Month: October 2019

Google published in Nature this morning that they demonstrated quantum supremacy. Some are hailing it as an enormous technical breakthrough.

NordVPN’s server was compromised and an encryption key was stolen. This happened March 2018 but they didn’t disclose anything to customers until the news started leaking.

A bipartisan group of Senators introduced the bill ACCESS for promoting competition in social media firms by forcing data portability. Seems pretty weak, but at least it’s something.

The FTC banned a Florida company from promoting and distributing its children- and employee-monitoring apps, which the FTC referred to as “stalking” apps.

Georgia Supreme Court: Police can’t download data from a car’s black box without a warrant.

(compiled by Tom McBrien)

As noted last week, the US/UK CLOUD Act Agreement, which enables law enforcement agencies in both countries to access digital data and evidence stored within each other’s borders, was released earlier this month. For an in-depth explanation of its provisions, see Theodore Christakis’s paper.

Professor Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, published a new report concerning the digital welfare state. Among other things, the report considers the consequences of state agencies using algorithms for resource allocation.

In response to American, Australian and British officials’ open letter to Facebook vis-a-vis end-to-end messaging encryption, more than 100 civil society organizations have signed onto a separate letter in support of Facebook’s planned encryption. Similarly, Edward Snowden made his support of end-to-end encryption known in a Guardian article.

An official Chinese governmental app called “Study the Nation” allows for spying via a backdoor. According to the BBC, “use of the app is mandatory among party officials and civil servants” and is tied to the acquisition of press cards for journalists.

Berkeley’s city council unanimously voted to ban government use of facial recognition technology. 

The Washington, DC police department is using GPS data culled from the ankle monitors of people placed on parole or probation for investigations and lead-finding. Additionally, the ankle monitors appear to have two-way audio capabilities which the police department says are not currently in use, although there have been allegations to the contrary.

(compiled by Stav Zeitouni)

The U.S. Commerce Department placed 28 Chinese business entities on a trade blacklist in connection with the mass detention and abuse of the muslim Uighur population is Xinjiang. Among the companies hit by the new sanctions are eight of China’s biggest private AI companies specializing in facial recognition, algorithmic surveillance, and autonomous vehicles. Expanded sanctions also include visa bans on Chinese officials linked to the mass detention of Uighurs and ethnic Kazakhs.The European Court of Justice ruled that individual countries can order Facebook to remove defamatory posts, photographs and videos from display not only in the country of litigation, but globally. This ruling, which cannot be repealed, extends the reach of the region’s internet-related laws beyond its own borders, and comes a week after the same court ruled in favor of Google in the landmark ‘right to be forgotten’ case.
The U.S. and U.K. governments have reached a data-sharing agreement — the first of the executive agreements envisioned by the CLOUD Act —  that enables law enforcement agencies in both countries access to digital data and evidence stored within each other’s borders. Shortly after, the United States announces negotiations with Australia on potentially signing the CLOUD Act. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed bill AB 1215 blocking law enforcement from using facial recognition technology in body cameras, effective through Jan. 1, 2023. California is now the largest state to take steps to limit police use of the technology, following New Hampshire and Oregon.Over 30 civil rights groups sign a letter urging Amazon to cease partnerships that give local police offices access to Amazon Ring smart doorbell data.
US Attorney General William Barr, along with counterparts in the U.K. and Australia, request that Facebook delays plans to deploy end-to-end messaging encryption.
A EU Internal Market commissioner-designate Sylvie Goulard announced upcoming updates on Digital Services Act that must include proposals concerning AI. The updates are to be released within 100 days of the new commission’s tenure. Mrs. Goulard also stressed the need to update the eCommerce laws. 
A recent disclosure of a July 2019 ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court shows that the FBI was found to be violating the the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches in using a warrantless internet-surveillance program intended to target foreign suspects in 2017 and 2018. 
The Justice Department is planning to require collection of DNA from immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border for use in a national criminal database. The practice would apply to immigrants who enter the country at legal ports of entry to ask for asylum.

(Compiled by Margarita Boyarskaya)

Apply to We Robot 2020 by October 7!

Andrew Yang suggested treating data as a property right and included rights such as the right to be forgotten (Forbes).

Facebook has affirmed that will not apply remove political speech even if it breaks its community rules (The Verge).

Representative Takano introduced The Justice in Forensic Algorithms Act that would help ensure the ability of defendants to access algorithmic evidence in criminal trials (TechDirt).

Princess Awesome, a girls’ clothing brand, is struggling to get their products advertised because of the key words that Amazon provided (some for petticoats but not leggings). This can particularly affect small businesses. 

Recent judgment from European Court of Justice regarding cookie practices. You must not just inform, but must give the user a choice. No pre-selected checkmarks for “I’m fine with all cookies.” (TechCrunch)

Compiled by Cassi Carley and Tom McBrien.