Trendy law?

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-blocks-police-from-using-facial-14502547.php

California blocks police from using facial recognition in body cameras

Civil liberties advocates are declaring victory after California became the latest state to block police from using facial recognition technology in body cameras.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB1215 on Tuesday, prohibiting police departments from outfitting body cameras with technology to identify people through their facial features or other biometric traits. The law takes effect Jan. 1 and expires in 2023, but can be renewed.

State lawmakers passed the bill after Amazon’s Rekognition facial recognition software incorrectly identified 26 legislators as criminal suspects, including the assemblyman who carried the measure, San Francisco Democrat Phil Ting.

… No police agencies in the state use the technology now, according to the California Peace Officers’ Association.

… Oregon and New Hampshire have similar bans, and cities including San Francisco and Oakland have adopted more sweeping laws.

Nothing illegal about asking? I wonder how many schools gave ICE this information. Would they keep doing it if it didn’t work?

TN: Metro Schools: ICE showed up at Nashville elementary school, sought student records

Kaylin Jorge reports:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) showed up at a Nashville elementary school in September seeking student records, FOX 17 News has confirmed.

Metro Schools said ICE agents went to Una Elementary School and tried to get information about students from school officials. ICE agents were not given any records, MNPS said.

Read more on FOX17.

Always behind the technology. Is that ethical?

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614531/why-its-time-to-start-talking-about-blockchain-ethics/

Why it’s time to start talking about blockchain ethics

Blockchain technology is changing the nature of money and organizations. We should probably start pondering the potential consequences.

If blockchain technology can be reasonably expected to make a significant difference in society, then it deserves its own field of ethics, just like biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and nuclear technology, argues Rhys Lindmark, head of community and long-term societal impact at MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative.

… Lindmark said that like other “tech ethics” fields, the field of blockchain ethics should examine what the technology is capable of doing, and ponder the potential consequences. For instance, blockchains make it possible to create leaderless, “decentralized” organizations. Does that mean no one is responsible if something goes wrong? In public blockchains like Bitcoin, the network’s shared software rules are supposed to automatically sort out what behavior is allowed. So if a user exploits the protocol for profit without breaking its rules, is that unethical? Meanwhile, global digital currencies like what Facebook is proposing might change the nature of money. How might that change politics and power dynamics?