Somehow, this report does not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. What happened? Did they only look for evidence that Russia interfered?

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/30/us/ap-us-election-security-north-carolina.html

Feds: No Evidence Hackers Disrupted North Carolina Voting

A federal investigation didn’t turn up any evidence that cyber attacks were responsible for computer errors that disrupted voting in a North Carolina county in 2016, according to a report issued Monday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s report said it didn’t identify any malware or remote access to the Durham County Board of Elections systems that it analyzed.

… Laptops used in some Durham County precincts on Election Day in November 2016 showed inaccurate data to poll workers, such as erroneously identifying voters as having already voted and identifying registered voters as being unregistered.

Even a lawyer should have figured this out.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/lawyer-loses-rs-70k-in-cyber-fraud-many-more-cheated/articleshow/73022664.cms

Vadodara lawyer loses Rs 70,000 in cyber fraud, many more cheated.

… Dave said that he had received a message on WhatsApp from one Naveen Kumar on December 25 asking him for registration of his marriage. Kumar told Dave that he had found his number through a search portal providing contact details of different service providers.

Dave responded to Kumar on Saturday and informed him about the documents which he would need for registration. During the conversation, Kumar told Dave that he works in the Indian Army currently posted in Delhi and would be coming to Vadodara on January 1. When Dave said that he would charge Rs 5,000 for the registration and asked him to transfer money through Google Pay, Kumar said that he will have to verify first.

Kumar asked him to transfer Rs 20,000 in his army camp’s bank account saying he would transfer it back. “I transferred Rs 20,000 four times but every time he said that the transaction has failed and no money was received by him. I then transferred just Rs 10,000,” Dave told TOI. Although he received an sms intimating that Rs 90,000 had been debited from his account, he got only Rs 20,000 back. “I have only received sms of credit, but there is no entry of it in my passbook,” Dave said.

As Dave informed about this fraud in a WhatsApp group of lawyers, several other lawyers came forward saying that they too were conned similarly.

It ain’t easy.

https://www.bespacific.com/how-to-spot-a-bot-or-not/

How to spot a bot (or not)

First Draft – The main indicators of online automation, co-ordination and inauthentic activity. “First Draft has put together a number of indicators that might suggest — but not proof — automated activity online. Bot detection is no simple task… From talking with academics and researchers, studying  the work of others, and carrying out our own investigations, First Draft has put together a list of indicators to help anyone identify suspicious online activity. The list of indicators is broken down by category: the account’s pattern of activity, account information, content posted by the account, and network of other accounts it may be a part of. Within each category are different metrics which are red flags for automation…”

Just another tool. (Where would Amazon see your hands?)

https://www.bespacific.com/amazon-files-patent-for-tech-to-identify-you-using-the-veins-in-your-hand/

Amazon files patent for tech to identify you using the veins in your hand

USA Today: “What if you could pay for your groceries using your veins? Amazon filed a patent for technology that could identify you by scanning the wrinkles in the palm of your hand and by using a light to see beneath your skin to your blood vessels. The resulting images could be used to identify you as a shopper at Amazon Go stores. It was previously reported that the Seattle-based tech giant might install these hi-tech scanners in Whole Foods grocery stores. However, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an application on Thursday that suggests the e-commerce behemoth sets its sites on Amazon Go stores. Many of the inventors named on the application include Amazon Go executives such as vice president Dili Kumar and senior manager Manoj Aggarwal. Engineer Nikolai Orlov, who previously lead Amazon Go projects, was also listed as an inventor…”

On the other hand, technology works both ways.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7837767/CIA-faces-crisis-intelligence-gathering-digital-footprints.html

Will the digital age kill off spying? CIA in crisis as facial recognition, biometrics and AI make it increasingly difficult for agents to maintain their cover abroad

• Some foreign governments no longer see the need to physically follow CIA officers because facial recognition and surveillance is so advanced
• U.S. intelligence agencies are facing a growing crisis because developments in technology are making it increasingly more difficult to conceal operatives
• Given the advances in technology, some intelligence officials across the world are now simply hiding in plain sight using their real identities

Perspective.

https://adage.com/article/datacenter/new-milestone-internet-will-account-half-ad-spending-2020/2223511

IN A NEW MILESTONE, THE INTERNET WILL ACCOUNT FOR HALF OF AD SPENDING IN 2020

For the first time, 
the internet in 2020 will account for more than half of both U.S. and worldwide ad spending.

That’s a key takeaway from Ad Age Marketing Fact Pack 2020, our annual guide to marketers, media and agencies. You can download a free 
copy at AdAge.com
/resources.

For my students, mostly.

5 Sites to Search and Find the Best Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for You

The camera seems to see a lot!

https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/30/wyze-leak-2-4-million-users/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLmdvb2dsZS5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAElUoGR0w9ac0pNHvCgC3iwlldmgFUZebb_IBTGduQaB-nRBNJgpcpdaHzQvd8mlZNk3Pu0bGpAK_B-AgQkjdtz4EcvqcHgFm_oraXU2VC3tachgdJVJf6nMTFyyFTHh3ocCDqcbG0LQB7k4Xpz3BanPTc9Ex4FOeSp2wfH7Djl-

Wyze leaks personal data for 2.4 million security camera users

You buy a home monitoring camera to improve your security, but Wyze customers might have wound up achieving the opposite. The company, which makes $20 security cameras to pepper around your home, has admitted that data on more than 2.4 million users has been exposed. A database was left exposed, allowing people to access key pieces of data, although financial information was not included.

The issue was uncovered by consulting firm Twelve Security, who announced that sensitive user data had been left exposed on the internet. This included a staggering array of personal information including email addresses, a list of cameras in the house, WiFi SSIDs and even health information including height, weight, gender, bone density and more.

… Wyze says it is investigating what happened and how the leak occurred, and that it plans to send an email notification to affected customers. In the meantime, if you have a Wyze account it's a good idea to change your password and turn on two-factor authentication.

Will they also look for missed deductions? (Mais non, mon ami.)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-tech-surveillance/french-court-clears-social-media-tracking-plan-in-tax-crackdown-idUSKBN1YV1IB

French court clears social media tracking plan in tax crackdown

France’s government can pursue plans to trawl social media to detect tax avoidance, its Constitutional Court ruled on Friday, although it introduced limitations on what information can be collected following a privacy outcry.

… Customs and tax authorities will be allowed to review people’s profiles, posts and photographs on social media for evidence of undeclared income or inconsistencies.

Just to see if I agree with the list.

https://teachprivacy.com/top-10-privacy-law-developments-of-the-past-decade-2010-2019/

Top 10 Privacy Law Developments of the Decade 2010-2019

I told you I liked lists, even ones with some silly items.

https://medium.com/fluxx-studio-notes/52-things-i-learned-in-2019-8ee483e6c816

52 things I learned in 2019

Emojis are starting to appear in evidence in court cases, and lawyers are worried: “When emoji symbols are strung together, we don’t have a reliable way of interpreting their meaning.” (In 2017, an Israeli judge had to decide if one emoji-filled message constituted a verbal contract)

Placebos are so effective that placebo placebos work: A pain cream with no active ingredients worked even when not used by the patient. Just owning the cream was enough to reduce pain.

Mechanical devices to cheat your phone pedometer (for health insurance fraud or vanity) are now all over AliExpress.

Using machine learning, researchers can now predict how likely an individual is to be involve in a car accident by looking at the image of their home address on Google Street View.

To AI or not to AI...

http://www.informationweek.com/big-data/ai-machine-learning/when-is-it-ethical-to-not-replace-humans-with-ai/a/d-id/1336661

When Is It Ethical to Not Replace Humans with AI?

There are legitimate questions about the ethics of employing AI in place of human workers. But what about when there's a moral imperative to automate?

It is by now, well-known that artificial intelligence will augment the human worker and, in some instances outright take jobs once handled by humans. A 2019 report indicated that 36 million U.S. workers have “high exposure” to impending automation. For businesses, the opportunities of AI mean they must scrutinize which tasks would be more efficiently and cost-effectively performed by robots than by human employees, as well as which ones should combine human and AI resources.

… Based on my own experiences as an AI strategist, I can identify at least three broad areas where the ethics of employing AI are not only sound but imperative:

1. Physically dangerous jobs

2. Health care

3. Data-driven decision-making

Is it more profitable to release the product and wait for the lawsuits than to get it right before release?

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/amazon-ring-security-camera-hacking-lawsuit

Amazon, Ring hit with lawsuit over security camera hacking

Ring security cameras continue to be hacked, leaving victims, including children, terrified. Now, the company and its parent, Amazon, are facing a lawsuit in federal court.

The two companies are being sued for negligence, invasion of privacy, breach of implied contract, breach of implied warranty and unjust enrichment. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the companies have known about the insufficiency of the system's security.

Expect a well considered law.

https://www.huntonprivacyblog.com/2019/12/27/canada-signals-overhaul-of-data-privacy/

Canada Signals Overhaul of Data Privacy

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signaled his intent to overhaul data privacy within Canada. Prime Minister Trudeau recently sent a Mandate Letter to Navdeep Bains, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, that contained a number of mandates with respect to data privacy. Specifically, the Mandate Letter states that Minister Bains is expected to work with the Minister of Justice, Attorney General of Canada and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to advance Canada’s Digital Charter and enhance powers for the Privacy Commissioner, in order to establish a new set of online rights, including:

• the ability to review and challenge the amount of personal data that a company or government has collected;
• the ability to be informed when personal data is breached with appropriate compensation; and,
• the ability to be free from online discrimination including bias and harassment.

Automate lawyers not paralegals!

https://gritdaily.com/artificial-intelligence-can-shape-your-legal-practice/

How A.I. Can Help Your Legal Practice

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is changing the landscape of the practice of law.

From e-Discovery to A.I. contract software, A.I. is impacting legal practices. A.I. is now capable of a more involved role in litigation, such as:

• Drafting pleadings
• Legal research
• Process and analyze large volumes of data
• Manage contracts more efficiently
• Predict the likely outcomes of legal proceedings

Some law firms have been slow to adapt to the advantages that A.I. brings. The fear that they are replacing the work of attorneys is unfounded.

Looks like there is more to argue about.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8937913

Ethics and Artificial General Intelligence: Technological Prediction as a Groundwork for Guidelines

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is the possible future of computer systems which are as capable as humans across a broad range of intellectual requirements. In order to establish an ethical position or guidelines for the development of AGI, it is important to explore anticipated characteristics about the emergence of AGI: How sudden it could be (jolt), how soon it could be (timing), and how dangerous it could be (risk). By extrapolating today's trends in development and limitations of current AI algorithms, informed speculation can help set ethical positions and guidelines on the proper course. This paper concludes that the emergence of AGI will be gradual, soon, and only moderately dangerous and begins to address how ethical issues will change as AGI emerges from narrow AI.

Perspective.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Defining-AI-in-Policy-versus-Practice-Krafft-Young/41ca1118a5878af28be2ffacb322311e00c88bfa

Defining AI in Policy versus Practice

Recent concern about harms of information technologies motivate consideration of regulatory action to forestall or constrain certain developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). However, definitional ambiguity hampers the possibility of conversation about this urgent topic of public concern. Legal and regulatory interventions require agreed-upon definitions, but consensus around a definition of AI has been elusive, especially in policy conversations. With an eye towards practical working definitions and a broader understanding of positions on these issues, we survey experts and review published policy documents to examine researcher and policy-maker conceptions of AI. We find that while AI researchers favor definitions of AI that emphasize technical functionality, policy-makers instead use definitions that compare systems to human thinking and behavior. We point out that definitions adhering closely to the functionality of AI systems are more inclusive of technologies in use today, whereas definitions that emphasize human-like capabilities are most applicable to hypothetical future technologies. As a result of this gap, ethical and regulatory efforts may overemphasize concern about future technologies at the expense of pressing issues with existing deployed technologies.

This article seems to suggest that there is nothing special (nor especially risky) about AI. Just keep using the same checklist. I’ll have to think about that a bit,

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/hipaa-compliance-and-ai-solutions-57334/

HIPAA Compliance and AI Solutions

… Part of the issue with securing data is the amount of data that is collected from users on a daily basis. The healthcare industry is adopting new technologies while forgetting about the security measures that need to be in place. When implementing new technology healthcare organizations must consider HIPAA compliance.

Perspective.

https://www.morningbrew.com/emerging-tech/stories/2019/12/28/famga-spent-decade-acquiring-ai-companies

FAMGA spent a decade acquiring AI companies

As I wrote last Monday, AI has made 10 years of steady gains...and each member of FAMGA (Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon) is now an AI company.

Prosecuting the Terminator?

https://js.vnu.edu.vn/LS/article/view/4257

Models of Criminal Liability of Artificial Intelligence: From Science Fiction to Prospect for Criminal Law and Policy in Vietnam

The Industrial Revolution 4.0 (4IR) reflects combination of technologies in physics, digitalisation and biology, shaping a modern world of information technology where virtual and real systems are integrated through worldwide internet connection networks. Intelligence (AI) and decision making process have seen profound changes. The relevant question is whether criminal liability is applicable to AI entities in the near future given criminal law in many jurisdictions including Vietnam has provided for criminal liability of legal persons as “abstract entities”. On this basis, from the criminal law and science fiction approach, the paper initially assumes AI entities as subjects of crimes to explore possible models of criminal liability applicable to AI entities and prospect for changes of criminal law and policy in Vietnam in the future, making recommendations on improvement of legal framework, contributing to crime prevention and protection of human rights in the industrial revolution 4.0.

Interesting.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3508487

Intellectual Property Law and Post-Scarcity Society

Rapid technological progress has shifted discussion of the possibility of "post-scarcity society" from science fiction novels and utopian manifestoes to the pages of our newspapers and now to our law reviews. Commentators imagine a world in which three-dimensional printing, advanced robotics, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence will enable the low-cost at-home manufacture of nearly all commodities and provision of nearly all services. This lecture considers the implications of postscarcity society for law and specifically for intellectual property law. It focuses on the likely social role of intellectual property law in a post-scarcity society and on the ways in which intellectual property law will likely work to undermine the socially progressive promise of post-scarcity.

Architecture.

https://it.toolbox.com/article/your-erp-needs-to-speak-with-the-internet-of-things

Your ERP Needs To Speak with the Internet Of Things

… The Internet of Things, with its higher degree of integration between internal systems and the wider world of data and the cloud, is a phenomenon here to stay for major companies. Companies without an IoT strategy will quickly fall behind.

Some Best Practices…

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomtaulli/2019/12/27/ccpa--what-does-it-mean-for-ai-artificial-intelligence/#28b7f2e96bb2

CCPA: What Does It Mean For AI (Artificial Intelligence)?

… As with any new law, there will be tests in the courts. But it does seem clear that the CCPA will mean that plenty of companies will have to rethink their approaches with AI.

“Many AI applications gather or process consumers' personal information for various purposes,” said Harley Geiger, who is the Director of Public Policy at Rapid7. “Those activities would be subject to the CCPA's requirements. So, for example, a company may need to disclose to consumers that it uses browsing history to aid algorithmic decisions, and a company may need to allow consumers to delete personal information from automated services that learn from that personal information.”

At a minimum, companies should tighten up their compliance policies, which may also mean purchasing new tools for monitoring.

… Then what are some best practices to consider? Here’s a look:

Library ebook services as an investment?

https://www.bespacific.com/kkr-investment-firm-to-buy-overdrive-biggest-library-ebook-company/

KKR investment firm to buy OverDrive, biggest library ebook company

TeleRead – David Rothman – “Toxic for libraries? The KKR investment firm is buying none other than OverDrive —the biggest library ebook company, providing ebooks and audiobooks to 43,000+ libraries and schools in 75 countries. The seller is Rakuten, also owner of the Kobo ereader, audiobook and ebook business. “The two sides did not provide a price tag for the Ohio-based property, which Rakuten purchased for $410 million in 2015,” MarketWatch reports, “but Rakuten said it would recognize about $365.6 million in profit from the sale in the first quarter of 2020.”

Perspective. Should 6% be treated as a monopoly? Why I’m confused by the talk of antitrust.

https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2019/12/amazons-market-share19

What's Amazon's market share? 35% or 5%?

• Amazon is a big company, but what does that mean? How big is ‘big’? What does ‘dominant’ or ‘scale’ or ‘huge’ mean when US retail is $6 trillion a year?
• Running the numbers, Amazon has about 35% of US ecommerce. But, it competes with physical retailers as well - it competes with Macy’s, Walmart and Barnes & Noble. On that basis, Amazon’s real market share of its real target market is closer to 6% (it’s 2/3 the size of Walmart)
• Regulators pick and choose market definitions depending on their objective, and this will probably happen to Amazon - it’s definitely dominant in books and definitely not in cars. But if we’re going to worry about the scale of the Amazon machine, which scale are we talking about? That’s a political question as much as it’s an economic one.

For my students.

https://www.businessinsider.com/linkedin-emerging-jobs-in-high-demand-in-2020-2019-12

15 jobs no one knew about in 2010 that everyone will want in 2020

10. Cybersecurity specialists have seen 30% annual growth in demand in the past five years.

Skills unique to the job: Cybersecurity, information security, network security, vulnerability assessment

Top hiring cities: Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Denver

What did you get for Christmas?

https://www.bespacific.com/smart-home-tech-police-and-your-privacy-year-in-review-2019/

Smart Home Tech, Police, and Your Privacy: Year in Review 2019

EFF: “If 2019 confirmed anything, it is that we should not trust the microphones and cameras that large corporations sell us to put inside and near our homes. Thanks to the due diligence of reporters, public records requesters, and privacy researchers and activists, consumers have been learning more and more about how these “smart” home technologies can be hacked, exploited, or utilized by the police and other law enforcement agencies. Because many technologies that record audio and video store their data on a cloud maintained by the company, police can gain access to stored content by presenting a warrant to those companies—bypassing consumers altogether. For instance, in November, police in Florida obtained a warrant for the recordings from an Amazon Echo that may have overheard a crime. This means that whether people think their Alexa is listening or not, their Alexa could be listening. Because Amazon stores and maintains that data, things said in the device’s presence can be made accessible to police via a warrant presented to the company…”

Starting to see the problem.

https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/475937-law-must-be-adapted-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution

Law must be adapted for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

We are at the borders of a new revolution, characterized by a range of new technologies that are merging the physical worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries. It merges the capabilities of both the human and the machine, encompassing a wide swath of areas such as artificial intelligence, genome editing, biometrics, renewable energy, 3D printing, autonomous vehicles and the Internet of Things. Tech optimists posit that the wave of exponential growth in smart tech, artificial intelligence, machines and the interconnectedness of all aspects of modern life through technology will bring profound changes to society, and creates an unprecedented shift from the way we are familiar with — how we behave, interact and think.

However, like the industrial revolutions preceding it, the shifts in power brought about by such human-technological systems also bring about issues of inequality in terms of who benefits, as well as challenges to security, privacy and community.

… The legal challenges imposed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution are both new and greater. Data has now become a valuable business asset which fosters innovation, and lawyers must begin to ask the right questions in order to understand the creation process of data assets, its monetary value, and how it drives business.

IP is tougher in India? Some bits from the article.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=90d9fa05-ef01-4c6c-8052-40f57d25c990

Internet of Things (IoT) and Intellectual Property- The Interconnect

It has been predicted that by the year 2025, approximately 80 billion devices will be connected making an estimated economic impact of about $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion per year[1]. With IoT said to be the next big thing, companies are spending huge amounts of money in the development of their versions of IoT to cash-in on the growing market trend.

… Companies such as Dell, Qualcomm, Google and even Rolls Royce have spent enormous amounts of money towards IoT. The International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted a worldwide spending on IoT to reach $745 billion by the end of year 2019.[5] The numbers shows the potential growth revenues of this market and the seriousness of IP in the regard.

IoT and Patents

There has been a tremendous increase in the number of patent filings by tech giants in the field of IoT.

Software Patenting

Software per se is not protected under the Patent laws in India i.e. the source code cannot be protected.

IoT and Copyrights

Certain elements of computer programs can be protected by copyright as long as they are original. The code language in which the computer program is written, the graphical user interface (GUI) and the data collected or generated by the device are all copyrightable.[7]

Data ownership disputes

Although it is safe to say that copyright shall vest in the data collected by these IoT incorporated devices, however, it is difficult to ascertain the owner of such data.

Perspective.

https://www.bespacific.com/paper-book-readers-better-at-various-abilities-than-e-book-readers/

Paper book readers better at various abilities than e-book readers

The Japan News: “People who habitually read paper books tend to have a higher degree of willingness to work on anything and to think more multilaterally than those who prefer to read electronic books on a smartphone or a computer, according to a recent survey by the National Institution For Youth Education, which was released Monday…

“People who have a habit of reading possess such abilities regardless of the medium. But the survey has made it clearer that physical book readers are better in those abilities,” an official of the institution said…”

Our propaganda is better than Russian propaganda. Maybe.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-cybercom-contemplates-information-warfare-to-counter-russian-interference-in-the-2020-election/2019/12/25/21bb246e-20e8-11ea-bed5-880264cc91a9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_cybercom-400pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

U.S. Cybercom contemplates information warfare to counter Russian interference in 2020 election

Military cyber officials are developing information warfare tactics that could be deployed against senior Russian officials and oligarchs if Moscow tries to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections through hacking election systems or sowing widespread discord, according to current and former U.S. officials.

One option being explored by U.S. Cyber Command would target senior leadership and Russian elites, though probably not President Vladimir Putin, which would be considered too provocative, said the current and former officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. The idea would be to show that the target’s sensitive personal data could be hit if the interference did not stop, though officials declined to be more specific.

Training students to obey.

https://www.bespacific.com/colleges-are-turning-students-phones-into-surveillance-machines/

Colleges are turning students’ phones into surveillance machines

Washington Post – “When Syracuse University freshmen walk into professor Jeff Rubin’s Introduction to Information Technologies class, seven small Bluetooth beacons hidden around the Grant Auditorium lecture hall connect with an app on their smartphones and boost their “attendance points.” And when they skip class? The SpotterEDU app sees that, too, logging their absence into a campus database that tracks them over time and can sink their grade. It also alerts Rubin, who later contacts students to ask where they’ve been. His 340-person lecture has never been so full. “They want those points,” he said. “They know I’m watching and acting on it. So, behaviorally, they change.”

Short-range phone sensors and campuswide WiFi networks are empowering colleges across the United States to track hundreds of thousands of students more precisely than ever before. Dozens of schools now use such technology to monitor students’ academic performance, analyze their conduct or assess their mental health. But some professors and education advocates argue that the systems represent a new low in intrusive technology, breaching students’ privacy on a massive scale. The tracking systems, they worry, will infantilize students in the very place where they’re expected to grow into adults, further training them to see surveillance as a normal part of living, whether they like it or not…

Background. A starting point for my lecture.

https://teachprivacy.com/what-should-privacy-awareness-training-include/

What Should Privacy Awareness Training Include?

A question for my students.

https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/what-the-hiq-vs-linkedin-case-means-for-automated-web-scraping/

What the HiQ vs. LinkedIn Case Means for Automated Web Scraping

… The implications of the litigation between LinkedIn and HiQ are profound, but the case itself is simple enough to understand. It centered around LinkedIn’s invocation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in a cease-and-desist letter to HiQ.

HiQ is a data analytics firm that provides business intelligence based on publicly-available data scraped from LinkedIn. Like many businesses today, they depend on access to public-facing data to be able to function. One of the unspoken but very salient questions raised by the case is where the line between public and private data lies.

… During the case, the EFF filed an amicus brief that emphasized to the court how vital scraping is to a number of industries. Web scraping isn’t just used commercially. It is vital for research and has a number of other beneficial uses.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed that any data that required no authorization to access and was freely available by default was fair game for scraping. As the court pointed out, ‘authorization’ to access data is implicit unless steps are taken to restrict general access.

… LinkedIn appears to have interpreted the court’s ruling as meaning that any and all data that requires a login is private and LinkedIn can revoke access to it. As a result, LinkedIn is now requiring users to login before being able to browse the platform.

… Finally, the case touches on one of the most important data and privacy issues of our time. Who actually owns our personal data? The Ninth Circuit’s ruling would appear to affirm that it is us that owns our data. Any platforms we share that data with are merely licensed to use it, they don’t own it outright.

It seems easier to copy the flawed thinking of others than to think on one’s own.

https://www.bespacific.com/why-americans-should-worry-about-the-new-eu-copyright-rules/

Why Americans Should Worry About the New EU Copyright Rules

Berkman Klein Center – Julia Reda – “Last spring, 200,000 Europeans took to the streets to protest against a new EU copyright law that risks to restrict online culture and block vast numbers of legal online communications such as memes, reaction gifs, video game reviews or remixes. It is the latest clash between a generation that has grown up with the Internet as a means of cultural expression and a much older generation of lawmakers who prioritize the interests of entertainment companies over online culture. Although the protests were sparked by EU legislation, US academics and activists should be paying close attention. Ever since the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation, EU regulation of online platform companies has become a topic of global interest. Not only are European policy-makers keener than their US counterparts to regulate the mostly American tech companies that have gained significant market power over the last two decades. For better or for worse, the European Union has increasingly become capable of setting global regulatory standards, through the inclusion of its internet legislation in trade agreements, or by making compliance with these rules a precondition for accessing the vast EU market of over 500 million consumers..”

Big Data means GIGO writ large.

https://www.dailysabah.com/science/2019/12/25/no-artificial-intelligence-without-data-architecture

No artificial intelligence without data architecture

… "The real value created by consumers lies in how we make sense of this data. As this data becomes meaningful, new applications are constantly emerging where we can use these meanings. At this point, both new areas of use emerge, and AI provides better predictions for these uses," Daghelian said. "The best example is health care. As the areas of use develop, better patient care emerges. Or just take a look at customer services. Better customer service is now available. Look at production, there are new applications that can make millions of dollars. AI makes sense of this data and leads to new applications in new fields. If we look at the applications of AI in the field of production and business, we see that it remains as single-digit figures. But it is moving very fast. Even in 12 months, great progress is being made. A year later, as our customers build better data infrastructure, we will see more and more AI applications in large areas. And companies will begin to take advantage of these practices and rapidly increase their success."

Dilbert on persuasion.

https://dilbert.com/strip/2019-12-26

There must be guidance somewhere that would help avoid these recurring problems!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-georgia-rolls-out-new-voting-machines-for-2020-worries-about-election-security-persist/2019/12/23/c5036d74-2017-11ea-bed5-880264cc91a9_story.html

As Georgia rolls out new voting machines for 2020, worries about election security persist

Last month, voters in six Georgia counties cast ballots for local elections using new touch-screen voting machines that officials have said will resolve long-standing questions about the security of the state’s election system.

Richard DeMillo, a professor of computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said he was worried as he visited polling places in a county north of Atlanta.

DeMillo said bystanders could easily see the screens from 30 feet away, presenting serious privacy concerns. In some counties, elections officials reported that programming problems led to delays in checking in voters, and in some precincts, the machines unexpectedly shut down and rebooted.

Georgia is preparing to roll out 30,000 of the machines in every polling place for its presidential primary in March, replacing a paperless electronic voting system that a federal judge declared insecure and unreliable.

But election security experts said the state’s newest voting machines also remain vulnerable to potential intrusions or malfunctions — and some view the paper records they produce as insufficient if a verified audit of the vote is needed.

We’re gonna need AI Lawyers.

https://www.inverse.com/article/61187-human-ai-arrives-2020

In the 2020s, human-level A.I. will arrive, and finally pass the Turing test

The past decade has seen the rise of remarkably human personal assistants, increasing automation in transportation and industrial environments, and even the alleged passing of Alan Turing’s famous robot consciousness test. Such innovations have taken artificial intelligence out labs and into our hands.

… One such area to keep on eye on going forward into a new decade will be partially defined by this question: what kind of legal status will A.I. be granted as their capabilities and intelligence continues to scale closer to that of humans? This is a conversation the archipelago nation Malta started in 2018 when its leaders proposed that it should prepare to grant or deny citizenship to A.I.’s just as they would humans.

The logic behind this being that A.I.’s of the future could have just as much agency and potential to cause disruption as any other non-robotic being. Francois Piccione, policy advisor for the Maltese government, told Inverse in 2019 that not taking such measures would be irresponsible.

… While the 2020s might not see fully fledged citizenship for A.I.’s, Inverse predicts that there will be increasing legal scrutiny in coming years over who is legally responsible over the actions of A.I., whether it be their owners or the companies designing them. Instead of citizenship or visas for A.I., this could lead to further restrictions on the human’s who travel with them and the ways in which A.I. can be used in different settings.

(Related)

https://www.awn.com/blog/age-ai

In the Age of AI

Frontline recently produced a fascinating and sobering view on the promise and peril of AI - not as it may present itself in some imagined future, but as it is currently being applied today.

“In the Age of AI” traces a new information/industrial revolution that will enhance our lives while disrupting our livelihoods, and is manifesting itself as a new “arms race” between the USA and China, with pervasive surveillance as a shred of commonality between the competing AI ecosystems.

It’s a couple hours long, but well worth watching if you want to understand the ripple that is forming and the tsunami that is coming.

Another cautionary tale.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-intelligence-is-rushing-into-patient-care-and-could-raise-risks/

Artificial Intelligence Is Rushing Into Patient Care - And Could Raise Risks

AI systems are not as rigorously tested as other medical devices, and have already made serious mistakes