The Ethics of Commitment; The Signal, June 15, 2025

David Hegg, The Signal; The Ethics of Commitment

"I recently watched the systematic dissolution of several married couples. All of them were good people and there was no infidelity on either side. The reason they failed to keep their marriages together was not some cataclysmic event or circumstance. Instead, it was their failure to live up to the commitments they made as they entered into the covenant of marriage. It boiled down to a gross misunderstanding of what commitment is and what it entails.  

First, commitment is a promise to persevere past the point of convenience, comfort and even common sense. Yes, that’s right. Commitment means staying the course even when it appears that all is lost. It refuses to give up in the face of daunting circumstances simply because what is about to be lost is irreplaceable. 

Think about the commitment of soldiers at war. Those we honor the most are the ones who remained radically committed to their comrades and the mission, even to the point of death. Commitment isn’t wishful thinking. It is a promise sealed with the life of the one who makes it, or at least it is supposed to be."

Korea issues first AI ethics checklist; The Korea Times, June 14, 2023

Lee Kyung-min, The Korea Times; Korea issues first AI ethics checklist

"The government has outlined the first national standard on how to use artificial intelligence (AI) ethically, in a move to bolster the emerging industry's sustainability and enhance its global presence, the industry ministry said Wednesday.

Korea Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS), an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, issued a checklist of possible ethical issues and reviewed factors to be referenced and considered by service developers, providers and users.

The considerations specified for report and review include ethical issues arising in the process of collecting and processing data, the designing and development of AI, and the provision of such services to customers. 

The guidelines contain considerations such as transparency, fairness, harmlessness, responsibility, privacy protection, convenience, autonomy, reliability, sustainability and solidarity-enhancing qualities."

Steal This Book? There’s a Price; The New York Times, September 15, 2019

Richard Conniff, The New York Times; Steal This Book? There’s a Price

I have about 400 offers to buy illegal copies of my own work. Something is very wrong. 

"Maybe, though, it’s too narrow to focus on the way our society has discounted its authors. No doubt musicians, and local retailers, and hometown newspapers, and schoolteachers, and factory workers all feel discounted in much the same way. We have surrendered our lives to technocrat billionaires who once upon a time set out to do no harm and have instead ended up destroying the world as we knew it. Convenience and the lowest possible price, or no price at all, have become our defining values. We have severed ourselves from our communities and from the mutual give-and-take that was once our ordinary daily life. Now we sit alone in our rooms, restlessly scrolling for something free to read."

Her dilemma: Do I let my employer microchip me?; Washington Post, July 25, 2017

Danielle Paquette, Washington Post; Her dilemma: Do I let my employer microchip me?

"Melissa Timmins has a week to decide: Does she keep her hand to herself, or does she let her employer microchip it?

The implant is the size of a grain of rice. It would slip under the skin between her forefinger and thumb. It would sting for only a second. Then she could unlock doors or log onto her computer with a wave. Her flesh could hold her credit card, her medical records, her passport . . .

“At first, I thought it was a joke,” she said.

Timmins, 46, works in sales at Three Square Market, a Wisconsin company that makes vending-machine software. The offer came after her boss returned from a business trip in Stockholm, where he encountered Biohax Sweden, a start-up that aims to endow body parts with technological power.

On Aug. 1, Three Square Market will throw a “chip party,” where employees can insert the $300 microchips, provided free from management. About 50 of 85 employees are expected to accept the company’s present. (Chips and salsa will be served.)

The Radio Frequency ID chips, as they’re called, could also function beyond the office."

The privacy risk of using a digital home assistant; KSL.com, July 6, 2017

Sloan Schrage, KSL.com

KSL TV

The privacy risk of using a digital home assistant

"“For the machine to know you’re talking to it, it has to be taking that voice information that it’s recording and sending it back and processing,” said [cyber security expert Sean Lawson. "The technology is really cool, especially if you grew up watching ‘The Jetsons’ or ‘Star Trek.’ The problem is, I also know how they work and the privacy implications. The costs versus the benefits of what this device will do for me is just not worth paying in terms of the privacy you give up. But everyone needs to make that decision for themselves.”"

Speaker's Corner: Privacy needs better protection; Law Times, May 15, 2017

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Law Times; 

Speaker's Corner: Privacy needs better protection

"There are also concerns that our current model of informed consent needs updating. The majority of Canadians admit to not reading privacy policies for mobile apps, and a recent privacy sweep — in which 25 privacy enforcement authorities participated — found that privacy communications of Internet-connected devices are generally poor and fail to inform users about exactly what personal information is being collected and how it will be used. It is difficult to reconcile these facts with the goal of meaningful consent.

This is especially important as more devices collect more information about our lives. From smart meters that track our energy consumption to fridges that track what we eat, Cisco Systems estimates there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020. As a consumer, I want convenience and will trade some of my privacy. As a citizen and as a lawyer, I want laws that substantively protect my privacy. 

In general terms, we should mandate privacy by design. Governments and third parties ought to anonymize our personal information, and our government should follow Australia’s example and make it an offence to re-identify published government data sets. We should also look beyond the law to protect our data. 

Take Estonia. On the one hand, it has embraced big data through maintaining a national register with a single unique identifier for all citizens and residents. Customer service is improved and information is exchanged more easily. On the other hand, the same system ensures that citizens can correct or remove data easily and can see which officials have viewed their data. 

In summary, we need to embrace new laws and new technology. We need not sacrifice our privacy."