Today’s COVID-19 Data Will be Tomorrow’s Tools of Oppression; The Daily Beast, April 2, 2020

Mona Sloane and Albert Fox Cahn, The Daily Beast; Today's COVID-19 Data Will be Tomorrow's Tools of Oppression

"For proof of the danger, one need only look at the aftermath of September 11th. When Congress enacted the USA PATRIOT Act, just a few weeks after the deadly attacks, the fear of terrorism blinded lawmakers to the threat of broad-based, suspicionless surveillance. Decades later, those same provisions, many of which were supposed to sunset in 2005, were still being renewed as recently as this week. If we pass hastily drafted measures to address the privacy impact of COVID-19 surveillance, there is no reason to think their impact would fade any sooner.

We need laws that protect citizens from the new privacy risks posed by COVID-19-induced data exploitation. This is even more crucial when we're including profit-motivated entities. Days ago, President Trump announced a larger private sector partnership as part of the White House’s COVID-19 response that included large-scale collaborations with Google, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and others. New legal frameworks need to impose clear limits on how health data from the COVID-19 response can be exploited for other business lines."

Using AI responsibly to fight the coronavirus pandemic; TechCrunch, April 2, 2020

Mark Minevich, Irakli Beridze, TechCrunch; Using AI responsibly to fight the coronavirus pandemic

"Isolated cases or the new norm?

With the number of cases, deaths and countries on lockdown increasing at an alarming rate, we can assume that these will not be isolated examples of technological innovation in response to this global crisis. In the coming days, weeks and months of this outbreak, we will most likely see more and more AI use cases come to the fore.

While the application of AI can play an important role in seizing the reins in this crisis, and even safeguard officers and officials from infection, we must not forget that its use can raise very real and serious human rights concerns that can be damaging and undermine the trust placed in government by communities. Human rights, civil liberties and the fundamental principles of law may be exposed or damaged if we do not tread this path with great caution. There may be no turning back if Pandora’s box is opened."

Thousands of Zoom video calls left exposed on open Web; The Washington Post, April 3, 2020

 

Drew Harwell , The Washington Post; Thousands of Zoom video calls left exposed on open Web

Many of the videos include personally identifiable information and deeply intimate conversations, recorded in people’s homes.

"Thousands of personal Zoom videos have been left viewable on the open Web, highlighting the privacy risks to millions of Americans as they shift many of their personal interactions to video calls in an age of social distancing...

The discovery that the videos are available on the open Web adds to a string of Zoom privacy concerns that have come to public attention as the service became the preferred alternative for American work, school and social life.

The company reached more than 200 million daily users last month, up from 10 million in December, as people turned on their cameras for Zoom weddings, funerals and happy hours at a time when face-to-face gatherings are discouraged or banned."

Copyright Alliance blasts Internet Archive’s Emergency Library launch as “vile”; ZDNet, March 31, 2020

Charlie Osborne, ZDNet; Copyright Alliance blasts Internet Archive’s Emergency Library launch as “vile”

The National Emergency Library opened to help learners “displaced” by COVID-19.

"The Authors Guild said that COVID-19 has been used "as an excuse to push copyright law further out to the edges" which, in turn, is causing authors that are already struggling to pay the bills additional harm...

"Acting as a piracy site -- of which there already are too many -- the Internet Archive tramples on authors' rights by giving away their books to the world," the group says.  

More criticism has come in the form of comments made by the Copyright Alliance, an organization that represents the rights of those in creative industries including authors and artists. CEO Keith Kupferschmid noted that creators are among the hardest hit at present, and while projects have been set up to help those in these industries, the executive said IA's project is making "things much worse for those that need our help.""

A Revolution in Science Publishing, or Business as Usual?; UNDARK, March 30, 2020

Michael Schulson, UNDARK; A Revolution in Science Publishing, or Business as Usual?

"Some advocates see corporate open-access as a pragmatic way of opening up research to the masses. But others see the new model as a corruption of the original vision — one that will continue to funnel billions of dollars into big publishing companies, marginalize scientists in lower income countries, and fail to fix deeper, systemic problems in scientific publishing.

As it stands, all trends point to an open-access future. The question now is what kind of open-access model it will be — and what that future may mean for the way new science gets evaluated, published, and shared. “We don’t know why we should accept that open access is a market,” said Dominique Babini, the open-access adviser to the Latin American Council of Social Sciences and a prominent critic of commercial open-access models. “If knowledge is a human right, why can’t we manage it as a commons, in collaborative ways managed by the academic community, not by for-profit initiatives?”"

Internet Archive offers 1.4 million copyrighted books for free online; Ars Technica, March 28, 2020

Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica; Internet Archive offers 1.4 million copyrighted books for free online

Massive online library project is venturing into uncharted legal waters.

""The Internet Archive will suspend waitlists for the 1.4 million (and growing) books in our lending library by creating a National Emergency Library to serve the nation’s displaced learners," the Internet Archive wrote in a Tuesday post. "This suspension will run through June 30, 2020, or the end of the US national emergency, whichever is later."

The Tuesday announcement generated significant public interest, with almost 20,000 new users signing up on Tuesday and Wednesday. In recent days, the Open Library has been "lending" 15,000 to 20,000 books per day.

“The library system, because of our national emergency, is coming to aid those that are forced to learn at home,” said Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle. The Internet Archive says the program will ensure students are able to get access to books they need to continue their studies from home during the coronavirus lockdown."

COVID-19 first target of new AI research consortium; Berkeley News, March 26, 2020

Sarah Yang, College of Engineering, Berkeley News; COVID-19 first target of new AI research consortium

"The University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) are the headquarters of a bold new research consortium established by enterprise AI software company C3.ai to leverage the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and the internet of things (IoT) to transform societal-scale systems.

C3.ai announced the creation of the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (C3.ai DTI) today, along with a call for research proposals for AI techniques to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and possible future pandemics.

“The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a consortium of leading scientists, researchers, innovators and executives from academia and industry, joining forces to accelerate the social and economic benefits of digital transformation,” said Thomas M. Siebel, CEO of C3.ai, in a statement. “We have the opportunity through public-private partnership to change the course of a global pandemic. I cannot imagine a more important use of AI.”

The first call for proposals, due May 1, 2020, targets research that addresses the application of AI and machine learning to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, rigorous approaches to design sampling and testing strategies, and methods to improve societal resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, among other areas relevant to pandemic mitigation."

The Ethics of Thru-Hiking During the COVID-19 Pandemic; Outside, March 19, 2020

Grayson Haver Currin, Outside; The Ethics of Thru-Hiking During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Despite the coronavirus, you can legally thru-hike the Appalachian Trail right now. But should you?

"But what none of these organizations can do, of course, is legally or logistically close trails that run the length of the United States. That limitation and its implications have ripped the thru-hiking community into subdivisions, whose differing views are reflected on message boards and along the trails themselves. As sports leagues have canceled entire seasons and restaurants have laid off staff, the urgent question for thru-hiking in 2020 has become an ethical litmus test: Just because you can get on trail, should you? 

“People are going to do it, and that’s their choice,” says Scott Wilkinson, director of communications and marketing at the PCTA. “But hikers must take into consideration that our goal is to limit the spread of COVID-19, and the only certain way to do that is to physically limit the possibilities by social distancing. I can’t imagine a much better vehicle for a virus than a large group of hikers hitching to and out of hotels in small towns.”"

That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief; Harvard Business Review (HBR), March 23, 2020

Scott Berinato, Harvard Business Review (HBR); That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief

"One colleague mentioned that what she felt was grief. Heads nodded in all the panes.

If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it. We turned to David Kessler for ideas on how to do that. Kessler is the world’s foremost expert on grief. He co-wrote with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss. His new book adds another stage to the process, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. Kessler also has worked for a decade in a three-hospital system in Los Angeles. He served on their biohazard’s team. His volunteer work includes being an LAPD Specialist Reserve for traumatic events as well as having served on the Red Cross’s disaster services team. He is the founder of www.grief.com which has over 5 million visits yearly from 167 countries...

What can individuals do to manage all this grief?

Understanding the stages of grief is a start. But whenever I talk about the stages of grief, I have to remind people that the stages aren’t linear and may not happen in this order. It’s not a map but it provides some scaffolding for this unknown world. There’s denial, which we say a lot of early on: This virus won’t affect us. There’s anger: You’re making me stay home and taking away my activities. There’s bargaining: Okay, if I social distance for two weeks everything will be better, right? There’s sadness: I don’t know when this will end. And finally there’s acceptance. This is happening; I have to figure out how to proceed.

Acceptance, as you might imagine, is where the power lies. We find control in acceptance. I can wash my hands. I can keep a safe distance. I can learn how to work virtually...

One particularly troubling aspect of this pandemic is the open-endedness of it. 

This is a temporary state. It helps to say it. I worked for 10 years in the hospital system. I’ve been trained for situations like this. I’ve also studied the 1918 flu pandemic. The precautions we’re taking are the right ones. History tells us that. This is survivable. We will survive. This is a time to overprotect but not overreact.

And, I believe we will find meaning in it. I’ve been honored that Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s family has given me permission to add a sixth stage to grief: Meaning. I had talked to Elisabeth quite a bit about what came after acceptance. I did not want to stop at acceptance when I experienced some personal grief. I wanted meaning in those darkest hours. And I do believe we find light in those times. Even now people are realizing they can connect through technology. They are not as remote as they thought. They are realizing they can use their phones for long conversations. They’re appreciating walks. I believe we will continue to find meaning now and when this is over." 

Everyday ethics: Adapting to isolation; Reading Eagle, March 25, 2020

John C. Morgan, Reading Eagle; Everyday ethics: Adapting to isolation

"And here is the irony of it all for me — that which I rejected, the virtual world of newspapers, schools, and public conversation, was more needed now than ever. The very reality I had rebelled against now is the means of keeping contact with the world outside.

I learned in school that adaptation is the key to human survival. It’s the one quality that has enabled us to survive changes. Adapt or die might be the motto that has kept us on this planet for so long. And that which I thought I had rejected has become the means by which I communicate with others.
Here's something else I learned these past few weeks of isolation. There is more than one way to connect with others.

My phone and laptop are means of communication, too. That which I developed over the many years of life —  the inner world —  became as important as the outer world. Whether through writing, meditation, walking, or listening to music, I do not feel alone. The real issue is not getting lost in either the inner or outer worlds in which we live but learning to balance both in one’s life."

Research in the time of coronavirus: keep it ethical; STAT, March 2, 2020

Beatriz da Costa Thomé and Heidi Larson, STAT; Research in the time of coronavirus: keep it ethical

"To provide an ethical framework for research during fraught times, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics recently released the report “Research in global health emergencies: ethical issues,” which we co-authored with several colleagues. It intends to serve as a resource for funders, governments, research institutions, and researchers, among others.

The report offers what we’ve called an “ethical compass” to guide different actors in ensuring research is conducted ethically during global health emergencies. It draws attention to three moral values — equal respect, fairness, and helping reduce suffering — that should inspire and guide approaches to this kind of research."

Who Should Be Saved First? Experts Offer Ethical Guidance; The New York Times, March 24, 2020

Austin Frakt, The New York Times; Who Should Be Saved First? Experts Offer Ethical Guidance

"Facing this dilemma recently — who gets a ventilator or a hospital bed — Italian doctors sought ethical counsel and were told to consider an approach that draws on utilitarian principles.

In layman’s terms, a utilitarianism approach would maximize overall health by directing care toward those most likely to benefit the most from it. If you had only one ventilator, it would go to someone more likely to survive instead of someone deemed unlikely to do so. It would not go to whichever patient was first admitted, and it would not be assigned via a lottery system. (If there are ties within classes of people, then a lottery — choosing at random — is what ethicists recommend.)

In a paper in The New England Journal of Medicine published Monday, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives and chairman of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues offer ways to apply ethical principles to rationing in the coronavirus pandemic. These too are utilitarian, favoring those with the best prospects for the longest remaining life.

In addition, they say prioritizing the health of front-line health care workers is necessary to maximize the number of lives saved."

The coronavirus crisis is a moral test. Will we pass?; Deseret News, March 21, 2020

Jennifer Graham, Deseret News; The coronavirus crisis is a moral test. Will we pass?

The challenges facing Americans are revealing our individual and national character. 

"Pardon, America, your character is showing. 

Among the people pointing this out is New York writer Jon Katz, who has observed that the demands of social distancing are coming up against radical individualism and selfishness born of a society in which we “count our money, pay our bills, shrink into the digital world and forget how to talk to people face to face.”

“The coronavirus is a moral threat, and an ethical challenge, in that it asks each of us to be mindful of ourselves and others and to police ourselves for the good of all,” Katz recently wrote on his blog...

Our first order of ethical behavior right now social distancing, Faden said. Second is taking care of others, particularly those most at risk and those who live alone. Third, she said, is giving blood, if we are able. And fourth is being solicitous and appreciative of everyone we encounter, from health care workers to cashiers to people coming to collect our trash.

“Be especially appreciative, demonstrably so, to anyone in your life you encounter who is taking on risks to protect you,” she said."

‘Zoombombing’: When Video Conferences Go Wrong; The New York Times, March 20, 2020

Taylor Lorenz, The New York Times; ‘Zoombombing’: When Video Conferences Go Wrong

As its user base rapidly expands, the videoconference app Zoom is seeing a rise in trolling and graphic content.

"Zoom has seen a sharp rise in use over the past few weeks. On Sunday nearly 600,000 people downloaded the app, its biggest day ever, according to Apptopia, which tracks mobile apps. The company is currently valued at $29 billion.

But the platform was built as an enterprise technology tool, not a consumer social tool. As such, the company was not prepared to moderate user behavior as other social networks do.

“With much broader adoption, abuse and misuse will follow, so Zoom should be getting ready to handle reports and complaints,” Jules Polonetsky, the chief executive of the Future of Privacy Forum, recently told The Times."

I Spent a Year in Space, and I Have Tips on Isolation to Share; The New York Times, March 21, 2020

Scott Kelly, The New York Times; I Spent a Year in Space, and I Have Tips on Isolation to Share

"We are all connected

Seen from space, the Earth has no borders. The spread of the coronavirus is showing us that what we share is much more powerful than what keeps us apart, for better or for worse. All people are inescapably interconnected, and the more we can come together to solve our problems, the better off we will all be.

One of the side effects of seeing Earth from a the perspective of space, at least for me, is feeling more compassion for others. As helpless as we may feel stuck inside our homes, there are always things we can do — I’ve seen people reading to children via videoconference, donating their time and dollars to charities online, and running errands for elderly or immuno-compromised neighbors. The benefits for the volunteer are just as great as for those helped."

We will need a coronavirus commission; The Washington Post, March 20, 2020

Jennifer Rubin , The Washington Post; We will need a coronavirus commission

"We will need a commission on par with the 9/11 Commission when the immediate emergency is over. The commission will need full subpoena power and access to any government official and document it needs. Among the questions we need answered:

• When was the president briefed?
• What was he told about the coronavirus?
• What steps did he take to prepare for the virus?
• What other officials in the executive and legislative branches were aware of the threat? What did they do?
• Why, until this week, was Trump downplaying the magnitude of the threat?
• What precisely was the sequence of events that held up distribution of testing kits?
• What resources were available that could have been tapped had governors, mayors and ordinary Americans understood the extent of the threat?
• Who, if anyone, in government profited from advance knowledge of the threat?
• What government structures or policies did the current administration make that impacted the response, either positively or negatively?
• Why was the Defense Production Act not activated sooner?
• Why were wealthy and famous individuals given tests when ordinary Americans still could not access them?"

Russian media ‘spreading Covid-19 disinformation’; The Guardian, March 18, 2020

Jennifer Rankin, The Guardian; Russian media ‘spreading Covid-19 disinformation’ 

Leaked EU report says pro-Kremlin outlets seeking to aggravate public health crisis

"“Whoever is spreading the disinformation is essentially playing with people’s lives,” Stano said. “Every responsible social media or media user should be aware of this: that there is a lot of misinformation circulating around … Double check, triple check, go to a media you really trust and look at the sources.”"

Ethical dilemmas in the age of coronavirus: Whose lives should we save?; Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2020

Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times; Ethical dilemmas in the age of coronavirus: Whose lives should we save?

"In routine times, emergency room physicians operate on egalitarian principles, offering first-come, first-served intensive care on the basis that everybody’s life is equal.

But the approach becomes more utilitarian in times of catastrophe. When systems are overrun during wars and natural disasters, doctors must decide how to maximize resources for the greatest social good.

“This is the largest experiment of social mitigation strategies and handling of a pandemic in human history,” said Howard Markel, a professor of history at the University of Michigan. “Historical epidemics don’t count because they didn’t have intensive care, respirators or intravenous fluids. We’re all flying by the seat of our pants.”"

ALA Executive Board recommends closing libraries to public; American Library Association (ALA), March 17, 2020

Press Release, American Library Association (ALA); ALA Executive Board recommends closing libraries to public

"The American Library Association (ALA) Executive Board released the following statement in support of libraries and library workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic:

"The ALA Executive Board unequivocally stands in support of the safety and well-being of library workers and the communities we serve," stated the board. "To protect library workers and their communities from exposure to COVID-19 in these unprecedented times, we strongly recommend that academic, public and school library leaders and their trustees and governing bodies evaluate closing libraries to the public and only reopening when guidance from public health officials indicates the risk from COVID-19 has significantly subsided. 

"It is very difficult for us to put forward this recommendation. Libraries pride themselves on being there during critical times for our communities. We are often the only institutions to remain open during times of crisis. Service and stewardship to our communities are core to our profession. 

"We have weighed the situation of our country and what has happened in other countries around the world. The health of our library workers and the communities we serve is of utmost and equal importance. Libraries are by design unable to practice social distancing to the degree recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities. Keeping libraries open at this time has the potential to harm communities more than help. We underscore the importance and need to come together in this crisis and commit to ensuring our libraries, which provide so many important services to our communities, do not serve as vectors for a fast-moving pandemic.

"Libraries are responding creatively and proactively to this crisis. School libraries in many states have closed along with schools and many have plans to provide online classes to students. Public libraries are making virtual resources available and considering other ways they can help during the crisis. Academic libraries are providing online services and access to resources. All libraries are working with their school administrators, governments, boards, and university administrations to determine critical services and closures following local directives. 

"Additionally, and in alignment with our companion organization, the ALA Allied Professional Association (APA), we encourage libraries to ensure that all library workers receive fully paid leave, including health coverage, while libraries are closed.

"Although closing a library is a local decision, we urge library administrators, local boards and governments to close library facilities until such time as library workers and our communities are no longer at risk of contracting or spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus.

"The ALA Executive Board is committed to supporting our library workers, ALA members, and the communities we serve during these challenging and uncertain times." 

For more information about ALA resources on COVID-19, visit http://www.ala.org/tools/atoz/pandemic-preparedness

About the American Library Association:

ALA is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, ALA has been the trusted voice of libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit ala.org."

Coronavirus will radically alter the U.S.; The Washington Post, March 20, 2020

William Wan, Joel Achenbach, Carolyn Y. Johnson and Ben Guarino, The Washington Post; Coronavirus will radically alter the U.S.

Here’s what may lie ahead based on math models, hospital projections and past pandemics

"The power of the individual

Stanford virologist Karla Kirkegaard said she has tried to stave off dread from the projected U.S. death tolls with a case study she teaches in her classes:

Amid a cholera outbreak in mid-19th century London, as panicked residents fled one hard-hit neighborhood, a doctor named John Snow calmly entered the breach. He deduced that the source of hundreds of deaths was a single contaminated water pump and persuaded authorities to remove the pump’s handle — a strategy that ended the outbreak.

Controlling the covid-19 pandemic will take much more than a single water pump, Kirkegaard acknowledged as she sheltered in place at her Bay Area home.

But the story, she said, reminds her how powerful the simple act of one individual can be."

Leadership In The Time Of COVID-19; Forbes, March 19, 2020

Mark Nevins, Forbes; Leadership In The Time Of COVID-19

"The reality of life post-COVID-19 has not fully sunk in yet, and its consequences for our businesses, organizations, economy, and society will play out over the rest of 2020 and beyond.  Right now, we really need sober, smart, values-driven, and focused leadership.  Remember the old adage, “Crisis does not build character, it reveals it.”...

There’s no “playbook” for leadership when the stakes are high, and there’s certainly no playbook for what to do in the face of a 21^st Century pandemic.  We are all facing threats on multiple fronts at once: to self, family, employees, customers, suppliers and business partners, governmental and financial systems, and potentially our social fabric.  Even the Dean of the Harvard Business School can only offer a few good insights for companies facing this new reality, but no silver-bullet solutions.

So, what should you do if you’re responsible for a team, organization, or company?  Following are a few suggestions. (Note: the paragraphs below include carefully chosen links to help you in pragmatic ways—please click through.)...

Your employees will remember for a long time how they were treated during this crisis. Nothing drives employee loyalty and engagement more than knowing “my boss cares about me as a human being.” As a leader you should treat this COVID-19 crisis as a defining moment for yourself and your organization. Step up and lead accordingly."

Viral ethics: Keeping our moral compass in a time of confinement; The Spokesman-Review, March 19, 2020

Eli Francovich, The Spokesman-Review; Viral ethics: Keeping our moral compass in a time of confinement

"“We can’t panic and we can’t lose our intrinsic moral compass and doing right by our fellow human beings,” said Dr. Darryl Potyk, chief for medical education at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane. “I would worry more about me giving it to her. But if she’s in danger, the present danger is apparent. I want to deal with the apparent danger right now.” 

Coming together

And so, last week, I approached the ailing woman.

She needed to go to the bus plaza. She’d taken a bus from her home in the Spokane Valley, where she lives alone, to drop off some paperwork downtown. While she was walking back, she had some sort of attack or episode, she didn’t know what exactly, maybe something to do with her diabetes.

She grasped the crook of my arm and, I’m not proud to admit, I recoiled at first, worried she might touch my hand. 

Five people had already passed and not helped, she said. We walked slowly to the plaza. She stumbled often, her back arching backward, threatening to upend her precarious grasp on gravity. A Spokane Transit Authority employee saw us and, without any visible hesitation, took her other arm. The three of us shuffled to the waiting area for her Paratransit bus. 

I bought her a slice of pizza and she thanked us."

This Minecraft Library Provides a Platform for Censored Journalists; Gizmodo, March 12, 2020

Joanna Nelius, Gizmodo; This Minecraft Library Provides a Platform for Censored Journalists

"Today is World Day Against Cyber Censorship. Launched by Reporters Without Borders in 2008, its goal is to raise awareness of how various governments around the world are censoring free speech online, whether it’s by blocking keywords on social media, removing individual articles and blogs, or in extreme cases, jailing and executing those individuals. With the WHO officially declaring the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic, perhaps now is more important than ever to fight against government censorship—and one of the ways to do that is with Minecraft.

Spearheaded by Reporters Without Borders and built by BlockWorks and DDB Berlin, The Uncensored Library is a place you can visit within Minecraft to read the works of censored journalists from Russia, Mexico, Egypt, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia. Unlike news websites or personal blogs, Minecraft is still accessible in countries that tightly control what is reported about their governments, and Reporters Without Borders is now using this loophole to bypass internet censorship."

Column: COVID-19 could kill the for-profit science publishing model. That would be a good thing; Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2020

Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times; Column: COVID-19 could kill the for-profit science publishing model. That would be a good thing

"The current crisis has demonstrated the value of open access to research, as well as the drawbacks of secrecy."

How Pitt is Preparing for the Spread of the Coronavirus; Pitt Wire, February 27, 2020

Pitt Wire; How Pitt is Preparing for the Spread of the Coronavirus

"The University of Pittsburgh continues to monitor the spread of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, and is taking steps to respond to community needs. As of Feb. 27, no cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Pennsylvania. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that the individual immediate health risk to those in the United States is currently low, communities should prepare for the coronavirus to spread. 

Keeping our community informed

Since the emergence of the virus in December 2019, campus health and public safety leaders have coordinated closely with the Allegheny County Health Department and Pennsylvania Department of Health and are following guidance from the CDC and World Health Organization.
Pitt encourages members of the University community to visit the Public Safety and Emergency Management website, which remains a centralized and reliable source for information on this issue. “Knowing where to find reliable information is important for community members,” said Molly Stitt-Fischer, the University’s biosafety officer. “As the health and scientific communities learn more as the situation continues to change very quickly, access to the most current guidance is critical.”

Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain; Smithsonian Magazine, February 25, 2020

Katherine J. Wu , Smithsonian Magazine; Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain

"For the first time in its 174-year history, the Smithsonian has released 2.8 million high-resolution two- and three-dimensional images from across its collections onto an open access online platform for patrons to peruse and download free of charge. Featuring data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo, the new digital depot encourages the public to not just view its contents, but use, reuse and transform them into just about anything they choose—be it a postcard, a beer koozie or a pair of bootie shorts.

And this gargantuan data dump is just the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2020, the Smithsonian will be rolling out another 200,000 or so images, with more to come as the Institution continues to digitize its collection of 155 million items and counting...

The database’s launch also marks the latest victory for a growing global effort to migrate museum collections into the public domain. Nearly 200 other institutions worldwide—including Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago—have made similar moves to digitize and liberate their masterworks in recent years. But the scale of the Smithsonian’s release is “unprecedented” in both depth and breadth, says Simon Tanner, an expert in digital cultural heritage at King’s College London.

Spanning the arts and humanities to science and engineering, the release compiles artifacts, specimens and datasets from an array of fields onto a single online platform."

Your DNA is a valuable asset, so why give it to ancestry websites for free?; The Guardian, February 16, 2020

Laura Spinney, The Guardian; Your DNA is a valuable asset, so why give it to ancestry websites for free?

"The announcement by 23andMe, a company that sells home DNA testing kits, that it has sold the rights to a promising new anti-inflammatory drug to a Spanish pharmaceutical company is cause for celebration. The collected health data of 23andMe’s millions of customers have potentially produced a medical advance – the first of its kind. But a few weeks later the same company announced that it was laying off workers amid a shrinking market that its CEO put down to the public’s concerns about privacy.

These two developments are linked, because the most intimate data we can provide about ourselves – our genetic make-up – is already being harvested for ends we aren’t aware of and can’t always control. Some of them, such as better medicines, are desirable, but some of them should worry us...

These are the privacy concerns that may be behind layoffs, not only at 23andMe, but also at other DTC companies, and that we need to resolve urgently to avoid the pitfalls of genetic testingwhile [sic] realising its undoubted promise. In the meantime, we should all start reading the small print."

Europe plans to strictly regulate high-risk AI technology; Science, February 19, 2020

Nicholas Wallace, Science; Europe plans to strictly regulate high-risk AI technology

"The European Commission today unveiled its plan to strictly regulate artificial intelligence (AI), distinguishing itself from more freewheeling approaches to the technology in the United States and China.

The commission will draft new laws—including a ban on “black box” AI systems that humans can’t interpret—to govern high-risk uses of the technology, such as in medical devices and self-driving cars. Although the regulations would be broader and stricter than any previous EU rules, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference today announcing the plan that the goal is to promote “trust, not fear.” The plan also includes measures to update the European Union’s 2018 AI strategy and pump billions into R&D over the next decade.

The proposals are not final: Over the next 12 weeks, experts, lobby groups, and the public can weigh in on the plan before the work of drafting concrete laws begins in earnest. Any final regulation will need to be approved by the European Parliament and national governments, which is unlikely to happen this year."

Walter Shaub Wants You To Fight For An Ethical Democracy; WBUR On Point, February 18, 2020

WBUR, On Point;

Walter Shaub Wants You To Fight For An Ethical Democracy

"For decades, Walter Shaub advised presidential candidates about transparency, ethics and how to avoid conflicts of interest. We talk to Shaub about how he ran the Office of Government Ethics and the future of ethics in government."

Coronavirus: The global race to patent a remedy; The Mercury News, February 13, 2020

Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News; Coronavirus: The global race to patent a remedy

"As a lethal coronavirus triggers a humanitarian crisis in the world’s most populous nation, who owns the rights to a potential cure?

The Bay Area’s pharmaceutical powerhouse Gilead Sciences is first in line for a Chinese patent for its drug called Remdesivir, which shows promise against the broad family of coronaviruses.

But now a team of Chinese scientists say they’ve improved and targeted its use — and, in a startling move, have also filed for a patent...

“Each side wants to be the entity that came up with the treatment for coronavirus,” said Jacob Sherkow, professor of law at the Innovation Center for Law and Technology at New York Law School. “This is not a knockoff of a Louis Vuitton handbag,”...

Patent protection — and market exclusivity — is the lifeblood of drug companies such as Gilead, creating the incentive to find, test and market a medicine."

Copyright could be the next way for Congress to take on Big Tech; The Verge, February 13, 2020

Adi Robertson, The Verge; Copyright could be the next way for Congress to take on Big Tech

"By the end of the year, Tillis — who chairs the Senate’s intellectual property subcommittee — plans to draft changes to the DMCA. He and co-chair Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) kicked off the process this week with an introductory hearing, speaking to eight legal experts and former congressional staffers. The hearing helped set the stage to re-fight some long-running battles over the balance between protecting copyrighted content and keeping the internet open — but at a time where internet companies are already facing a large-scale backlash.

The 1998 DMCA attempted to outline how copyright should work on the then-nascent internet, where you could almost freely and infinitely copy a piece of media. But it’s been widely criticized by people with very different stances on intellectual property."

What China’s empty new coronavirus hospitals say about its secretive system; The Guardian, February 12, 2020

Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian; What China’s empty new coronavirus hospitals say about its secretive system

"A propaganda system designed to support the party and state cannot be relied on for accurate information. That is a problem not just for families left bereft by the coronavirus and businesses destroyed by the sudden shutdown, but for a world trying to assess Beijing’s success in controlling and containing the disease.

“China’s centralised system and lack of freedom of press definitely delay a necessary aggressive early response when it was still possible to contain epidemics at the local level,” said Ho-fung Hung, a professor in political economy at Johns Hopkins University in the US...

“There is no one quick fix to the Chinese system to make it respond better next time,” said Hung. “But if there is one single factor that could increase the government’s responsiveness to this kind of crisis, [it would be] a free press.”"

How To Teach Artificial Intelligence; Forbes, February 12, 2020

Tom Vander Ark, Forbes; How To Teach Artificial Intelligence

"Artificial intelligence—code that learns—is likely to be humankind’s most important invention. It’s a 60-year-old idea that took off five years ago when fast chips enabled massive computing and sensors, cameras, and robots fed data-hungry algorithms...

A World Economic Forum report indicated that 89% of U.S.-based companies are planning to adopt user and entity big data analytics by 2022, while more than 70% want to integrate the Internet of Things, explore web and app-enabled markets, and take advantage of machine learning and cloud computing.

Given these important and rapid shifts, it’s a good time to consider what young people need to know about AI and information technology. First, everyone needs to be able to recognize AI and its influence on people and systems, and be proactive as a user and citizen. Second, everyone should have the opportunity to use AI and big data to solve problems. And third, young people interested in computer science as a career should have a pathway for building AI...

The MIT Media Lab developed a middle school AI+Ethics course that hits many of these learning objectives. It was piloted by Montour Public Schools outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which has incorporated the three-day course in its media arts class."

The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy; The Guardian, February 9, 2020

Richard McGregor, The Guardian; The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the deep flaws of Xi’s autocracy

"The authoritarian strictures of the Chinese party state place a premium on the control of information in the name of maintaining stability. In such a system, lower-level officials have no incentive to report bad news up the line. Under Xi, such restrictions have grown tighter.

In Wuhan, Li and seven of his fellow doctors had been talking among themselves in an internet chat group about a new cluster of viral infections. They stopped after being warned by police. By the time the authorities reacted and quarantined the city, it was too late.

Li was neither a dissident nor a pro-democracy activist seeking to overthrow the Communist party. But he was risking jail to even discuss the virus. For in Xi’s China, the professional classes – doctors, lawyers, journalists and the like – all must subsume their skills and ethics to the political directives of the moment."

Montana seeks balancing act with wildlife location data, hunting ethics; Independent Record, February 6, 2020

Tom Kuglin, Independent Record; Montana seeks balancing act with wildlife location data, hunting ethics


"While GPS collars are invaluable to researchers and wildlife managers, the data they produce are the subject of debate about who should have access to the information and why. Some hunters have requested and received the exact latitude and longitude of collared animals, and that has conservation groups and lawmakers concerned about violating the edict of fair chase hunting or the potential to monetize the data."

Putting China in charge of the world’s intellectual property is a bad idea; The Washington Post, Janaury 30, 2020

Josh Rogin , The Washington Post; Putting China in charge of the world’s intellectual property is a bad idea

"Beijing is lobbying hard to take over leadership of the international organization that oversees intellectual property, which could result in dire consequences for the future of technology and economic competition. But the U.S.-led effort to prevent this from happening faces a steep uphill climb.

In March, 83 countries will vote to elect the next director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a U.N.-created body founded in 1967 “to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world.” The Chinese candidate, Wang Binying, currently serves as one of its four deputy director-generals and is widely seen as the front-runner.

On its face, allowing China to assume leadership of the WIPO poses a clear risk to the integrity of the institution, given that the U.S. government has singled out China as the leading source of intellectual property theft in the world."

Chinese scientists ask for patent on US drug to fight virus; Associated Press, February 6, 2020

Joe McDonald and Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press; Chinese scientists ask for patent on US drug to fight virus

"China has the right under World Trade Organization rules to declare an emergency and compel a company to license a patent to protect the public. It would be required to pay a license fee that is deemed fair market value. 

The government might be able to avoid that fee if the patent were granted to the Wuhan institute, part of the elite Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

The institute said it applied for a “use patent” that specifies the Wuhan virus as the drug’s target. Gilead’s patent application, filed before the virus was identified, cites only the overall family of coronaviruses."

It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.; The Washington Post, January 31, 2020

Joe Heim , The Washington Post; It wasn’t just the National Archives. The Library of Congress also balked at a Women’s March photo.

 

"The Library of Congress abandoned plans last year to showcase a mural-size photograph of demonstrators at the 2017 Women’s March in Washington because of concerns it would be perceived as critical of President Trump, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post...

 

Slayton said the decision to remove the photograph was made by leadership of the library’s Center for Exhibits and Interpretation. “No outside entities reviewed this exhibition’s content before it opened or opined on its content,” the spokeswoman wrote.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was informed of the decision soon after and supported it, Slayton said. Hayden, who is in the fourth year of her 10-year term, was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2016 and confirmed by the Senate."