Of Interest

Jack Dorsey, Twitter and Square Cofounder, Donates $10 Million to BU Center for Antiracist Research

Date published:
August 20, 2020
BU Today
"Cyber civil rights expert Danielle Citron, a School of Law professor of law, says Twitter should be credited with “trying to address hate speech in a coherent and systematic way.” In the last year, the company expanded its rules around hate speech to include dehumanizing speech against religious groups, as well as any language that dehumanizes people on the basis of their age, disability, or disease. Read more about Jack Dorsey, Twitter and Square Cofounder, Donates $10 Million to BU Center for Antiracist Research
EARN IT Act Talk at the DEF CON Crypto & Privacy Village

By Riana Pfefferkorn on August 19, 2020 at 11:00 am

On August 7, I had the pleasure of doing a "fireside chat" with my friend and Section 230 expert Cathy Gellis at this year's virtual DEF CON Crypto & Privacy Village. Cathy gave a primer on Section 230, and then we had a discussion about the EARN IT Act bill, the LAED Act bill, and the threats they pose to online speech, privacy, security, and encryption. You can watch the video here. Read more about EARN IT Act Talk at the DEF CON Crypto & Privacy Village
Silicon Valley has been quietly selling ineffective tech "solutions" to police departments

Date published:
August 16, 2020
Salon
""There is a myth that additional technology will make policing more efficient and effective," says Malkia Devich-Cyril, the f ounding Read more about Silicon Valley has been quietly selling ineffective tech "solutions" to police departments
The Quiet Growth of Race-Detection Software Sparks Concerns Over Bias

Date published:
August 14, 2020
The Wall Street Journal
"Using AI to identify ethnicity “seems more likely to harm than help,” says Arvind Narayanan, a computer science professor at Princeton University who has researched how anonymized data can be used to identify people." Read more about The Quiet Growth of Race-Detection Software Sparks Concerns Over Bias
California High Court Sets Rules for Facebook Subpoena

Date published:
August 13, 2020
Bloomberg Law
"“Even assuming the lower court finds a good cause, it is not enough that the defendant wants the discovery when a federal law bars it and there are other means available to get it without rendering a statute unconstitutional,” said Albert Gidari, consulting director of privacy at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet & Society." Read more about California High Court Sets Rules for Facebook Subpoena
Michigan plans dedicated road lanes for autonomous vehicles

Date published:
August 13, 2020
UpNorthLive
"The lanes would be helpful for the current state of autonomous vehicles, which still cannot operate safely with human-driven vehicles under all traffic and weather conditions, said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies vehicle automation.

But they also run contrary to another school of thought in the industry, that systems being tested are getting better and soon will be able to navigate roads with cars driven by humans, he said. Read more about Michigan plans dedicated road lanes for autonomous vehicles
The Future of Free Speech Online May Depend on This Database

Date published:
August 13, 2020
Slate
"“I feel like the evolution of GIFCT is a real illustration of just how slippery terms like platform responsibility or platform accountability turn out to be in practice,” Keller said. When politicians demand initiatives like the GIFCT, she continued, it appears as though democratic governments are forcing platforms to act justly and lawfully. “But that’s not what it’s turned out to mean at all in practice,” said Keller. Read more about The Future of Free Speech Online May Depend on This Database
Back to School? Look Out for Covid-Tracking Surveillance Tech

Date published:
August 11, 2020
The Wall Street Journal
"“Often when measures are introduced for a specific purpose, they linger on because people become acclimated,” said Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Many U.S. schools were already getting heavily into surveillance technology before the pandemic, he said. “When these technologies are no longer needed to detect fever or conduct contact tracing, will they all the sudden be used to detect truancy?”" Read more about Back to School? Look Out for Covid-Tracking Surveillance Tech
Would You Trust a Lawyer Bot With Your Legal Needs?

Date published:
August 10, 2020
The Wall Street Journal
"“As soon as there’s some complexity or some resistance by the system, the automation is unable to handle it,” says Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington whose specialties include robotics and automation. “There’s an impression that this app will help you navigate the legal system, but it will only help you to a small extent.”" Read more about Would You Trust a Lawyer Bot With Your Legal Needs?
The fallacy behind private surveillance cameras in San Francisco

Author(s):
Jen King
Publication Date:
August 9, 2020
Publication Type:
Other Writing
Recently The New York Times published an article about a San Francisco tech executive named Chris Larsen and his efforts to fund a private network of surveillance cameras around the city. Read more about The fallacy behind private surveillance cameras in San Francisco

Of Interest

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