We respect your privacy except when it interferes with our surveillance.
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2023/04/uk-threatens-end-to-end-encryption.html
UK Threatens End-to-End Encryption
In an open letter, seven secure messaging apps—including Signal and WhatsApp—point out that the UK’s Online Safety Bill could destroy end-to-end encryption:
As currently drafted, the Bill could break end-to-end encryption, opening the door to routine, general and indiscriminate surveillance of personal messages of friends, family members, employees, executives, journalists, human rights activists and even politicians themselves, which would fundamentally undermine everyone’s ability to communicate securely.
The Bill provides no explicit protection for encryption, and if implemented as written, could empower OFCOM to try to force the proactive scanning of private messages on end-to-end encrypted communication services – nullifying the purpose of end-to-end encryption as a result and compromising the privacy of all users.
In short, the Bill poses an unprecedented threat to the privacy, safety and security of every UK citizen and the people with whom they communicate around the world, while emboldening hostile governments who may seek to draft copy-cat laws.
Both Signal and WhatsApp have said that they will cease services in the UK rather than compromise the security of their users world-wide.
Mañana?
AI has social consequences, but who pays the price? Tech companies’ problem with ‘ethical debt’
As public concern about the ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence keeps growing, it might seem like it’s time to slow down. But inside tech companies themselves, the sentiment is quite the opposite. As Big Tech’s AI race heats up, it would be an “absolutely fatal error in this moment to worry about things that can be fixed later,” a Microsoft executive wrote in an internal email about generative AI, as The New York Times reported.
In other words, it’s time to “move fast and break things,” to quote Mark Zuckerberg’s old motto. Of course, when you break things, you might have to fix them later – at a cost.
In software development, the term “technical debt” refers to the implied cost of making future fixes as a consequence of choosing faster, less careful solutions now. Rushing to market can mean releasing software that isn’t ready, knowing that once it does hit the market, you’ll find out what the bugs are and can hopefully fix them then.
However, negative news stories about generative AI tend not to be about these kinds of bugs. Instead, much of the concern is about AI systems amplifying harmful biases and stereotypes and students using AI deceptively. We hear about privacy concerns, people being fooled by misinformation, labor exploitation and fears about how quickly human jobs may be replaced, to name a few. These problems are not software glitches. Realizing that a technology reinforces oppression or bias is very different from learning that a button on a website doesn’t work.
As a technology ethics educator and researcher, I have thought a lot about these kinds of “bugs.” What’s accruing here is not just technical debt, but ethical debt.
Tools & Techniques. This type of app could be applied to anything that you wished to identify. Think bugs, rare books, etc.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/merlin-bird-id-app-cornell-lab-of-ornithology/
What's that bird? Merlin Bird ID app works magic
… The app allows users to identify birds by a picture, or by songs and calls, and can create a digital scrapbook of the birds you discover.
Originally launched in 2014, early versions of the app could ID 400 North American species. Today, the app (available free for both iPhone and Android) can identify more than 6,000 bird species across six continents.
… Apple: Merlin Bird ID runs on iPhones and iPads with iOS 15 or newer, and M1/M2-equipped Apple computers. Download app here.
Android: Merlin Bird ID runs on devices with Android 6 or newer. Download app here.
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