data as possible from their backups.

Read more on Yonkers Times.

They could, but why would they want to?

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3632943/russia-is-fully-capable-of-shutting-down-cybercrime.html#tk.rss_all

Russia is fully capable of shutting down cybercrime

It is no secret the locus for a great deal of the world’s cybercriminal activity lays within the boundaries of The Russian Federation. The onslaught of ransomware attacks directed at non-Russian entities is evidence of that.

Last week, Recorded Future’s Insikt Group published a report shedding more light on the connection between the Russian state and criminal actors, a connection that Insikt Group posits is “well established yet highly diffused.”

Because we assume everyone is dishonest?

https://www.pogowasright.org/biden-wants-irs-to-snoop-into-your-bank-account-know-when-you-have-600-or-more/

Biden wants IRS to snoop into your bank account, know when you have $600 or more

Rebecca Long reports:

Outraged citizens and banks alike want to know why President Joe Biden plans to allow the IRS to snoop into bank accounts, Venmo, PayPal, and crypto transactions, among other types of payment processing accounts.

The White House, said, “This type of surveillance is needed to prevent tax evasion.”

Biden plans to use any money that is confiscated during IRS audits to fund his proposed plan for the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget plan.

If passed, banks would be required to report every deposit and withdrawal from an account to the IRS in order to target audits.

Read more on Ocala Post.

h/t, FourthAmendment.com, who comments on whether this would violate the Fourth Amendment, as some bankers claim (spoiler alert: he says it wouldn’t).

I didn’t realize this was a thing. Any website owner would like to know what users find useful and what they ignore. Tracking clicks is one measure.

https://www.pogowasright.org/should-you-get-paid-when-websites-record-your-mouse-clicks-heres-what-a-judge-said/

Should you get paid when websites record your mouse clicks? Here’s what a judge said

Ron Hurtibise reports:

It looks like Florida internet users won’t be getting paid for visiting commercial websites that track their mouse clicks and keystrokes.

Activity tracking software used by wholesale club Costco did not violate a state law barring wiretapping because it doesn’t intercept any “content,” a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale has ruled. Similar lawsuits against owners of other merchant websites have been slapped down as well in recent months.

Read more on SunSentinel

Perspective. Read and consider…

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3633328/completing-the-journey-from-byod-to-a-hybrid-wfa-workforce.html#tk.rss_all

Completing the Journey from BYOD to a Hybrid WFA Workforce

While the recent transition to a work-from-anywhere (WFA) business model may have been sudden, it certainly shouldn’t have caught anyone off guard. Organizations have been moving in this direction for a long time, starting with the advent of BYOD more than a decade ago. This was followed by roaming technologies that allowed mobile devices to move seamlessly across campus and even handoff an open session to a 3G/4G or WiFi connection when a user that is on a call or using an application moves off-network. Applications began moving to the cloud to further support remote and mobile workers, followed by SD-WAN and SASE technologies to further enhance remote connectivity.

What did catch everyone off-guard was the speed and scale at which the transition took place. While the trend towards remote and mobile work was clearly on track, the pandemic shortened the development cycle by several years. Organizations went from 20,000 employees in 5 offices to 20,000 employees in 20,000 offices almost overnight. IT teams worldwide had to scramble to ensure that every worker had access to essential applications and resources from a remote location, which was usually their home office. And that’s where the trouble began.

Choose your fights. Avoid precedent setting losses.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/09/13/us/political-news#fec-twitter-hunter-biden-article

Under G.O.P. pressure, tech giants are empowered by an election agency

When Twitter decided briefly last fall to block users from posting links to an article about Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son Hunter, it prompted a conservative outcry that Big Tech was improperly aiding Mr. Biden’s presidential campaign.

… The Republican National Committee filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Twitter of “using its corporate resources” to benefit the Biden campaign.

Now the commission, which oversees election laws, has dismissed those allegations, according to a document obtained by The New York Times, ruling in Twitter’s favor in a decision that is likely to set a precedent for future cases involving social media sites and federal campaigns.

The election commission determined that Twitter’s actions regarding the Hunter Biden article had been undertaken for a valid commercial reason, not a political purpose, and were thus allowable.

Perhaps ‘big’ is not automatically evil?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-11/apple-ruling-poses-hurdles-for-biden-s-vow-to-tackle-tech-giants

Apple Ruling Poses Hurdles for Biden’s Vow to Tackle Tech Giants

U.S. antitrust officials investigating Apple Inc. face new hurdles after a judge rejected the bulk of Epic Games Inc.’s lawsuit accusing the iPhone maker of thwarting competition laws with its tight grip over the App Store.

… Antitrust lawyers say Friday’s decision in the Epic lawsuit, while not fatal to the Justice Department’s inquiry, presents new challenges for the government because the judge said that Epic failed to establish that Apple’s conduct violates the Sherman Act, the federal law used to target monopolies.

“It raises the bar to any Justice Department lawsuit,” said Joel Mitnick, an antitrust lawyer at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP who isn’t involved in the case. “Apple pretty much got a flat out victory on all the Sherman Act claims.”

Tools & Techniques. Actually only 6,000 characters per week, but still potentially useful.

https://www.bespacific.com/how-to-create-an-audio-version-of-any-too-long-to-read-article/

How to create an audio version of any too-long-to-read article

Mashable: “If you find reading long articles and features challenging, why not convert them to audio so you can listen to the content at a time and pace that suits you? Whether you’re researching something for work or study, or you just want to read for pleasure, converting the text to audio and then to an MP3 file that you can listen to on your computer or a mobile device is a great option to have. We’ve tried and tested a very simple-to-use, free online tool that can help you create an audio version of any too-long-to-read (we’ll let you be the judge of that!) article in a matter of minutes…”

Yes, it is a pittance compared to one medium sized ransomware attack, but your downside is much less.

https://www.databreaches.net/how-to-make-5-million-hacking-facebook-and-google/

How To Make $5 Million Hacking Facebook And Google

Davey Winder reminds us all that not all hacking is a crime and you can earn a lot of money by hacking firms that have bug bounty programs.

Hacking is not a crime

As regular readers and video viewers will know, #STC is a big fan of the Hacking is NOT a Crime movement. The reality is that cybercrime is a crime, and conflating hackers with cybercriminals is both confusing and potentially damaging.

Read more on Forbes.

Security over privacy? I get the impression that they don’t actually patrol, but they are meant to be seen. Surveillance in the “we’re looking out for you” vein.

https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/patrol-cams-adding-more-security-to-local-parking-lots

Patrol cams adding more security to local parking lots

If you shop at Fry’s, Walmart or Lowe's you’ve seen them, stand-alone patrol cameras are taking up space in Tucson parking lots.

"They really wanted to show a presence in their parking lots where they were able to help their patrons feel safer and have a feeling of control in the parking lots," Lindsey said.

Not surprising. Ethics is one of them thar “liberal arts.” That’s where you learn to say, “Would you like fries with that?”

https://thenextweb.com/news/data-science-students-ethics-problem-syndication?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29

Data science students don’t know a lot about ethics — and that’s a problem

Undergraduate training for data scientists – dubbed the sexiest job of the 21st century by Harvard Business Review – falls short in preparing students for the ethical use of data science, our new study found.

… As educators and practitioners in data science, we were prompted by the growth in programs to investigate what is covered, and what is not covered, in data science undergraduate education.

In our study, we compared undergraduate data science curricula with the expectations for undergraduate data science training put forth by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Those expectations include training in ethics. We found most programs dedicated considerable coursework to mathematics, statistics and computer science, but little training in ethical considerations such as privacy and systemic bias. Only 50% of the degree programs we investigated required any coursework in ethics.

(Related)

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/a-new-business-mandate-for-ethical-technology/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mitsmr+%28MIT+Sloan+Management+Review%29

A New Business Mandate for Ethical Technology

A new MIT SMR Executive Guide explores how organizations must manage and monitor technology in new ways to achieve positive ethical outcomes.

… In this landscape, what are the skills needed for managing and monitoring technology for positive ethical outcomes? This question is at the core of a new MIT SMR Executive Guide, “Developing an Ethical Technology Mindset.” This series will explore the ethical use of technology and offer strategies and frameworks for how companies can rethink product objectives and build technology systems that are resilient and can anticipate risk.

Previous research conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte found that companies at the forefront of embracing ethical technology have committed leaders who explore the unintended consequences of technology and embrace inclusive and diverse feedback from stakeholders. The series will also look at the role of leadership in shaping an ethical technology mindset.

… The series launches Sept. 20. Sign up to be reminded when new articles from the Executive Guide are published, and in the meantime, explore recent articles on ethics and managing technology in our library.

For employees or against big business? Would it be “more fair” if Amazon simply fired the least productive (say the bottom 10%) of it workers every year?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-amazon-would-be-affected-by-californias-warehouse-quotas-bill-11631462581?mod=djemalertNEWS

How Amazon Would Be Affected by California’s Warehouse Quotas Bill

California is taking aim at the grievances of some Amazon.com Inc. warehouse employees, who have complained about the pace at which the company requires them to sort packages, injuries and surveillance they face on the job.

If enacted, a new state law would require Amazon to disclose any quotas it applies to workers in the state, a step the bill’s supporters say would allow regulators to assess whether its employees have sufficient time for breaks, or if performance goals are affecting the health and safety of workers in other ways.

Perspective. Clearly, we have a ways to go.

https://singularityhub.com/2021/09/12/new-study-finds-a-single-neuron-is-a-surprisingly-complex-little-computer/

New Study Finds a Single Neuron Is a Surprisingly Complex Little Computer

… In a fascinating paper published recently in the journal Neuron, a team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem tried to get us a little closer to an answer. While they expected the results would show biological neurons are more complex—they were surprised at just how much more complex they actually are.

In the study, the team found it took a five- to eight-layer neural network, or nearly 1,000 artificial neurons, to mimic the behavior of a single biological neuron from the brain’s cortex.

Perspective.

https://thirdway.imgix.net/pdfs/the-crime-of-the-crime-narrative.pdf

The Crime of the Crime Narrative

… Our findings are as follows:

• Contrary to the media narrative, overall crime decreased in 2020 compared to 2019.

• A spike in homicides in 2020 is unique to homicides and is an outlier when compared to all other crimes.

• There appears to be no difference in crime trends between Republican-led and Democrat-led states.

• There appears to be no difference in crime trends between states that enacted police reforms and those that did not.

Tools & Techniques. Reminders can’t hurt.

https://lifehacker.com/the-most-helpful-google-search-modifiers-everyone-shoul-1847641619

The Most Helpful Google Search Modifiers Everyone Should Be Using

Tools & Techniques.

https://www.bespacific.com/the-best-antivirus-protection-for-2021/

The Best Antivirus Protection for 2021

PCMag: “Antivirus software is critical for every PC. Without it, your personal information, your data, and even your bank account are all at risk. We’ve tested more than 40 utilities to help you pick the best antivirus protection… We call it antivirus, but in truth it’s unlikely you’ll get hit with an actual computer virus. Malware these days is about making money, and there’s no easy way to cash in on spreading a virus. Ransomware and data-stealing Trojans are much more common, as are bots that let the bot-herder rent out your computer for nefarious purposes. Modern antivirus utilities handle Trojans, rootkits, spyware, adware, ransomware, and more. As noted, PCMag has reviewed more than 40 different commercial antivirus utilities, and that’s not even counting the many free antivirus tools. Out of that extensive field we’ve named four Editors’ Choice products, honored others with a four-star rating, and bestowed 3.5 stars on several more. If you have malware, one of the products listed in this article should take care of the problem…”

This seems to suggest that human rights are not ethical (not based on ethics). Or am I completely misreading this?

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8719381/file/8719382

Children’s rights in a digital world

WORKSHOP ON ETHICS AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

“The private sector’s focus on and the public sector’s push for ethics often imply resistance to human rights-based regulation. While ethics provide a critical framework for working through particular challenges in the field of artificial intelligence, it is not a replacement for human rights, to which every State is bound by law. Companies and governments should ensure that human rights considerations and responsibilities are firmly integrated into all aspects of their artificial intelligence operations even as they are developing ethical codes and guidance.”

Looks like religion and AI won’t mix easily. Perhaps we need an AI prophet?

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fb593000427182d627d6a84/t/612f770107b07c7533d221cb/1630500625482/RoboticPersonsPDF.pdf

ROBOTIC PERSONS

Joshua Smith’s Robotic Persons is a fascinating contribution to the study of human-robot interaction, from a Christian Evangelical perspective. Smith combines biblical exegesis with erudite insights from philosophy, law and contemporary theology, as well as a firm understanding of AI technology. Smith’s writing is compelling, clear and accessible. His work deserves serious consideration not just by theologians and Christian scholars, but also by the wider academic and scientific community

Interesting. If building an autonomous weapon is so easy to do, how can we prevent someone from using it?

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/09/i-weapons-are-third-revolution-warfare/620013/

The Third Revolution in Warfare

… But the downsides and liabilities far outweigh these benefits. The strongest such liability is moral—nearly all ethical and religious systems view the taking of a human life as a contentious act requiring strong justification and scrutiny. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has stated, “The prospect of machines with the discretion and power to take human life is morally repugnant.”

… when the killing is assigned to an autonomous-weapon system, the accountability is unclear (similar to accountability ambiguity when an autonomous vehicle runs over a pedestrian).

(Related)

https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/97/5/1630/6363950

I, warbot: the dawn of artificially intelligent conflict

‘Popular understanding of AI [artificial intelligence] has long drawn on science fiction’ (p. 13). It is in this spirit of Hollywood imagination that Kenneth Payne presents his theory of warbots, proposing his own variations on Isaac Asimov's famous laws of robotics. While Payne's laws lack the pithy parsimony of their fictional counterparts, his prescriptions for humane operations, creative strategic decision-making and mission protection offer guidance for the incorporation of artificial intelligence into the wars of tomorrow.

The benefits of marriage, for males.

https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-09-12