Should lawyers be trusted with technology?

https://www.bespacific.com/do-we-need-more-technologies-in-courts-mapping-concerns-for-legal-technologies-in-courts/

Do We Need More Technologies in Courts? Mapping Concerns for Legal Technologies in Courts

Barysė, Dovilė, Do We Need More Technologies in Courts? Mapping Concerns for Legal Technologies in Courts (September 6, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4218897 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4218897

“Courts use progressively more technologies, and there is no consensus on how much and what technologies would benefit or harm courts and in what ways. The analysis of the variety of concerns in law is gaining momentum. However, there is little data on lawyers’ beliefs and attitudes toward technologies in courts. In this study, practicing lawyers and researchers from three countries were interviewed to map their main concerns for technologies in courts. Thematic analysis was conducted. The main reasons for skepticism toward technologies in courts are based on the lack of knowledge, research, and regulation. The primary concerns involve specific properties of technologies, effects on human decision-making, issues in the legal system, lack of research, advantages and disadvantages in access, equality, effectiveness, and fairness, and the “human factor”. The latter includes the need for human interaction, flexible decision-making, and perceived fairness. More focus on humans in human-automation interaction is needed.”

Resources.

https://www.bespacific.com/a-list-of-text-only-news-sites-updated-2022/

A List Of Text-Only News Sites (Updated 2022)

Greycoder: “Text-only websites are quite useful, especially today. Web pages are increasingly filled with ads, videos, and bandwidth-heavy content. Here is a list of text-only, clutter-free news sites:

Tools & Techniques. (I’m still trying to predict next week)

https://www.openculture.com/2022/10/how-to-predict-what-the-world-will-look-like-in-2122-insights-from-futurist-peter-schwartz.html

How to Predict What the World Will Look Like in 2122: Insights from Futurist Peter Schwartz

“It’s very easy to imagine how things go wrong,” says futurist Peter Schwartz in the video above. “It’s much harder to imagine how things go right.” So he demonstrated a quarter-century ago with the Wired magazine cover story he co-wrote with Peter Leyden, “The Long Boom.” Made in the now techno-utopian-seeming year of 1997, its predictions of “25 years of prosperity, freedom, and a better environment for a whole world” have since become objects of ridicule. But in the piece Schwartz and Leyden also provide a set of less-desirable alternative scenarios whose details — a new Cold War between the U.S. and China, climate change-related disruptions in the food supply, an “uncontrollable plague” — look rather more prescient in retrospect.

The intelligent futurist, in Schwartz’s view, aims not to get everything right. “It’s almost impossible. But you test your decisions against multiple scenarios, so you make sure you don’t get it wrong in the scenarios that actually occur.” The art of “scenario planning,” as Schwartz calls it, requires a fairly deep rootedness in the past.

Tools & Techniques. (Has potential but need work)

https://www.bespacific.com/consensus-evidence-based-answers-faster/

Consensus – Evidence-Based Answers, Faster

Consensus: “Consensus only searches through peer-reviewed scientific research to find the most credible insights to your queries. We recommend asking questions related to topics that have likely been studied by scientists. Consensus has subject matter coverage that ranges from medical research and physics to social sciences and economics. Consensus is NOT meant to be used to ask questions about basic facts such as: “How many people live in Europe?” or “When is the next leap year?” as there would likely not be research dedicated to investigating these subjects..”

I must be misinterpreting some of this...

https://www.insideprivacy.com/european-union-2/the-digital-markets-act-for-privacy-professionals/

The Digital Markets Act for Privacy Professionals

This post is the first of a series of blog posts about the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”), which was adopted on July 18, 2022, and it deals specifically with those provisions of the DMA that are relevant to organizations’ privacy programs.

The DMA sets out the following obligations and restrictions on gatekeepers that are relevant to compliance with privacy rules:

1. it restricts the GDPR legal bases gatekeepers may rely on to process personal data in certain cases;

2. it prohibits the processing of certain data generated or received from other businesses or their end users for the purpose of competing with other businesses;

3. it requires the sharing of end users’ personal data with businesses operating on a gatekeeper’s platform, and with advertising companies the gatekeeper works with, at their request;

4. it requires gatekeepers to port end users’ data at their request; and

5. it requires gatekeepers to share independently audited information about profiling techniques with the European Commission.

Below we explain these obligations and prohibitions in more detail.

Is this too unique to set a useful precedent?

https://nltimes.nl/2022/10/09/dutch-employee-fired-us-firm-shutting-webcam-awarded-eu75000-court

Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75,000 in court

… He worked for the American firm for over a year and a half, but on 23 August he was ordered to take part in a virtual training period called a "Corrective Action Program." He was told that during the period he would have to remain logged in for the entire workday with screen-sharing turned on and his webcam activated.

The telemarketing worker replied back two days later, “I don't feel comfortable being monitored for 9 hours a day by a camera. This is an invasion of my privacy and makes me feel really uncomfortable. that's the reason why my camera isn't on. You can already monitor all activities on my laptop and I am sharing my screen.” He was summarily fired on 26 August, for “refusal to work” and “insubordination.”

I admit I know very little about crypto…

https://www.makeuseof.com/best-cryptocurrency-podcasts/

The 5 Best Podcasts to Learn More About Cryptocurrency

Any poorly defined goal can lead to processes optimized poorly.

https://philpapers.org/rec/EDIAAT-3

AI and the Law: Can Legal Systems Help Us Maximize Paperclips while Minimizing Deaths?

This Chapter provides a short undergraduate introduction to ethical and philosophical complexities surrounding the law’s attempt (or lack thereof) to regulate artificial intelligence. Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom proposed a simple thought experiment known as the paperclip maximizer. What would happen if a machine (the “PCM”) were given the sole goal of manufacturing as many paperclips as possible? It might learn how to transact money, source metal, or even build factories. The machine might also eventually realize that humans pose a threat. Humans could turn the machine off at any point, and then it wouldn’t be able to make as many paperclips as possible! Taken to the logical extreme, the result is quite grim—the PCM might even start using humans as raw material for paperclips. The predicament only deepens once we realize that Bostrom’s thought experiment overlooks a key player. The PCM and algorithms like it do not arise spontaneously (at least, not yet). Most likely, some corporation—say, Office Corp.—designed, owns, and runs the PCM. The more paperclips the PCM manufactures, the more profits Office Corp. makes, even if that entails converting some humans (but preferably not customers!) into raw materials. Less dramatically, Office Corp. may also make more money when PCM engages in other socially sub-optimal behaviors that would otherwise violate the law, like money laundering, sourcing materials from endangered habitats, manipulating the market for steel, or colluding with competitors over prices. The consequences are predictable and dire. If Office Corp. isn’t held responsible, it will not stop with the PCM. Office Corp. would have every incentive to develop more maximizers—say for papers, pencils, and protractors. This chapter issues a challenge for tech ethicists, social ontologists, and legal theorists: How can the law help mitigate algorithmic harms without overly compromising the potential that AI has to make us all healthier, wealthier, and wiser? The answer is far from straightforward.

We want to protect our children in the worst way…

https://reason.com/2022/10/06/a-california-law-designed-to-protect-childrens-digital-privacy-could-lead-to-invasive-age-verification/

A California Law Designed To Protect Children's Digital Privacy Could Lead to Invasive Age Verification

While the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act was hailed as a victory for digital privacy, critics warn of a litany of unintended consequences.

The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act was signed last month by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The law requires that online businesses create robust privacy protections for users under 18.

However, critics of the law have raised concerns about its vague language, which leaves unclear what kinds of business might be subject to the law's constraints and what specific actions companies must take to comply with the law.

For instance, due to the law's strict age requirements, online businesses may resort to invasive age verification regimes—such as face-scanning or checking government-issued IDs.

They are coming. Think about dealing with them.

https://elibrary.verlagoesterreich.at/article/10.33196/ealr202201003201

The Use of Autonomous Weapons – fortunium dei?

Weapons were created to inflict damage, whether to property or to people. With the “help” of innovation and digitalisation, there has been a rapid increase in the development and promotion of autonomous weapons. Among other things, pictures and videos of people are used in order to feed the artificial intelligence with material and therefore let it process and develop itself further.

This paper describes the issues of using such weapons in connection with international humanitarian and human rights law. It is divided into four chapters, starting with the functioning and description of the actual weapon and autonomous weapons, and the types of such armament. Furthermore, the points of being in favour or against these systems will be dismantled in a detailed way within the scope of international human rights and humanitarian law, and philosophical standards, the latter in a brief way. Lastly, the conclusion will briefly summarise the results, suggestions for improvements and concerns in the future of using such weapons. Due to the specialisation on to what extent the use of autonomous weapon systems is permissible under human and international humanitarian law, this paper intentionally will not deal with liability and immunity by using them because it would go beyond the scope of this essay.

Ethics for Designers, a basic class for computer scientists?

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09716858221119546

Artificial Intelligent Systems and Ethical Agency

The article examines the challenges involved in the process of developing artificial ethical agents. The process involves the creators or designing professionals, the procedures to develop an ethical agent and the artificial systems. There are two possibilities available to create artificial ethical agents: (a) programming ethical guidance in the artificial Intelligence (AI)-equipped machines and/or (b) allowing AI-equipped machines to learn ethical decision-making by observing humans. However, it is difficult to fulfil these possibilities due to the subjective nature of ethical decision-making. The challenge related to the developers is that they themselves lack training in ethical skills. The creators who develop an artificial ethical agent should be able to foresee the ethical issues and have knowledge about ethical decision-making to improve the ethical use of AI-equipped machines. The suggestion is that the focus should be on training professionals involved in the process of developing these artificial systems in ethics rather than developing artificial ethical agents and thereby attributing ethical agency to it.

Interesting that they can map the location of Ukrainian forces so accurately. Why geo-fence the satellite coverage? Would it interfere with the systems sold to Russia?

https://www.ft.com/content/9a7b922b-2435-4ac7-acdb-0ec9a6dc8397

Ukrainian forces report Starlink outages during push against Russia

… Some of the outages led to a “catastrophic” loss of communication in recent weeks, said one senior Ukrainian government official with direct knowledge of the issue. Many were reported as soldiers breached the frontline into Russian-controlled territory and some during pitched battles, the official said, speaking under the condition of anonymity.

They were acute in the south around the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, but also occurred along the frontline in eastern Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk, the official said.

All four regions are the focus of an intense Ukrainian counteroffensive and were claimed last month by President Vladimir Putin as part of Russia after referendums staged by Kremlin proxies.

… Roman Sinicyn, a co-ordinator at the Serhiy Prytula Charity, a foundation that donates Starlink systems to the Ukrainian armed forces, said the problem may be occurring because SpaceX was trying to prevent its misuse by Russian forces.

Several questions starting with, Who fills out this questionnaire? (It has a place for a parent’s signature)

https://www.pogowasright.org/florida-schools-collected-student-athletes-menstrual-data-its-raising-post-roe-privacy-concerns/

Florida Schools Collected Student-Athletes’ Menstrual Data — & It’s Raising Post-Roe Privacy Concerns

Katherine Speller writes:

A student-athlete physical evaluation containing student’s reproductive health data drew criticism from parents and advocates earlier this week when it became clear that the software used to collect the information was not one guaranteed to protect student privacy — particularly in the aftermath of Roe v Wade being overturned.

The physical evaluation form (available online), which according to the Palm Beach Post had been used by Florida schools for several years, included optional questions about menstruation that are, generally, questions doctors and healthcare providers might ask: “When was your first menstrual period? When was your most recent menstrual period? How much time do you usually have from the start of one period to the start of another? How many periods have you had in the last year? What was the longest time between periods in the last year?”

Read more at SheKnows.

Perspective. Can we agree that the greatest spending occurs where the need(risk) is greatest?

https://www.darkreading.com/tech-trends/cybersecurity-will-account-for-nearly-one-quarter-of-ai-software-market-through-2025

Cybersecurity Will Account for Nearly One-Quarter of AI Software Market Through 2025

By 2025, the artificial intelligence (AI) software market will expand from 2021's $33 billion to $64 billion, according to a new report. And cybersecurity is the fastest-growing category of AI spend, experiencing a rise in spending of 22.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

That's according to the "Global AI Software Forecast 2022" from Forrester Research.

Trick or Treat! (Where the Trick might be a computer crime?)

https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/08/buggy_ikea_smart_bulbs/

Make your neighbor think their house is haunted by blinking their Ikea smart bulbs

… In a couple write-ups about the bugs, the researchers described how CVE-2022-39064, the vulnerability in the Tradfri smart bulbs, could be exploited by sending a single malformed Zigbee frame over the air that makes the light blink. Resending the frame multiple times forces the bulb to perform a factory reset, which erases its configuration and other information, such as brightness level.

A heads up! Privacy Foundation Seminar – October 28th – 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Legal Ethical and Privacy Issues in AI Contracting.

I must discuss this with my Computer Security students. Their career path is getting riskier. What happens when a DA asks for information on a breach that didn’t happen?

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3676148/guilty-verdict-in-the-uber-breach-case-makes-personal-liability-real-for-cisos.html#tk.rss_all

Guilty verdict in the Uber breach case makes personal liability real for CISOs

The conviction of Uber's former CSO could change the roles of top security leaders and raises the level of personal risk in the wake of a breach.

Yesterday, a federal jury handed down a guilty verdict to Joe Sullivan, the former CSO on charges of “obstruction of the proceedings of the Federal Trade Commission and misprision of felony in connection with the attempted cover-up of a 2016 hack at Uber” according to a notice published by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

(Related)

https://www.databreaches.net/covering-up-cyber-breaches/

Covering Up Cyber Breaches

I was researching something and stumbled across a post in r/sysadmin on Reddit that begins:

I wanted to make this post for a few months now because I know we all have horror stories on this topic. It seems the only way to stop this is to make sure more IT admins are aware of their reporting requirements in regulated industry or nonregulated areas make sure they a transparent procedure for notifying customers.

It seems companies and tech vendors are being attacked with increased sophistication and they are covering up or downplaying security breaches with hippo sized lies with increased frequency. Its an open secret amongst IT admins and security professionals but definitely one of the ugliest things we have to deal with. I am currently in the midst of a very nasty Hospital provider client separation because they have been trying to avoid reporting a HIPAA breach with numerous excuses that had no merit.

Read more of the post and the replies to it on Reddit.

Would this be an acceptable time to point out that HHS was sent a formal whistleblower complaint in 2018 about a coverup that occurred in 2016 and they still have not closed the complaint with any enforcement action? How can they not impose a severe monetary penalty on a medical practice that knew it was hacked, saw evidence that the hacker had exfiltrated patient data, and told the police that they were the victims of a hack and extortion attempt — but never told the patients? The only reason the patients were ever told anything — years later — was because the hacker told DataBreaches the story of the hack and provided this site with all of the patients’ information!

The Reddit post shows that the problem of coverups is well-known and continuing. Well, why shouldn’t it continue if HHS never takes stern action when it is aware of a coverup?

Where do we draw the line? Someone will cross it sometime, probably sooner rather than later. Would NATO be obligated to respond in kind?

https://www.databreaches.net/albania-weighed-invoking-natos-article-5-over-iranian-cyberattack/

Albania weighed invoking NATO’s Article 5 over Iranian cyberattack

Maggie Miller reports:

Albania was hit by cyberattacks earlier this year so debilitating that the government considered invoking a NATO declaration that could have pulled all member states into confrontation with Iran, Prime Minister Edi Rama said.

It would have been the first time a NATO member state used a cyberattack to invoke Article Five — which treats an attack against one member as an “attack against them all,” requiring collective defense.

Read more at Politico.

Make the time

https://aleteia.org/2022/10/07/are-we-all-in-danger-from-ai/

Are we all in danger from AI?

… Understanding AI, and especially delving into anthropological questions related to this ongoing transformation, is the goal of “Masterclass Homo Roboticus for Global Leaders,” a free international online event to be held on October 21, 2022 (10am – 1pm EST, 2pm – 5pm GMT) at the initiative of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education (formerly the Pontifical Council for Culture) and the CTN Foundation.

Among the keynote speakers will be Jesuit astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory, Brother Guy Consolmagno, who recorded a video in preparation for the event in which he answers the question, “Should we be afraid of AI?”

Another distortion of reality. Should we assume everything is fake until proven real? How do we prove “real?”

https://petapixel.com/2022/10/06/mindboggling-ai-program-allows-you-to-fly-into-a-landscape-photograph/

Mindboggling AI Program Allows You to ‘Fly’ Into a Landscape Photograph

In a new paper entitled InfiniteNature-Zero, the researchers take a landscape photo and then use AI to “fly” into it like a bird, with clever software generating a fake landscape thanks to machine learning.

Tools & Techniques. (The RSS guide is worth the read!)

https://www.bespacific.com/5-of-the-best-solutions-for-monitoring-website-changes/

5 of the Best Solutions for Monitoring Website Changes

maketecheasier: “One of the quickest ways to check a website for new updates is to add the site to your favorite RSS reader and let the tool notify you of any new content. However, an RSS reader can only check for updates within the confines of RSS-formatted code. This limitation means RSS readers won’t work on any static webpages or dynamic websites without RSS components. Fortunately, you can use third-party tools to monitor website changes and receive notifications for any new changes. A website monitor can be an automated solution to regularly checking a product listing for price changes. If you are monitoring an Amazon product, you can use these extensions instead, but thanks to website monitors, you won’t have to wait for a developer to make an extension for a specific online marketplace just for price tracking. Website monitors may also eliminate the need for subscribing to email newsletters. For instance, if you want to figure out whether an updated version of a software or game is out, you can set the monitor to track changes in the version number of the change log…”

See also Via LLRX – What is RSS and How to Use it Effectively – This guide by Pete Weiss – expert listserv manager, communication device integrator, and newswire publisher/editor – and author of Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cybersecurity issues – provides researchers with an overview of why you should use RSS, along with step by step examples of how to implement this application which should be part of your knowledge gathering and current awareness toolkit.

Learn to delegate!

https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-10-06

Tools & Techniques.

https://www.makeuseof.com/best-3d-scanning-apps-iphone/

The 5 Best 3D Scanning Apps for iPhone

3D scanners capture a 3D object or scene, and then the scanned information is converted into a digital model. Most 3D scanning applications make use of a smartphone or tablet camera to capture 3D data. The camera takes multiple pictures of an object from different angles, and the app processes them to create a 3D model.

Many such 3D scanning apps are available for the iPhone, but not all are created equal. Here we’ll take a look at five of the best.

Interesting twist. Can you mislead an AI?

https://www.irmagazine.com/reporting/truth-about-lie-detector-ai-and-machine-learning-disclosure-analysis

The truth about ‘lie detector’ AI and machine-learning disclosure analysis

In most cases, effective communication is intuitive – you know it when you hear it. As an IR professional, you’re likely a natural communicator in your day-to-day life and investors are, after all, just people. But what does an effective message sound like when your audience is a machine?

Investors are increasingly adopting advanced tools that use AI and machine learning to analyze disclosures, trying to find the hidden meaning in the numbers, words and even non-verbal behavior in corporate disclosures. These tools are being used during your earnings calls, roadshow presentations and even private phone calls with investors. So how do you communicate effectively in this new disclosure landscape?

Coming soon to a state near me.

https://www.insideprivacy.com/united-states/u-s-federal-and-state-legislative-initiatives/colorado-attorney-general-issues-draft-rules-under-the-colorado-privacy-act/

Colorado Attorney General Issues Draft Rules Under the Colorado Privacy Act

The Colorado Department of Law issued draft rules implementing the Colorado Privacy Act. The proposed draft rules will be published in the Colorado Register and available for comment on October 10, 2022.

For better research…

https://www.bespacific.com/is-the-paper-you-need-stuck-behind-a-paywall/

Is the paper you need stuck behind a paywall?

Dr. Lisa Nivison-Smith @LnivisonSmith – “Is the paper you need stuck behind a paywall? Five websites [1. Sci-Hub 2. Unpaywall 3. Open Access Button 4. Paper Panda 5. 12ft ladder] every researcher should know to access any research paper for free.” [The author lists the pros and cons of using each site. Researchers should be aware that the sites are not comprehensive, have limitations due to copyright issues, and in some instances may not be accessible via your browser.]

Gee, maybe it ain’t rocket science…

https://jalammar.github.io/illustrated-stable-diffusion/

The Illustrated Stable Diffusion

AI image generation is the most recent AI capability blowing people’s minds (mine included). The ability to create striking visuals from text descriptions has a magical quality to it and points clearly to a shift in how humans create art. The release of Stable Diffusion is a clear milestone in this development because it made a high-performance model available to the masses (performance in terms of image quality, as well as speed and relatively low resource/memory requirements).

After experimenting with AI image generation, you may start to wonder how it works.

This is a gentle introduction to how Stable Diffusion works.

A hobby for my retirement?

https://www.makeuseof.com/best-platforms-to-find-social-media-jobs/

The 6 Best Platforms to Find Social Media Consulting Jobs

How Google looks at these “Big” settlements… (The state AG’s pretend it’s a big deal.)

https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/04/google_privacy_lawsuit_settlement/

Google burns few hours of profit to disappear location privacy lawsuit

Google will pay $85 million to settle a privacy lawsuit that accused the internet behemoth of deceiving netizens regarding its harvesting of people's location data and using this personal info to rake in billions of dollars in advertising revenue.

Podcast.

https://theintercept.com/2022/10/05/intercepted-china-surveillance/

INSIDE THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT’S GROWING SURVEILLANCE STATE

This week on Intercepted: investigative reporter Mara Hvistendahl speaks with Josh Chin and Liza Lin, reporters for the Wall Street Journal, about their new book, “Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control.” In their book, Chin and Lin break down the international implications of the Chinese government’s adoption of surveillance technology. Hvistendahl, Chin, and Lin discuss techno-dystopia in the pandemic era, what happens when there are no checks on algorithms, and how Western companies helped the Chinese government build the surveillance state from day one.

(Transcript coming soon.)

What the players are thinking about AI?

https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjkwqb/meta-ai-chief-publishes-paper-on-creating-autonomous-artificial-intelligence

Meta's AI Chief Publishes Paper on Creating ‘Autonomous’ Artificial Intelligence

Yann LeCun, machine learning pioneer and head of AI at Meta, lays out a vision for AIs that learn about the world more like humans in a new study.

https://openreview.net/pdf?id=BZ5a1r-kVsf

Perspective.

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252525729/Forrester-US-set-to-dominate-AI-enterprise-software-market

Forrester: US set to dominate AI enterprise software market

Analyst firm Forrester has predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming the biggest growth area across the software industry and will drive mainstream adoption of AI in business.

… In a blog discussing the report, Forrester analyst Michael O’Grady said: “AI has great potential across knowledge and data intelligence, security and cyber security, process optimisation and automation, AI tools and database, health and drug discovery, customer and human capital management, and other categories.

Status update…

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/travel/customs-kiosks-facial-recognition.html

Whatever Happened to Those Self-Service Passport Kiosks at Airports?

More than 80 percent of all travelers entering the U.S. are now verified by facial recognition. The loss of older, seemingly more convenient methods has many perplexed. And then there are the privacy issues.

Perspective.

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-machines-cant-do-yet-in-real-work-settings/

What Machines Can’t Do (Yet) in Real Work Settings

… In this article, we use those examples to illustrate our list of AI-enabled activities that still require human assistance. These are activities where organizations need to continue to invest in human capital and where practitioners can expect job continuity for the immediate future.

And so it begins. (One riot, one robot?)

https://www.scmp.com/video/world/3194735/israel-installs-ai-powered-gun-west-bank-checkpoint-riot-control

Israel installs AI-powered gun at West Bank checkpoint as riot control

The Israeli military has installed an artificial intelligence-powered weapon at a busy checkpoint in the West Bank, over a gate Palestinians use to cross to the Old City of Hebron. Israel’s military said the weapon system is designed to fire non-lethal projectiles to “disperse riots”.

Does TikTok think I am a potential user? No! But I will be exposed to ads.

https://www.bespacific.com/how-tiktok-tracks-you-across-the-web-even-if-you-dont-use-the-app/

How TikTok Tracks You Across the Web, Even If You Don’t Use the App

Consumer Reports: “Almost every website you visit collects information about what you’re doing and sends it off into the tech industry’s data analyzing machinery, where it is used for online advertising. For years, Google and Facebook (now known as Meta) have dominated that advertising business, and conducted a lot of the data gathering. But lately, a new contender has entered the scene: TikTok. A Consumer Reports investigation finds that TikTok, one of the country’s most popular apps, is partnering with a growing number of other companies to hoover up data about people as they travel across the internet. That includes people who don’t have TikTok accounts. These companies embed tiny TikTok trackers called “pixels” in their websites. Then TikTok uses the information gathered by all those pixels to help the companies target ads at potential customers, and to measure how well their ads work. To look into TikTok’s use of online tracking, CR asked the security firm Disconnect to scan about 20,000 websites for the company’s pixels. In our list, we included the 1,000 most popular websites overall, as well as some of the biggest sites with domains ending in “.org,” “.edu,” and “.gov.” We wanted to look at those sites because they often deal with sensitive subjects. We found hundreds of organizations sharing data with TikTok….Even Planned Parenthood uses the trackers, automatically notifying TikTok about every person who goes to its website, though it doesn’t share information from the pages where you can book an appointment. (None of those groups responded to requests for comment.)…The number of TikTok trackers we saw was just a fraction of those we observed from Google and Meta. However, TikTok’s advertising business is exploding, and experts say the data collection will probably grow along with it…”

I suspect this is Much Ado About Nothing. Anything beyond cosmetic changes is likely to conflict with GDPR. Anything that goes beyond GDPR increases complexity.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/03/uk-data-reform-bill-replace-gdpr/

UK pauses data reform bill to rethink how to replace GDPR

… The fresh-in-post secretary of state for digital, Michelle Donelan, gave over the first chunk of her Conservative Party conference speech Monday to a headline-grabbing (but under-explained) announcement that it would be “replacing” the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — a law the UK had (in her words) “inherited” from the European Union.

In its place the government would install what she framed as “our own business- and consumer-friendly British data protection system”.

This rebooted reform approach entails the government taking aim at bureaucratic EU “red tape” that Donelan claimed is responsible for current UK rules being a disproportionate burden for small businesses as a result of a “one-size-fits-all” approach in the GDPR. (So much like the claims the government previously made for the now paused data reform package.)

She also suggested that “simplification” of the UK’s data protection regime would help unlock economic growth by boosting businesses’ profits.

Every organization should have one.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/the-ciso-of-tomorrow-is-stepping-into-the-business-spotlight/

The CISO of Tomorrow Is Stepping Into the Business Spotlight

The days of managing from the shadows are long gone for the CISO. As technology needs, reach, and partnerships of businesses evolve rapidly, the CISO can no longer remain unseen. Today’s CISO is more than an advisor to the C-suite with 88% of boards of directors viewing cybersecurity as a business risk. The role for the CISO has expanded to encompass advising the entire business and employees on how they can help ensure data security starting now.

… The contemporary CISO must understand how to educate the team on what makes a sound technical security decision, and why. That requires interpersonal skills, and an understanding of the particular culture and structure of the business: What information does the CISO need to communicate to which stakeholders under what circumstances? What motivates those stakeholders in their own roles? And how can you assure stakeholders you want them to succeed versus introducing obstacles? The business’s goals may at times seem to conflict with the strongest security practices, so the bottom-line value in dollars of implementing stronger security must be clear to all.

My AI is not impressed.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/

Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights

… To advance President Biden’s vision, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has identified five principles that should guide the design, use, and deployment of automated systems to protect the American public in the age of artificial intelligence.

Safe and Effective Systems

Algorithmic Discrimination Protections

Data Privacy

Notice and Explanation

Human Alternatives, Consideration, and Fallback

Is this really the goal AI has been striving for?

https://www.reuters.com/technology/want-fries-with-that-robot-makes-french-fries-faster-better-than-humans-do-2022-10-04/

Want fries with that? Robot makes French fries faster, better than humans do

… “When an order comes in through the restaurant system, it automatically spits out the instructions to Flippy," Miso Chief Executive Mike Bell said in an interview.

" ... It does it faster or more accurately, more reliably and happier than most humans do it,” Bell added.

Perspective. This was easy back in the mainframe days, but isn’t that much more difficult today. The trick is ensuring that managers take the time to review what their employees are accessing.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/03/nsa_worker_fbi_espionage/

FBI: We tracked who was printing secret documents to unmask ex-NSA suspect

Imagine how much fun it would be to have a similar law in every state!

https://1440wrok.com/walmart-hit-with-illinois-class-action-for-biometric-violations/

Walmart Hit With Illinois Class Action For Biometric Violations

Another day, and another really big company is finding itself on Illinois' hot seat for violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA.

… By all appearances, it looks like anyone who walked into a Walmart in Illinois might have a claim here.

Illinois resident James Luthe is alleging that Walmart stores in Illinois collected, stored, and used biometric data without getting consent from the customers being scanned.

From the filing:

"Walmart's stores in Illinois are outfitted with cameras and advanced video surveillance systems that – unbeknownst to customers – surreptitiously collect, possess, or otherwise obtain Biometric Data. In addition, Walmart uses software provided by Clearview AI, Inc. to match facial scans taken in its Illinois stores with billions of facial scans maintained within Clearview's massive facial recognition database."

Other companies in the suit include Home Depot, Best Buy, Kohl's, and AT&T.

This has to be a factor in the cost of loans…

https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/03/moodys_cyber_risk_ratings/

Moody's turns up the heat on 'riskiest' sectors for cyberattacks

About $22 trillion of global debt rated by Moody's Investors Service has "high," or "very high" cyber-risk exposure, with electric, gas and water utilities, as well as hospitals, among the sectors facing the highest risk of cyberattacks.

That's more than one-quarter (28 percent) of the $80 trillion in Moody's rated debt across 71 global sectors, and it represents a $1 trillion jump from the firm's 2019 numbers, according to the credit rating biz.

For its Cyber Heatmap, Moody's looks at two factors, exposure and mitigation, and weighs both across all of the sectors it rates.

Laws without logic? Faith based law?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/01/texas-social-media-impact/

Tech companies are gaming out responses to the Texas social media law

At some point in the future, Texans who visit social media sites might be greeted with a pop-up screen saying something like: “The content you are about to see contains graphic violence, white supremacist imagery and other objectionable material. If you don’t want to be exposed, click here.”

The pop-up is among a slew of options companies are weighing in response to a Texas social media law that was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last month. Most of the options being floated would alter tech company services so dramatically that some experts have concluded they would be virtually impossible to execute, say lobbyists that work with the companies.

Proponents of the Texas law, and a similar one in Florida, have said the legislation will prevent tech companies from engaging in censorship by banning them from taking down posts featuring political viewpoints that they disagree with. But the wording of the Texas law effectively bars the companies from moderating or blocking any content that is not already illegal, paving the way, experts say, for terrorist recruiting, white supremacist organizing, posts egging on people with eating disorders, vaccine disinformation, and other harmful material that many websites currently ban.

Is their attempt to empty my bank account sufficient justification for me to empty theirs?

https://boingboing.net/2022/09/26/counter-scam-ai-tricks-fraudsters-into-disclosing-their-own-bank-information.html

Counter-scam AI tricks fraudsters into disclosing their own bank information

Should we build Skynet?

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15027570.2022.2124022

The Moral Case for the Development and Use of Autonomous Weapon Systems

Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) are artificial intelligence systems that can make and act on decisions concerning the termination of enemy soldiers and installations without direct intervention from a human being. In this article, I provide the positive moral case for the development and use of supervised and fully autonomous weapons that can reliably adhere to the laws of war. Two strong, prima facie obligations make up the positive case. First, we have a strong moral reason to deploy AWS (in an otherwise just war) because such systems decrease the psychological and moral risk of soldiers and would-be soldiers. Drones protect against lethal risk, AWS protect against psychological and moral risk in addition to lethal risk. Second, we have a prima facie obligation to develop such technologies because, once developed, we could employ forms of non-lethal warfare that would substantially reduce the risk of suffering and death for enemy combatants and civilians alike. These two arguments, covering both sides of a conflict, represent the normative hill that those in favor of a ban on autonomous weapons must overcome. Finally, I demonstrate that two recent objections to AWS fail because they misconstrue the way in which technology is used and conceptualized in modern warfare.

(Related)

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-06709-9_2

How States’ Recourse to Artificial Intelligence for National Security Purposes Threatens Our Most Fundamental Rights

Many states deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and associated technology in their efforts to safeguard their national security. When these states justify their recourse to AI for national security purposes by arguing that ‘technology and machines are neutral’, they disregard one essential element: technology is far from neutral. Inherent biases and errors in AI deployed in national security uses seriously threaten people’s fundamental rights. Citizens subjected to intrusive AI-enabled technology see, amongst others, their right to privacy, right to a fair trial, right to freedom of opinion and even their most fundamental right to life endangered. This work seeks to investigate and raise awareness regarding several human rights threatened by the state’s recourse to AI for national security purposes.

A duty to AI?

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-022-00222-z

“AI for all” is a matter of social justice

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a radically transformative technology (or system of technologies) that created new existential possibilities and new standards of well-being in human societies. In this article, I argue that to properly understand the increasingly important role AI plays in our society, we must consider its impacts on social justice. For this reason, I propose to conceptualize AI’s transformative role and its socio-political implications through the lens of the theory of social justice known as the Capability Approach. According to the approach, a just society must put its members in a position to acquire and exercise a series of basic capabilities and provide them with the necessary means for these capabilities to be actively realized. Because AI is re-shaping the very definition of some of these basic capabilities, I conclude that AI itself should be considered among the conditions of possession and realization of the capabilities it transforms. In other words, access to AI—in the many forms this access can take—is necessary for social justice.

Perspective. What would Henry Ford say? (I’m old enough that I can avoid this technology and people will call me eccentric.)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-next-big-battle-between-google-and-apple-is-for-the-soul-of-your-car-11664596817?mod=djemalertNEWS

The Next Big Battle Between Google and Apple Is for the Soul of Your Car

A few years from now, in addition to deciding your next vehicle’s make and model, you may have another tough choice: the Google model or the Apple one? Other options may include “car maker generic” and even, I’m spitballing the name here: Amazon Prime Edition.

Now that cars, especially electric ones, are becoming something like smartphones on wheels, some of the dynamics that played out in the early days of the mobile industry are playing out in the auto industry. Competition between the two kingpins of the smartphone industry has in the past couple of years gained new momentum, with Google racking up auto-maker partnerships for the automobile-based version of its Android operating system, and Apple teasing plans to expand its software capabilities in the car.

For the car companies involved, which face the nearly impossible challenge of producing software on par with what tech companies offer, working with Silicon Valley can address consumer desires while also staving off competition from companies like Tesla. And yet there is an inherent tension in these partnerships over who controls the user experience and the valuable data produced.