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A collection of 132 posts

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‘Unmasking AI’ and the Fight for Algorithmic Justice

A conversation with Dr. Joy Buolamwini. By Joy Buolamwini and Nabiha Syed for The Markup on November 18, 2023 https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2023/11/18/unmasking-ai-and-the-fight-for-algorithmic-justice

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Probe of school surveillance software finds privacy abuses, inaccurate results

An investigation into the educational technology company GoGuardian revealed the surveillance software used by schools across the country has routinely invaded students’ privacy and incorrectly flagged non-explicit content as harmful, according to an investigation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. GoGuardian is used to surveil about 27 million students in 11,

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Hacker accused of breaching Finnish psychotherapy center facing 30,000 counts

Finnish prosecutors have charged a hacker on more than 30,000 counts related to allegedly breaching a Helsinki-based private psychotherapy center. The charges include attempted extortion and spreading information that violates private life, according to a statement released this week by Finland’s National Prosecution Authority. Aleksanteri Kivimäki, 26, who

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EDPS Seminar on the CSAM Proposal: “The Point of No Return?”

On 23 October from 13:00 to 15:00 CET, the EDPS organises a seminar dedicated to the ongoing legislative works on the Commission’s Regulation Proposal on Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).The EDPS issued an own-initiative Opinion on two proposed directives on liability for defective products and on

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Survey of Current Universal Opt-Out Mechanisms

With contributions from Aaron Massey, FPF Senior Policy Analyst and Technologist, Keir Lamont, Director, and Tariq Yusuf, FPF Policy InternSeveral technologies can help individuals configure their devices to automatically opt out of web services’ requests to sell or share personal information for targeted advertising. Seven state privacy laws require that

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How tech corporations like Google, Meta and Amazon should assess impacts on our rights

A new policy paper by EDRi members ECNL and Access Now outlines key recommendations on how to make fundamental rights impact assessments meaningful under the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA). https://edri.org/our-work/how-tech-corporations-like-google-meta-and-amazon-should-assess-impacts-on-our-rights/

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Amnesty International says EU action fails to address spyware

A report from Amnesty International and the European Investigative Collaborations accuses the EU of being unable to effectively regulate spyware and surveillance technologies, according to Euractiv. The groups say the European Commission and the Council of the European Union do not enforce their own export laws and need to limit

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Zwarte mensen vaker niet herkend door antispieksoftware Proctorio

Gezichten van mensen met een zwarte huidskleur worden veel minder goed herkend door tentamensoftware Proctorio, blijkt uit onderzoek van RTL Nieuws. De software, die fraude moet herkennen, zoekt bij online tentamens naar het gezicht van een student. Dat zwarte gezichten beduidend slechter worden herkend, leidt tot discriminatie, zeggen deskundigen die

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23andMe scraping incident leaked data on 1.3 million users of Ashkenazi and Chinese descent

Genetic testing giant 23andMe confirmed that a data scraping incident resulted in hackers gaining access to sensitive user information and selling it on the dark web. The information of nearly 7 million 23andMe users was offered for sale on a cybercriminal forum this week. The information included origin estimation, phenotype,

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Snap AI chatbot scrutinized by UK watchdog over how it processes kids’ data

The British data privacy authority on Friday announced a preliminary enforcement notice against the American camera and social media company Snap Inc. for potentially failing to adequately assess the privacy threat posed by “My AI,” a generative AI chatbot embedded in its app. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which

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UK passport database to be used to identify suspects from CCTV footage

The facial images of more than 45 million people on Britain’s passport database will be used to identify suspects in criminal investigations, under new plans announced by the country’s crime and policing minister. Chris Philp, speaking at a sideline event during the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, said

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Event summary: Encryption in the age of surveillance

The EDRi-organised event on encryption, surveillance, and privacy brought together key policymakers, academics, activists and members of the press to build a better understanding of why encryption is important for people and democracy.                      Now more than ever, we need YOUR support to keep building a people-centered, democratic society. Help us

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Use of machine translation tools exposes already vulnerable asylum seekers to even more risks

The use of and reliance on machine translation tools in asylum seeking procedures has become increasingly common amongst government contractors and organisations working with refugees and migrants. This Guardian article highlights many of the issues documented by Respond Crisis Translation, a network of people who provide urgent interpretation services for

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Al Jazeera asks: Can AI eliminate human bias or does it perpetuate it?

In its online series of digital dilemmas, Al Jazeera takes a look at AI in relation to social inequities. Loyal readers of this newsletter will recognise many of the examples they touch on, like how Stable Diffusion exacerbates and amplifies racial and gender disparities or the Dutch childcare benefits scandal.

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Racist Technology in Action: Flagged as risky simply for requesting social assistance in Veenendaal, The Netherlands

This collaborative investigative effort by Spotlight Bureau, Lighthouse Reports and Follow the Money, dives into the story of a Moroccan-Dutch family in Veenendaal which was targeted for fraud by the Dutch government. The municipality, benefit agencies (UWV and SVB), the police and the Labour Inspectorate (and previously, the Tax and

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Czech police use facial recognition system, IuRe finds out details

EDRi member Iuridicum Remedium have details on the Czech police’s illegal use of a facial recognition system. The country’s data protection authorities were not consulted in advance on the system, which is being used for biometric identification https://edri.org/our-work/czech-police-use-facial-recognition-system-iure-finds-out-details/

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Polish Senate calls Pegasus illegal and demands scrutiny over secret services

The Senate of Poland concluded its investigation on the use of Pegasus by Polish secret services to spy on ia. opposition politicians and unapologetic public persons. They declared that Pegasus should be considered illegal in Poland and the secret services should be put under strict and independent scrutiny. Doubts also

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Potential loopholes in the AI Act could allow use of intrusive tech on ‘national security’ grounds

Both the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (COE) negotiations are considering excluding AI systems designed, developed and used for military purposes, matters of national defence and national security from the scope of their final regulatory frameworks. If this indeed happens, we will have a huge regulatory gap

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Does AI perpetuate human bias?

AI bias is not new. Rather it is a problem that is escalating as newer AI technologies are being deployed in various parts of our lives. Who does AI discriminate against and why? Dutch student Robin Pocornie tells us why she submitted a claim against her university using an AI

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Global civil society and experts statement: Stop facial recognition surveillance now

180 civil society groups and eminent experts are calling on governments to stop the use of facial recognition surveillance by police, authorities and private companies. https://edri.org/our-work/global-civil-society-and-experts-statement-stop-facial-recognition-surveillance-now/

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E-archive justice not in violation of AVG

Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court July 21, 2023, IT 4381; ECLI:NL:PHR:2023:823 (Complainant v. Courts) The E-archive is the internal database of Rechtspraak.nl and contains a selection of judgments that are not included in the database anonymously. The E-archive therefore contains personal data of, among

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Your Fitbit is useless – unless you consent to unlawful data sharing

Your Fitbit is useless – unless you consent to unlawful data sharing noyb filed three complaints against Fitbit. The health and fitness company forces new app users to consent to data transfers https://noyb.eu/en/your-fitbit-useless-unless-you-consent-unlawful-data-sharing

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Meta pledges to ask EU users for consent before showing behavioural ads

In a surprise announcement last Tuesday, Meta made the long overdue promise to finally ask its users for their consent before showing them behavioral ads – at least if they live in the European Union, EEA or Switzerland. https://edri.org/our-work/meta-pledges-to-ask-eu-users-for-consent-before-showing-behavioural-ads/

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Regulating Big Tech in Europe with the Digital Services Act & Digital Markets Act

The EU’s latest flagship laws Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) are in force, the regulatory structure is (slowly) being set up, the first Big Tech companies are suing in court, and the European Commission throws a party (yes, really). But what does this mean for

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Regulating Big Tech in Europe with the Digital Services Act & Digital Markets Act

The EU’s latest flagship laws Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) are in force, the regulatory structure is (slowly) being set up, the first Big Tech companies are suing in court, and the European Commission throws a party (yes, really). But what does this mean for