Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sues company for publishing voters’ personal data , Chicago Sun-Times;
Issues and developments related to ethics, information, and technologies, explored in the "Ethics of Data, Information, and Emerging Technologies" and "Intellectual Property and Open Movements" graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. -- Kip Currier, PhD, JD
Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sues company for publishing voters’ personal data; Chicago Sun-Times, May 9, 2024
"A publishing company whose politically-slanted newspapers have been derided as “pink slime” is being sued by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul for illegally identifying birthdates and home addresses of “hundreds of thousands” of voters.
Raoul’s legal move against Local Government Information Services accuses the company of publishing sensitive personal data that could subject voters across Illinois to identity theft.
Among those whose personal data has been identified on LGIS’ nearly three dozen online websites are current and former judges, police officers, high-ranking state officials and victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, Raoul’s filing said."
Thursday, May 2, 2024
T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon slapped with $200M fine — here’s what they illegally did with your data; Mashable, April 30, 2024
Matt Binder, Mashable ; T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon slapped with $200M fine — here’s what they illegally did with your data
"AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile allegedly provided location data to third parties without their users' consent, which is illegal.
“Our communications providers have access to some of the most sensitive information about us," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. "These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are.”
FCC fines the biggest U.S. mobile carriers
According to the FCC, T-Mobile has been fined the largest amount: $80 million. Sprint, which has merged with T-Mobile since the FCC's investigation began, also received a $12 million fine.
AT&T will have to pay more than $57 million and Verizon will dole out close to $47 million."
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone; Gizmodo, April 26, 2024
Kyle Barr, Gizmodo; Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone
"Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California released a ruling that concluded state highway police were acting lawfully when they forcibly unlocked a suspect’s phone using their fingerprint. You probably didn’t hear about it. The case didn’t get a lot of coverage, especially because the courts weren’t giving a blanket green light for every cop to shove your thumb to your screen during an arrest. But it’s another toll of the warning bell that reminds you to not trust biometrics to keep your phone’s sensitive info private. In many cases, especially if you think you might interact with the police (at a protest, for example), you should seriously consider turning off biometrics on your phone entirely.
The ruling in United States v. Jeremy Travis Payne found that highway officers acted lawfully by using Payne’s thumbprint to unlock his phone after a drug bust."
Friday, February 16, 2024
From ethics to outsmarting Chat GPT, state unveils resource for AI in Ohio education; Cleveland.com, February 15, 2024
Laura Hancock, cleveland.com ; From ethics to outsmarting Chat GPT, state unveils resource for AI in Ohio education
"The state released a guide Thursday to help schools and parents navigate generative artificial intelligence in an ethical manner.
“When you use the term AI, I know in some people’s minds, it can sound scary,” said Lt. Jon Husted, whose InnovateOhio office worked with private sector organizations to develop the guide...
Every technology that’s come into society has been like that.”...
But AI is the wave of the future, and Husted said it’s important that students are exposed to it.
The AI toolkit is not mandatory but can be used as a resource for educators and families.
It doesn’t include many prescriptive actions for how to begin teaching and using AI. Rather, it contains sections for parents, teachers and school districts where they can find dozens of sample lessons and discussions about ethics, how to develop policies to keep students safe, and other topics.
For instance, teachers can find a template letter that they can send to school district officials to communicate how they’re using AI...
“Before you use AI in the classroom you will need a plan for a student with privacy, data security, ethics and many other things,” Husted said. “More is needed than just a fun tool in the classroom.”"
Labels:
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private sector organizations,
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students,
teachers
Monday, February 12, 2024
University Librarians See Urgent Need for AI Ethics; Inside Higher Ed, January 17, 2024
Lauren Coffey, Inside Higher Ed; University Librarians See Urgent Need for AI Ethics
"Nearly three-quarters of university librarians say there’s an urgent need to address artificial intelligence’s ethical and privacy concerns, a survey finds.
Roughly half the librarians surveyed said they had a “moderate” understanding of AI concepts and principles, according to the study released Friday. About one in five said they had a slightly below moderate understanding, and roughly the same amount had a slightly above moderate understanding. Only 3 percent of respondents said they had a “very high” understanding.
The study, conducted in May 2023 by Leo Lo, president-elect of the Association of College and Research Libraries, had 605 respondents who completed the survey. Of those, 45 percent worked in research institutions and 30 percent in institutions with undergraduate and graduate programming."
Using AI Responsibly; American Libraries, January 21, 2024
Diana Panuncial , American Libraries; Using AI Responsibly
"Navigating misinformation and weighing ethical and privacy issues in artificial intelligence (AI) were top of mind for the panelists at “AI and Libraries: A Discussion on the Future,” a January 21 session at the American Library Association’s 2024 LibLearnX Conference in Baltimore. Flowers was joined by Virginia Cononie, assistant librarian and coordinator of research at University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg; Dray MacFarlane, cofounder of Tasio, an AI consulting company; and Juan Rubio, digital media learning program manager for Seattle Public Library (SPL).
Rubio, who used AI to create a tool to help teens at SPL reflect on their mental health and well-being, said there is excitement behind the technology and how it can be harnessed, but there should also be efforts to educate patrons on how to use it responsibly.
“I think ethical use of AI comes with creating ethical people,” he said, adding that SPL has been thinking about implementing guidelines for using AI. “Be very aware of your positionality [as librarians], because I think we are in a place of privilege—not necessarily of money or power, but of knowledge.”"
Friday, November 3, 2023
The Internet Of Things Demystified: Connect, Collect, Analyze And Act; Forbes, October 12, 2023
Bill Geary, Forbes; The Internet Of Things Demystified: Connect, Collect, Analyze And Act
"When you get past the acronyms and buzzwords that describe the platforms that help organizations manage their operations, it all boils down to gathering information so you can make good decisions. The tech industry establishes a lot of jargon that helps differentiate one technology from another. Those terms are helpful to IT professionals but often serve to confuse everyone else. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that creates confusion.
I prefer to describe this technology according to what it does. IoT is nothing more than connecting things, collecting information from them, analyzing it and acting upon it accordingly: connect, collect, analyze and act. By distilling the technology into a plain description, we demystify the term. We make it attainable and approachable—something that everyone can understand."
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Google hit with class-action lawsuit over AI data scraping; Reuters, July 11, 2023
Blake Brittain, Reuters ; Google hit with class-action lawsuit over AI data scraping
"Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) was accused in a proposed class action lawsuit on Tuesday of misusing vast amounts of personal information and copyrighted material to train its artificial intelligence systems.
The complaint, filed in San Francisco federal court by eight individuals seeking to represent millions of internet users and copyright holders, said Google's unauthorized scraping of data from websites violated their privacy and property rights."
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
You can say no to a TSA face scan. But even a senator had trouble.; The Washington Post, July 11, 2023
Shira Ovide, The Washington Post; You can say no to a TSA face scan. But even a senator had trouble.
"Let’s discuss two topics:
- TSA’s face scanning is supposed to be optional for us. Is it, really?
- What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of the TSA’s use of facial recognition software?"
Monday, July 3, 2023
ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Accused of Misusing Personal, Copyrighted Data; The San Francisco Standard, June 30, 2023
Kevin Truong, The San Francisco Standard; ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Accused of Misusing Personal, Copyrighted Data
"The suit alleges that ChatGPT utilizes "stolen private information, including personally identifiable information, from hundreds of millions of internet users, including children of all ages, without their informed consent or knowledge."
The complaint states that by using this data, OpenAI and its related entities have enough information to replicate digital clones, encourage people's "professional obsolescence" and "obliterate privacy as we know it."
The complaint lists several plaintiffs identified by their initials, including a software engineer who claims that his online posts around technical questions could be used to eliminate his job, a 6-year-old who used a microphone to interact with ChatGPT and allegedly had his data harvested, and an actor who claims that OpenAI stole personal data from online applications to train its system."
Monday, June 19, 2023
A Fight Over the Right to Repair Cars Takes a Wild Turn; Wired, June 17, 2023
AARIAN MARSHALL, Wired; A Fight Over the Right to Repair Cars Takes a Wild Turn
"Amid competing letters, statements, and legal paperwork there’s a fundamental question, one that Massachusetts tried to find the answer to: Who owns the reams of data created by today’s increasingly software- and computer-chip-enabled vehicles?"
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Driver’s Licenses, Addresses, Photos: Inside How TikTok Shares User Data; The New York Times, May 24, 2023
Sapna Maheshwari and Ryan Mac, The New York Times; Driver’s Licenses, Addresses, Photos: Inside How TikTok Shares User Data
"The user materials on Lark raise questions about TikTok’s data and privacy practices and show how intertwined it is with ByteDance, just as the video app faces mounting scrutiny over its potential security risks and ties to China. Last week, Montana’s governor signed a bill banning TikTok in the state as of Jan. 1. The app has also been prohibited at universities and government agencies and by the military."
Monday, May 22, 2023
Meta Fined $1.3 Billion for Violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules; The New York Times, May 22, 2023
Adam Satariano, The New York Times ; Meta Fined $1.3 Billion for Violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules
"Meta on Monday was fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) and ordered to stop transferring data collected from Facebook users in Europe to the United States, in a major ruling against the social media company for violating European Union data protection rules...
The ruling, which is a record fine under the General Data Protection Regulation, or G.D.P.R., could affect data related to photos, friend connections and direct messages stored by Meta. It has the potential to bruise Facebook’s business in Europe, particularly if it hurts the company’s ability to target ads. Last month, Susan Li, Meta’s chief financial officer, told investors that about 10 percent of its worldwide ad revenue came from ads delivered to Facebook users in E.U. countries. In 2022, Meta had revenue of nearly $117 billion."
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
Pegasus spyware was used to hack reporters’ phones. I’m suing its creators; The Guardian, December 5, 2022
Nelson Rauda Zablah, The Guardian; Pegasus spyware was used to hack reporters’ phones. I’m suing its creators
"My colleagues weren’t just being trailed as they investigated that story. They, and at least 18 other members of El Faro – including me – had been the repeated targets of a weapons-grade espionage software called Pegasus. Pegasus is the gleaming toy of the Israel-based spyware firm NSO Group. Forensic analysis by the Citizen Lab and others found that Pegasus attacks in El Salvador started in June 2020 and continued until November 2021. In all, 35 journalists and members of civil society were spied on with this tool.
When you’re infected by Pegasus, spies effectively hold a clone of your phone. They can see everything, from your personal pictures and texts to your purchases and your selection and use of apps. When the spying was discovered I had to take measures that included exiting my family group chat and deleting my banking apps.
For journalists, this means spies can see every chat and phone call with our sources...
So, represented by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, 14 of my colleagues at El Faro and I have decided to sue NSO Group...
NSO executives shouldn’t be able to wash their hands as their tools are used to persecute journalists. In a very real sense, NSO set the hounds on us. And now we’re fighting back."
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
The Signal App and the Danger of Privacy at All Costs; The New York Times, December 28, 2022
Reid Blackman, The New York Times; The Signal App and the Danger of Privacy at All Costs
"Two weeks ago, the Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey passionately advocated in a blog post the view that neither Twitter nor the government nor any other company should exert control over what participants post. “It’s critical,” he said, “that the people have tools to resist this, and that those tools are ultimately owned by the people.”
Mr. Dorsey is promoting one of the most potent and fashionable notions in Silicon Valley: that a technology free of corporate and government control is in the best interest of society. To that end, he announced he would give $1 million a year to Signal, a text-messaging app...
So I am not convinced we are really getting more freedom and “for the people by the people” by way of our technology overlords. Instead, we have a technologically driven shift of power to ideological individuals and organizations whose lack of appreciation for moral nuance and good governance puts us all at risk."
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Age Verification Online: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Considerations; Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, December 2022
Irina Raicu, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University ; Age Verification Online: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Considerations
"On December 1st, as part of the “IT, Ethics, and Law” lecture series (co-sponsored by MCAE and the High Tech Law Institute), I moderated an online panel; the title of our event was “Determining Users’ Ages Online: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Considerations.” The panelists were Eric Goldman (from Santa Clara University’s School of Law), Jennifer King (from the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence), and Sarah Krehbiel (from SCU’s Computer Science department). You can now watch the recording of that conversation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPqX2I98eL0"
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Scanning students' rooms during remote tests is unconstitutional, judge rules; NPR, August 26, 2022
Emma Bowman, NPR; Scanning students' rooms during remote tests is unconstitutional, judge rules
"The remote-proctored exam that colleges began using widely during the pandemic saw a first big legal test of its own — one that concluded in a ruling applauded by digital privacy advocates.
A federal judge this week sided with a student at Cleveland State University in Ohio, who alleged that a room scan taken before his online test as a proctoring measure was unconstitutional.
Aaron Ogletree, a chemistry student, sat for a test during his spring semester last year. Before starting the exam, he was asked to show the virtual proctor his bedroom. He complied, and the recording data was stored by one of the school's third-party proctoring tools, Honorlock, according to the ruling documents.
Ogletree then sued his university, alleging that the room scan violated his Fourth Amendment rights protecting U.S. citizens against "unreasonable searches and seizures." In its defense, Cleveland State argued that room scans are not "searches," because they are limited in scope, conducted to ensure academic fairness and exam integrity, and not coerced.
U.S. district court Judge J. Philip Calabrese on Monday decided in Ogletree's favor: Room scans are unconstitutional."
Friday, April 15, 2022
Tim Cook delivers speech railing against “data industrial complex,” sideloading; Ars Technica, April 12, 202
SAMUEL AXON , Ars Technica; Tim Cook delivers speech railing against “data industrial complex,” sideloading
"Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage at the annual International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) conference on Tuesday to talk about privacy, security, ad tracking, and sideloading.
Calling privacy "one of the most essential battles of our time," Cook lambasted companies that monetize large user-data collection operations, comparing them to real-world stalkers."
Sunday, April 10, 2022
AI.Humanity Ethics Lecture Series will explore the ethics of artificial intelligence; Emory University, Emory News Center, April 5, 2022
Emory University, Emory News Center; AI.Humanity Ethics Lecture Series will explore the ethics of artificial intelligence
"As society increasingly relies on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, how can ethically committed individuals and institutions articulate values to guide their development and respond to emerging problems? Join the Office of the Provost to explore the ethical implications of AI in a new AI.Humanity Ethics Lecture Series.
Over four weeks in April and May, world-renowned AI scholars will visit Emory to discuss the moral and social complexities of AI and how it may be shaped for the benefit of humanity. A reception will follow each lecture.
Matthias Scheutz: “Moral Robots? How to Make AI Agents Fit for Human Societies”
Monday, April 11
Lecture at 4 p.m., reception at 5:30 p.m.
Convocation Hall — Community Room (210)
AI is different from other technologies in that it enables and creates machines that can perceive the world and act on it autonomously. We are on the verge of creating sentient machines that could significantly improve our lives and better human societies. Yet AI also poses dangers that are ours to mitigate. In this presentation, Scheutz will argue that AI-enabled systems — in particular, autonomous robots — must have moral competence: they need to be aware of human social and moral norms, be able to follow these norms and justify their decisions in ways that humans understand. Throughout the presentation, Scheutz will give examples from his work on AI robots and human-robot interaction to demonstrate a vision for ethical autonomous robots...
Seth Lazar: “The Nature and Justification of Algorithmic Power”
Monday, April 18
Lecture at 4 p.m., reception at 5:30 p.m.
Convocation Hall — Community Room (210)
Algorithms increasingly mediate and govern our social relations. In doing so, they exercise a distinct kind of intermediary power: they exercise power over us; they shape power relations between us; and they shape our overarching social structures. Sometimes, when new forms of power emerge, our task is simply to eliminate them. However, algorithmic intermediaries can enable new kinds of human flourishing and could advance social structures that are otherwise resistant to progress. Our task, then, is to understand and diagnose algorithmic power and determine whether and how it can be justified. In this lecture, Lazar will propose a framework to guide our efforts, with particular attention to the conditions under which private algorithmic power either can, or must not, be tolerated.
Ifeoma Ajunwa: “The Unrealized Promise of Artificial Intelligence”
Thursday, April 28
Lecture at 4 p.m., reception at 5:30 p.m.
Oxford Road Building — Presentation Room and Living Room/Patio
AI was forecast to revolutionize the world for the better. Yet this promise is still unrealized. Instead, there is a growing mountain of evidence that automated decision making is not revolutionary; rather, it has tended to replicate the status quo, including the biases embedded in our societal systems. The question, then, is what can be done? The answer is twofold: One part looks to what can be done to prevent the reality of automated decision making both enabling and obscuring human bias. The second looks toward proactive measures that could allow AI to work for the greater good...
Carissa Véliz: “On Privacy and Self-Presentation Online”
Thursday, May 5
Lecture at 4 p.m.
A long tradition in philosophy and sociology considers self-presentation as the main reason why privacy is valuable, often equating control over self-presentation and privacy. Véliz argues that, even though control over self-presentation and privacy are tightly connected, they are not the same — and overvaluing self-presentation leads us to misunderstand the threat to privacy online. Véliz argues that to combat some of the negative trends we witness online, we need, on the one hand, to cultivate a culture of privacy, in contrast to a culture of exposure (for example, the pressure on social media to be on display at all times). On the other hand, we need to readjust how we understand self-presentation online."
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
See ‘Spot’ Save: Robot Dogs Join the New York Fire Department; The New York Times, March 17, 2022
Chelsia Rose Marcius, The New York Times; See ‘Spot’ Save: Robot Dogs Join the New York Fire Department
Plans to use two new robot dogs only in precarious search and rescue missions may help avoid the controversy that met the Police Department’s robots last year.
"“It’s like every piece of equipment we have,” he said. “We hope to never, ever have to use it. But when we need it, it’s important that we have the right thing.”"
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