A Human Rights Approach to Platform Content Regulation – UN

A Human Rights Approach to Platform Content Regulation – Freedex: "The Special Rapporteur’s 2018 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council is now online.

In the first-ever UN report that examines the regulation of user-general online content, the Special Rapporteur examines the role of States and social media companies in providing an enabling environment for freedom of expression and access to information online." 'via Blog this'

Data Protection Act 2018 of 23 May

Data Protection Act 2018: "Data Protection Act 2018
You are here:
2018 c. 12" 'via Blog this'

Pray for the Souls of the People Sucked Into This US Dating Site Hell - why Europe has data protection

Pray for the Souls of the People Sucked Into This Dating Site Hell: "Even though this isn’t intuitive, it is spelled out in the terms of use, which say, “Welcome to the Friends Worldwide, Inc. Integrated Dating Network (Friends Worldwide), an extensive global network of integrated dating websites including Friends Worldwide Company Owned and Friends Worldwide Partner Program sites hosted and operated by Friends Worldwide, Inc.”

Basically, people who sign up for one of the Friends Worldwide sites become part of all of their sites. " 'via Blog this'

Follow-up answers from Facebook after Zuckerberg’s meeting with leading MEPs

Follow-up answers from Facebook after Zuckerberg’s meeting with leading MEPs | News | European Parliament: "Facebook has sent a first set of replies to the EP President on a number of outstanding questions left unanswered at the meeting between EP leaders and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg met on Tuesday with EP President, leaders of the political groups and the Chair and Rapporteur of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

 

Facebook has now sent a first set of answers to the remaining questions posed by leading MEPs. The answers deal with topics such as the Cambridge Analytica data breach, “shadow profiles”, data from non-Facebook users and fake accounts." 'via Blog this'

Privacy International’s landmark challenge against UK hacking will be heard in Supreme Court in December

Press release: Privacy International’s landmark challenge against UK Government hacking will…: "At issue before the Supreme Court is the UK Government’s dangerous submission that decisions of the Tribunal are not reviewable by the ordinary UK courts. A victory by the Government would be a significant blow to the rule of law because the ordinary courts exist to correct legal errors and to prevent specialist tribunals from operating without accountability. This principle is particularly critical in the surveillance context, which, because of its inherent secrecy, has long presented acute accountability challenges.


Dinah Rose QC, Ben Jaffey QC, and Tom Cleaver from Blackstone Chambers are instructed by Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, who are acting for Privacy International.

The hearing will take place 3–4 December." 'via Blog this'

CYBER Why Blockchain is Hard – Jimmy Song – Medium

Why Blockchain is Hard – Jimmy Song – Medium: "In a sense, current conceptions of blockchain are trying to do the impossible. They want the security of a decentralized system with the control of a centralized one. The desire is the best of both worlds, but what they end up getting is the worst of both worlds. You get the costs and difficulty of a decentralized system with the failure modes of a centralized one.

Blockchain is used way too much as a buzzword to sell a lot of useless snake oil. The faster we get rid of the hype, the better off long-term we’ll all be." 'via Blog this'

PARLIAMENT Oral evidence - The internet: to regulate or not to regulate? - 24 Apr 2018

Oral evidence - The internet: to regulate or not to regulate? - 24 Apr 2018: "The framework for internet law is quite old. It is based on a US law, the Communications Decency Act of 1996, so it is 22 years old, and we have dealt with the way in which it has been adapted since then. In the UK, of course, we have the e-commerce regulations, which are based on the electronic commerce directive of 2000 which itself was drafted in the last century. So the framework for internet law at least is actually from the last millennium, which may lead us to think that it is perhaps due for an update.

 Of course, we deal with several pieces of law that are much older than that. I taught a class this morning in which we discussed Magna Carta. Some of the issues that arise out of the Panama papers leak concern the breach of privacy and attorney-client privilege. Those date long before the internet. Many of the issues we deal with have a longer history.

 This point has been made already, but I want to extend it; internet regulation broadly does not just involve the law. We are all regulated by the internet." 'via Blog this'

Is it time to regulate the internet? Legal experts give evidence - UK Parliament

Is it time to regulate the internet? Legal experts give evidence - News from Parliament - UK Parliament: "The Committee explores with witnesses possible ways in which the internet could be better regulated, the extent to which online platforms should become liable for the content that they host, and the information they should provide to users about the use of their personal data.

Witnesses: Professor Christopher Marsden, Professor of Internet Law, University of Sussex
Dr Victoria Nash, Policy and Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute
Professor Lorna Woods, Professor of Law, University of Essex" 'via Blog this'

PRIVACY Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland/Max Schremes

PDF of the referral on Standard Contractual Clauses now available: 'via Blog this'

2nd Interdisciplinary PG conference: Digital Stuff

Cardiff, 14 June 2018
Over the past few years there has been a dramatic and intensifying shift in discourse around digital technologies. Public, politicians, journalists and commentators have increasingly emphasised the potential for the digital to disrupt, damage and undermine the foundational aspects of society, democracy and the political status quo. In the political sphere Facebook and Twitter are widely accused of undermining the democratic processes through the dissemination of propaganda via networks of bots. Two of the most profound democratic upsets in the recent history of the Anglosphere, Trump and Brexit, are increasingly attributed to the manipulation of voters through algorithms powered by illicitly collected data. Journalists and academics struggle to explain the rise of “fake news”, and what this concept means for the status of knowledge in online discourse. Progressive political activists are intensifying their use of social media to challenge the status quo, with notable examples such as #metoo directly challenging patriarchal power across many sectors and institutions. Meanwhile, reactionary movements are using social media more than ever to spread hate speech and organise on public platforms that seem reluctant to shut down their activity.
Outside of and inside social movements, new technologies may present fundamental challenges to monetary sectors and governments: the phenomenal growth of cryptocurrencies may offer new and disruptive technologies for banking and finance, while increasingly sophisticated encryption poses challenges to governments and judiciaries to regulate and intercept communications. In the midst of all this, many countries are stepping up efforts to control their citizens’ activity online, from an increasingly authoritarian Turkey attempting to force platforms to regulate content, to China’s ongoing program of fencing off their citizens’ experience of the internet.
This interdisciplinary event funded by Cardiff University Doctoral Academy will bring together postgraduate and early career researchers from a variety of disciplines, to address and discuss the above issues in an intellectually diverse conference. Our conference will take place on June 14th 2018 in Cardiff and cover the above topics and other areas of disruption in contemporary digital studies.
Digital Stuff is an interdisciplinary research group, and we encourage submissions from a wide variety of backgrounds: from STEM and computer science, to social science, humanities, journalism, politics, arts and literature. We welcome a wide variety of submissions, including presentations focusing on ongoing or completed research projects, methodological issues, case studies of events, ethical challenges, manifestos, and areas of personal academic interest or expertise. Applicants who are approved for presentation will take part in one of three thematic panels in a single stream conference, with opportunities for detailed discussion and networking alongside attendees, and an academic keynote speaker.
Below is a summary of suggested topics, but we enthusiastically welcome and encourage submissions on other related topics:
  *   AI, bots, and fake news
  *   Cyberhate, racism and far-right movements
  *   Online movements and campaigns (e.g. #metoo)
  *   Cryptocurrencies and encryption
  *   Government regulation and civil liberties/human rights abuse
  *   User data, data rights and social media (e.g. Cambridge Analytica)

Please use the link below to submit your abstract for ‘Digital Stuff 2018 – Digital Chaos: digital technologies and social disruption’ conference. We use EasyChair for the submissions of abstracts and papers so you will be required to create an account with EasyChair in order to submit to this conference.
Link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ds2018

Abstracts should be 300 words, indicating name, institutional affiliation and title of presentation. Presentations will be 15-20 minutes, with Q&A sessions at the end of each block. Deadline for submissions 15/05/2018.

For more info: https://digitalstuffcardiff.wordpress.com

A pioneer in predictive policing is starting a troubling new project - The Verge

A pioneer in predictive policing is starting a troubling new project - The Verge: "Jeff Brantingham is as close as it gets to putting a face on the controversial practice of “predictive policing.” Over the past decade, the University of California-Los Angeles anthropology professor adapted his Pentagon-funded research in forecasting battlefield casualties in Iraq to predicting crime for American police departments, patenting his research and founding a for-profit company named PredPol, LLC.

 PredPol quickly became one of the market leaders in the nascent field of crime prediction around 2012, but also came under fire from activists and civil libertarians who argued the firm provided a sort of “tech-washing” for racially biased, ineffective policing methods.

 Now, Brantingham is using military research funding for another tech and policing collaboration with potentially damaging repercussions: using machine learning, the Los Angeles Police Department’s criminal data, and an outdated gang territory map to automate the classification of “gang-related” crimes." 'via Blog this'

POLICING A New Bill Restores California’s Power to Fight Secret Surveillance | ACLU of Northern CA

A New Bill Restores California’s Power to Fight Secret Surveillance | ACLU of Northern CA: "SB 1186 helps enhance public safety by safeguarding local power and ensuring transparency, accountability, and proper oversight of law enforcement’s acquisition and use of surveillance technology.

SB 1186 covers the broad array of surveillance technologies used by police, including drones, social media surveillance software, and automated license plate readers. The bill also anticipates – and covers – AI-powered predictive policing systems on the rise today." 'via Blog this'

CYBER Equifax provides more detail to Congress on cyber security incident

Equifax provides more detail to Congress on cyber security incident: "Credit-monitoring firm Equifax Inc said on Monday it has sent a letter to several U.S. Congressional committees providing additional details on data that was breached in a cybersecurity incident in September." 'via Blog this'

How the Internet was designed in the 1980s — Oxford Internet Institute

How the network of networks works — Oxford Internet Institute: "The Internet was established as a network of networks, with little sense of national borders and little centralised international oversight. As it has grown, so too has argument around the decision-making processes and entities involved in its governance. In parallel, governments have a vital role to play in enabling and encouraging development of the communications infrastructure on which the Internet operates.

 This seminar will introduce participants to the basic features of Internet architecture and how it is governed, as well as to ‘hot topic’ policy issues related to internet access generally.


Topics to include:

How are decisions made currently relating to Internet governance?  What are the key areas of disagreement?  What is the perspective from within Europe?

To what extent can national governments control the Internet?

What role do supranational bodies play in its regulation?

How does the underlying structure and markets behind the physical network affect the way we use the web?  What are the key infrastructure issues for national governments and how are these playing out at present across Europe?  (eg: net neutrality, spectrum sharing, universal access)

Where will investment come from to build the next generation of networks and what are the policy implications? (eg: should consumers pay more, should we move away from typically open and free web we enjoy, who should decide?)" 'via Blog this'

CYBER E-commerce after Coty: presentation at the ULB - Pablo Ibanez Colomo

E-commerce after Coty: my presentation at the ULB | Chillin'Competition: "The developments that have followed Coty suggest that, again, a divide has emerged between Germany and other Member States. While courts in France and the Netherlands have embraced consensus positions in relation to the judgment and its implications, German courts (and the Bundeskartellamt) are clearly less inclined to read anything in Coty that goes beyond its narrow factual circumstances.

 Ongoing disagreements relate, inter alia, to two points: one relates to the application of Coty beyond luxury products, already discussed, and the second to the treatment of other clauses having a similar object and effect – such as a ban on the use of price comparison websites. I explained that the disagreement may very well reach the Court again.

There is something fascinating about the application of competition law in online markets. I often have the impression that, for some reason, principles that have been with us for decades tend to be forgotten when things ‘get digital’. As I said, we keep ‘rediscovering mediterraneans’ these days.

I ended my lecture identifying a few guiding principles when thinking about competition law in the online world:

 Price is not the only important parameter of competition. A practice may significantly limit price competition and still be presumptively legal under Article 101(1) TFEU. This principle has been with us since the late 1970s. The Court made it explicit in Metro I and Metro II (in particular the latter). Competition in many digital and high-tech markets is not about prices anymore – think again about Apple’s immense success!

These are the best of times for intra-brand competition: when we read about online distribution, we sometimes get the impression that it is in crisis, or in need of a boost. The reality is that independent retailers have never had it so good.

Competition policy should be consistent: I struggle to see how a competition authority can simultaneously warn against the power of online platforms and at the same time develop policies subsidising these same platforms (such as a policy favouring the use of online marketplaces). Consistency, and thinking about the unintended consequences of some measures, could take us a long way." 'via Blog this'

CYBER Artificial Intelligence - Facial Recognition Is Accurate, if You’re a White Guy: NYTimes

Facial Recognition Is Accurate, if You’re a White Guy - The New York Times: "When the person in the photo is a white man, the software is right 99 percent of the time.

But the darker the skin, the more errors arise — up to nearly 35% for images of darker skinned women, according to a new study that breaks fresh ground by measuring how the technology works on people of different races and gender.

 These disparate results, calculated by Joy Buolamwini, a researcher at the M.I.T. Media Lab, show how some of the biases in the real world can seep into artificial intelligence, the computer systems that inform facial recognition." 'via Blog this'

Thread by @fborgesius: "Checking out Facebook's new terms; conditions (a small thread). Facebook seems to invoke necessity for performing a contract (art 6(1)( […]"

Thread by @fborgesius: "Checking out Facebook's new terms & conditions (a small thread). Facebook seems to invoke necessity for performing a contract (art 6(1)( […]": "Checking out Facebook's new terms & conditions (a small thread). Facebook seems to invoke necessity for performing a contract (art 6(1)(b) GDPR) as a legal basis for targeting ads to its users.
Facebooks new ‘Data Policy’ (19 April 2018) says:
‘We use the information we have [on you] to deliver our Products, including to personalize.. ads..’ facebook.com/about/privacy/… Hence, Facebook seems to see personalizing ads as a part of delivering its product." 'via Blog this'

Privacy, Google and Legitimate interests: ICO

Legitimate interests | ICO: "There are three elements to the legitimate interests basis. It helps to think of this as a three-part test. You need to:
identify a legitimate interest;
show that the processing is necessary to achieve it; and
balance it against the individual’s interests, rights and freedoms.

The legitimate interests can be your own interests or the interests of third parties. They can include commercial interests, individual interests or broader societal benefits.
The processing must be necessary. If you can reasonably achieve the same result in another less intrusive way, legitimate interests will not apply.

You must balance your interests against the individual’s. If they would not reasonably expect the processing, or if it would cause unjustified harm, their interests are likely to override your legitimate interests." 'via Blog this'

Publishers rebuke Google's interpretation of EU privacy law: Reuters

Publishers rebuke Google's interpretation of EU privacy law | Article [AMP] | Reuters: "As part of its plans for GDPR, Google would offload to publishers the burden of getting user consent for the data collection that is at the core of how Google's ad-serving business operates.

The company has also irked publishers by saying that rather than being a "processor" of data as defined by GDPR, it wants to be a "controller," giving it more ability to use information such as reader data for its own purposes.

 "Your proposal severely falls short on many levels," publisher groups wrote to Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, adding that it "would undermine the fundamental purposes of the GDPR and the efforts of publishers to comply with the letter and spirit of the law."

Signing the five-page letter, which ends on several questions to Google, were Digital Content Next, European Publishers Council, News Media Alliance and News Media Association.

They represent about 4,000 newspapers and media companies" 'via Blog this'

CYBER "39 questions that @commonsCMS say Facebook has failed to answer. Is this a landmark moment?

Carole Cadwalladr on Twitter: "And here's the 39 questions that @commonsCMS say Facebook has failed to answer. Is this a landmark moment? Is it the beginning of the end for Facebook acting like a colonial power beyond the rule of law in countries across the globe??? Or..wishful thinking?… https://t.co/1tvRIbQwUv": "And here's the 39 questions that @commonsCMS say Facebook has failed to answer. Is this a landmark moment? Is it the beginning of the end for Facebook acting like a colonial power beyond the rule of law in countries across the globe??? Or..wishful thinking?" 'via Blog this'

CYBER Frederik Borgesius: checking out Facebook's new Terms of Service (legitimate interests opinion, WP217)"

Frederik Borgesius on Twitter: "https://t.co/kypy6qT3oe (WP203, purpose limitation, p. 46). See also https://t.co/UzYJ1BfcmO (legitimate interests opinion, WP217)": 'via Blog this'

CYBER Facebook is trying to block Schrems II privacy referral to EU top court | TechCrunch

Facebook is trying to block Schrems II privacy referral to EU top court | TechCrunch: "Facebook’s lawyers are attempting to block a High Court decision in Ireland, where its international business is headquartered, to refer a long-running legal challenge to the bloc’s top court.

The social media giant’s lawyers asked the court to stay the referral to the CJEU today, Reuters reports.

Facebook is trying to appeal the referral by challenging Irish case law — and wants a stay granted in the meanwhile.

The case relates to a complaint filed by privacy campaigner and lawyer Max Schrems regarding a transfer mechanism that’s currently used by thousands of companies to authorize flows of personal data on EU citizens to the US for processing.

Though Schrems was actually challenging the use of so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) by Facebook, specifically, when he updated an earlier complaint on the same core data transfer issue — which relates to US government mass surveillance practices, as revealed by the 2013 Snowden disclosures — with Ireland’s data watchdog.

 However the Irish Data Protection Commissioner decided to refer the issue to the High Court to consider the legality of SCCs as a whole. And earlier this month the High Court decided to refer a series questions relating to EU-US data transfers to Europe’s top court" 'via Blog this'

CYBER Twitter: "#SnoopersCharter is unlawful! Liberty has won its legal challenge to part of the Government's Investigatory Powers Act"

Liberty on Twitter: "BREAKING: The #SnoopersCharter is unlawful! Liberty has won its legal challenge to part of the Government's Investigatory Powers Act. But there are more legal battles to be won before we reclaim our rights. Donate to #PeopleVSnoopers today: https://t.co/QWn9gtiVZ8… https://t.co/Q7xZpJ13Ml": Case No: CO/1052/2017 QUEEN'S BENCH 27/04/2018
R. on the application of The National
Council for Civil Liberties (Liberty)
v. (1) Secretary of State for the Home Department
(2) Secretary of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs. Judgment https://t.co/8XCofdaYz7  'via Blog this'

CYBER Global Commission on Stability of Cyberspace

GCSC: "At its fourth meeting in November 2017 in New Delhi, the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) issued a “Call to Protect the Public Core of the Internet“ with the following norm urging all Internet stakeholders to safeguard the general availability and integrity of the Internet:

“Without prejudice to their rights and obligations, state and non-state actors should not conduct or knowingly allow activity that intentionally and substantially damages the general availability or integrity of the public core of the Internet, and therefore the stability of cyberspace.”" 'via Blog this'

CYBER True AI is both logically possible and utterly implausible | Aeon Essays

True AI is both logically possible and utterly implausible | Aeon Essays: "The reality is more trivial. This March, Microsoft introduced Tay – an AI-based chat robot – to Twitter. They had to remove it only 16 hours later. It was supposed to become increasingly smarter as it interacted with humans. Instead, it quickly became an evil Hitler-loving, Holocaust-denying, incestual-sex-promoting, ‘Bush did 9/11’-proclaiming chatterbox. Why? Because it worked no better than kitchen paper, absorbing and being shaped by the nasty messages sent to it. Microsoft apologised.

This is the state of AI today. After so much talking about the risks of ultraintelligent machines, it is time to turn on the light, stop worrying about sci-fi scenarios, and start focusing on AI’s actual challenges, in order to avoid making painful and costly mistakes in the design and use of our smart technologies." 'via Blog this'

CYBER Network neutrality: regulation in the public interest

Network neutrality: "In 2007 Ofcom assumed that only the US need worry about net neutrality. By 2009 Richards had publicly disowned the expression ‘light touch’ in the wake of the economic recession and evidence of disastrous light touch regulation in the financial services in London’s markets, stating ‘I don’t like the expression “light touch” regulator. We try to be as unintrusive as we can be, not to intervene unless we have to, but if we have to and there’s a public interest in intervening, we are willing to do so swiftly and effectively.’ 'via Blog this'

Lords warn of 'big five' data grabs and ethical failures in AI report | WIRED UK

Lords warn of 'big five' data grabs and ethical failures in AI report | WIRED UK: "The report namechecks a handful of newly-created government bodies, including the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, the AI Council and the Government Office of AI, as well as the private sector Alan Turing Institute, but doesn’t detail how each of these organisations will inform and influence government AI strategy.

“With those bodies, you wonder if they’re spreading too thinly,” says Michael Veale, a public sector machine learning researcher at University College London." 'via Blog this'