October 2016 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Mason: "The battle over Uber and driverless cars is really a debate about the future of humanity"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

*The battle over Uber and driverless cars is really a debate about the future of humanity** * /Uber drivers were right to claim employment rights. // //But in a world where driverless cars may soon make them redundant, // //we face long-term dilemmas about the systems we choose// / Paul Mason […] Continua qui: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/31/paul-mason-driverless…

Oct. 31, 2016

Book Review: "Metric Power" by David Beer

by J.C. DE MARTIN

In *Metric Power*, David Beer examines the intensifying role that metrics play in our everyday lives, from healthcare provision to our interactions with friends and family, within the context of the so-termed data revolution. This is a book that illustrates our growing implication in, and arguable acquiescence to, an increasingly quantified world, but, *Thomas Christie Williams* asks, where do we locate resistance? *Metric Power. David Beer. Palgrave Macmillan. 2016. * My initial reaction to Metric Power was that, for an essay on the challenges of big data, there was remarkably little of it throughout the book. As David Beer shied away from drawn-out case studies, figures and concrete examples, I found myself getting more and more irritated. How could I trust what he was saying without evidence to back it up? But as I progressed, I realised that this is probably part of his point. As a ‘neoliberal subject’, Beer argues, people like me have a ‘cultural interest in numbers, and a culture that is shaped and populated with numbers’ (149). If something cannot be quantified, our trust and interest in it diminishes. There is indubitably more data in the world than there has ever been before. In my field, medicine, genomes are being sequenced at an exponential rate, and many institutions have legitimate concerns about where this data will be stored – indeed, some scientists are trying to store data in DNA itself. Companies like Apple and Google have moved into health metrics and are storing tens of thousands of physiological measurements about people who use their health apps. The entirety of Scotland’s computer-based medical records are being made accessible to researchers, who are using machine learning to try and decipher patterns in the relationship between demographics and disease. Can, or will, this data be used to increase our understanding of basic biological processes, improve health or reduce inequality? And is the metricisation of everyday life leading to changes in ways that we construct social values, live our everyday lives and even how we relate to our bodies? Beer would argue that it is, and he spends Metric Power dissecting the challenges that big data poses both methodologically to the social sciences and to us as individuals. Beer frames his analysis about the causes and effects of metric power around three key themes: ‘Measurement’, ‘Circulation’ and ‘Possibility’. In ‘Measurement’, we learn about the history of assessing social entities quantitatively. Beer argues that this mode of thinking shapes the social world, quoting Heidegger: ‘calculation refuses to let anything appear except what is calculable’ (235). ‘Circulation’ examines the processes by which metrics about social subjects circulate and a ‘social life of data’ is created. In ‘Possibility’, metrics are related to power, and how they are used to ‘maintain, strengthen, or justify new types of inequality, to define value or worth, and to make the selections central to affording visibility or invisibility’. […] Continua qui: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2016/10/27/book-review-metric-power…

Oct. 31, 2016

dopo due mesi Privacy shield già sotto attacco

by Alberto Cammozzo

<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-dataprotection-usa-idUSKCN12Q2JK> A widely expected legal challenge has been filed by an Irish privacy advocacy group to an EU-U.S. commercial data transfer pact underpinning billions of dollars of trade in digital services just two months after it came into force. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield was agreed earlier this year after the European Union's highest court struck down the previous Safe Harbour agreement over the transfer of Europeans' personal data to the United States, on concerns about intrusive U.S. surveillance. The new agreement gives businesses moving personal data across the Atlantic - from human resources information to people's browsing histories to hotel bookings - an easy way to do so without falling foul of tough EU data transferral rules. Digital Rights Ireland has challenged the adoption of the Privacy Shield pact by the EU executive in front of the second-highest EU court because it does not contain adequate privacy protections, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. []

Oct. 31, 2016

Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race

by Elia Gabriele

Dibattito che sta montando (alcune cose come questa sono proprio vietate dalla legge … a mio avviso è solo l’inizio, i dati di cui dispongono Facebook &C permettono un targeting non solo per razza … gabriele https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-lets-advertisers-exclude-users-… Imagine if, during the Jim Crow era, a newspaper offered advertisers the option of placing ads only in copies that went to white readers. That’s basically what Facebook is doing nowadays. The ubiquitous social network not only allows advertisers to target users by their interests or background, it also gives advertisers the ability to exclude specific groups it calls “Ethnic Affinities.” Ads that exclude people based on race, gender and other sensitive factors are prohibited by federal law in housing and employment. Yoni Appelbaum ‏@YAppelbaum <https://twitter.com/YAppelbaum> 28 ott<https://twitter.com/YAppelbaum/status/792075770743128064>Visualizza traduzione It’s not just housing—@propublica<https://twitter.com/ProPublica>’s investigation of racial discrimination on Facebook raises all sorts of questions http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/10/facebook-ad-discriminat… …<https://t.co/RJEfcnn38y> [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cv4EsJ_WAAAvb1I.jpg] [cid:image002.jpg@01D23246.9DC4DDF0] Questo messaggio e i suoi allegati sono indirizzati esclusivamente alle persone indicate. La diffusione, copia o qualsiasi altra azione derivante dalla conoscenza di queste informazioni sono rigorosamente vietate. Qualora abbiate ricevuto questo documento per errore siete cortesemente pregati di darne immediata comunicazione al mittente e di provvedere alla sua distruzione, Grazie. This e-mail and any attachments is confidential and may contain privileged information intended for the addressee(s) only. Dissemination, copying, printing or use by anybody else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this message and any attachments and advise the sender by return e-mail, Thanks. [rispetta l'ambiente]Rispetta l'ambiente. Non stampare questa mail se non è necessario.

Oct. 29, 2016

Big data and the "Metric Power"

by Alessandro Mantelero

Book Review: Metric Power by David Beer In Metric Power, David Beer examines the intensifying role that metrics play in our everyday lives, from healthcare provision to our interactions with friends and family, within the context of the so-termed data revolution. This is a book that illustrates our growing implication in, and arguable acquiescence to, an increasingly quantified world, but, Thomas Christie Williams asks, where do we locate resistance? http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2016/10/27/book-review-metric-power… -- Prof. Avv. Alessandro Mantelero Politecnico di Torino Nexa Center for Internet and Society | Director of Privacy Politecnico di Torino–Tongji University| Coordinator, Double Degree program in Management and IP Law Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology | Part-time Expert, School of Public Administration European Data Protection Law Review | Associate Editor http://staff.polito.it/alessandro.mantelero @mantelero EMAIL POLICY: once a day (Mon-Fri)

Oct. 29, 2016

Lettera del Working Party Art. 29 indirizzata a WhatsApp (sulle modifiche apportate ai Termini e alla Privacy Policy)

by Francesca Mauro

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/article-29/documentation/other-… BIRD & BIRD For information on the international legal practice comprising Bird & Bird LLP and its affiliated and associated businesses (together "Bird & Bird"), our offices, our members and partners, regulatory information, privacy, complaints procedure and the use of e-mail see www.twobirds.com/LN Any e-mail sent from Bird & Bird may contain information which is confidential and/or privileged. Unless you are the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or use it; please notify the sender immediately and delete it and any copies from your systems. You should protect your system from viruses etc.; we accept no responsibility for damage that may be caused by them. To the extent permitted by law, we may monitor electronic communications for the purposes of ensuring compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and internal policies. We may also collect email traffic headers for analysing patterns of network traffic and managing client relationships. For further information see www.twobirds.com/LNPrivacy For the terms on which we receive from, hold for or make available to a client or third party client money see www.twobirds.com/CM Studio Legale Bird & Bird Italy is a multidisciplinary partnership formed under Italian law with offices in Italy, Via Borgogna 8, 20122 Milan and Via Flaminia, 133 - 00196 Rome - Italy. The applicable professional regulations in the Codice deontologico forense are at www.consiglionazionaleforense.it/site/home/area-avvocati/codice-deontologic…

Oct. 28, 2016

Guardian: " Uber loses right to classify UK drivers as self-employed"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

Ma guarda un po'.... In perfetta controtendenza con chi pensa che "uberizzando" l'Italia si risolverebbero tutti i nostri problemi. juan carlos * Uber loses right to classify UK drivers as self-employed** * /Employment tribunal ruling states company must also pay national // //living wage with far-reaching implications for the gig economy// / […] Continua qui: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/28/uber-uk-tribunal-self-em…

Oct. 28, 2016

Bernie Hogan: "How Facebook divides us"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

The Times Literary Supplement * How Facebook divides us* BERNIE HOGAN This article is the first in a new series looking at the moral dimensions of modern life Facebook is the world’s largest and most powerful social network: membership is creeping up on 2 billion people. It’s been linked to some of the world’s most significant social movements of the past few years, from the Arab Spring to Black Lives Matter. When the Paris and Orlando shootings happened, like many people, I turned to Facebook to see if my friends were safe. Facebook does not merely host some data about our relationships, but operates for many as the de facto site for maintaining contact with friends and family. If Facebook is this important both in social and political life, does it then have an ethical responsibility to its users? It appears that the site already enshrines these responsibilities in its “core principles”, including the “freedom to share and connect”, “equality”, “social value” and “transparent process”. These are admirable goals; alas, they do not always hold up in practice. Facebook is currently creaking under the weight of these responsibilities because of two issues identified by social scientists: “collapsed contexts” and “filter bubbles”. The issue of collapsed context is the perennial problem of what to do about content that’s fit for one group but not another. This content could be as innocuous as party photos that mum and dad would not appreciate or as damaging as inadvertently outing gay men and women in repressive regimes. Facebook’s mantra of “open and connected” can sometimes work at cross purposes. By encouraging as much content to be shared as widely as possible, this pushes us to withhold information that might not appeal to a wide range of our friends. Facebook has clearly not solved this problem – instead it has effected a long series of changes to its privacy controls, with no end in sight. […] Continua qui: http://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/facebook-trump-brexit/

Oct. 28, 2016

91° Mercoledì di Nexa - 9 novembre 2016

by Francesco Ruggiero

Se non visualizzi correttamente questo messaggio clicca qui <http://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi-91> NEXA 91°mercoledì di Nexa Mercoledì 9 novembre 2016, ore 18.00 - 20.00 Politecnico di Torino http://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi-91 Il genio di Leibniz, tre secoli dopo? Speaker Ugo Pagallo (Università degli Studi di Torino) This event will be webcast live: http://nexa.polito.it/upcoming-events Grande filosofo e scienziato tedesco, *Gottfried Leibniz è stato forse il più lungimirante pensatore della modernità*, capace di affrontare in modo creativo temi cruciali della nostra epoca e di gettare le basi di programmi che, dalla costruzione dei primi elaboratori all'intelligenza artificiale, si sono realizzati solo tre secoli dopo. Filosofo, giurista e matematico, esperto di etica e di filosofia della scienza, inventore del calcolo infinitesimale e binario, fine disegnatore di monete e carrozze, artefice di mirabili macchine calcolatrici esposte a Londra, Parigi e Hannover,*sono pochi i campi del sapere in cui non si debba fare i conti con Leibniz*. In occasione del trecentesimo anniversario della sua morte, il Centro Nexa su Internet & Società intende omaggiare il pensiero di chi non solo è ancora in grado di sorprenderci ma di portarci al cuore delle questioni più spinose e cruciali della odierna società della informazione. BIOGRAFIE - e informazioni supplementari [PAGALLO] UGO PAGALLO è Professore ordinario di filosofia del diritto presso il Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza dell'Università di Torino, Faculty del CTLS di Londra e Faculty Fellow del Centro Nexa su Internet & Società. E' stato membro del gruppo di ricerca europeo RPAS Steering sui droni civili, del gruppo di esperti istituito dalla Commissione europea DG-INFSO per il progetto Onlife, del comitato etico del progetto Caper entro il settimo programma quadro di ricerca dell'UE, esperto valutatore dei programmi in robotica per Horizon 2020, e attualmente membro del comitato etico del progetto IMI-EMIF (European Medical Information Network). Autore di numerosi libri e importanti pubblicazioni nelle più prestigiose riviste internazionali dei settori della sua ricerca, dalla teoria delle reti alla robotica, dalla teoria generale del diritto all'etica dell'informazione, insieme ad istituti chiave del diritto delle nuove tecnologie come la privacy informazionale, il suo ultimo libro edito da Springer, The Laws of Robots, è in corso di traduzione in lingua giapponese. Letture consigliate e link utili: * Christian Calude (a cura di), /Randomness and Complexity. From Leibniz to Chaitin/, World Scientific Singapore 2007. * Martin Davis, /Il calcolatore universale. Da Leibniz a Gödel/, tr. it. Adelphi 2003. * Ugo Pagallo, /Introduzione alla filosofia digitale: da Leibniz a Chaitin/, Giappichelli 2005. * Ugo Pagallo, /Leibniz: Una breve biografia intellettuale/, Kluwer 2016. Che cosa sono il Centro Nexa e i cicli di incontri "Mercoledì di Nexa" e "Nexa Lunch Seminar" Il Centro Nexa su Internet & Società del Politecnico di Torino (Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica) è un centro di ricerca indipendente e interdisciplinare che studia Internet e il suo effetto sulla società. Maggiori informazioni all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/about. Durante i "*Mercoledì di Nexa*", che si tengono *ogni 2° mercoledì del mese* alle *ore 18 in punto*, il Centro Nexa su Internet e Società apre le sue porte non solo agli esperti e a tutti coloro i quali lavorano con Internet, ma anche a semplici appassionati e cittadini. Il ciclo di incontri intende approfondire, con un linguaggio preciso ma divulgativo, i temi legati alla Rete: motori di ricerca, Creative Commons, social networks, open source/software libero, neutralità della rete, libertà di espressione, privacy, file sharing, big e open data, smart cities e molto altro. Al centro di quasi tutti gli incontri un ospite pronto a dialogare con i direttori del Centro Nexa, il Prof. Juan Carlos De Martin del Politecnico di Torino e il Prof. Marco Ricolfi dell'Università di Torino, nonché lo staff e i Fellows del Centro Nexa. Maggiori informazioni sui Mercoledì di Nexa, incluso un elenco di tutti i "Mercoledì" passati, sono disponibili all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/mercoledi. Si segnala inoltre che dal maggio 2012 *ogni 4° mercoledì* del mese *dalle ore 13 alle ore 14* il Centro Nexa organizza anche i "*Nexa Lunch Seminar*". Una lista di tutti i "Lunch Seminar" passati è disponibile all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/lunch-seminars. See our events calendar <http://nexa.polito.it/events> if you're curious about future luncheons, discussions, lectures, and conferences not listed in this email. Our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Maggiori informazioni sui Mercoledì di Nexa e i Nexa Lunch Seminar, sono disponibili all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/events. Weekly Events Newsletter. Sign up <http://nexa.polito.it/mailing-lists> to receive this newsletter if this email was forwarded to you. To manage your subscription preferences, please click here <https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa>. Connect & get involved: Jobs, internships, and more <http://nexa.polito.it/get-involved> Nexa Center for Internet and Society Newsletter

Oct. 28, 2016

NYT: "Broadband Providers Will Need Permission to Collect Private Data"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

*Broadband Providers Will Need Permission to Collect Private Data* By CECILIA KANG OCT. 27, 2016 WASHINGTON — Federal officials approved broad new privacy rules on Thursday that prevent companies like AT&T and Comcast from collecting and giving out digital information about individuals — such as the websites they visited and the apps they used — in a move that creates landmark protections for internet users. By a 3-to-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission clearly took the side of consumers. The new rules require broadband providers to obtain permission from subscribers to gather and give out data on their web browsing, app use, location and financial information. Currently, broadband providers can track users unless those individuals tell them to stop. […] Continua qui: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/technology/fcc-tightens-privacy-rules-for…

Oct. 28, 2016