July 2017 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Re: [nexa] Palantir: the ‘special ops’ tech giant that wields as much real-world power as Google

by Marco Ciurcina

In data lunedì 31 luglio 2017 20:44:06 CEST, Claudio Agosti ha scritto: > Effetto collaterale: i dati delle organizzazioni che usano palanthir sono > posseduti da palathir nel suo cloud "per ragioni tecniche" ti trovi a > cedere assetts a un sistema di data mininig i quali legami con la CIA non > sono manco nascosti. Una domanda ai penalisti in lista. Sulla base di questo presupposto, se il funzionario d'una pubblica amministrazione italiana (chesso': un funzionario di Equitalia) acquistasse da Palantir dei servizi (mettendo a rischio i dati dei cittadini italiani), si potrebbe configurare un reato? m.c.

July 31, 2017

Re: [nexa] Palantir: the ‘special ops’ tech giant that wields as much real-world power as Google

by Claudio Agosti

Vabè... Ho avuto l'impressione che sia native advertising di Palanthir all'interno di un libro, Del quale è stato fatto native advertising sul TheGuardian. Palanthir è potente, in cosa ? Quando gli dai i tuoi dati e usi il suo motore di analisi e visualizzazione. Ma il requisito è che tu conosca i tuoi dati. la maggior parte dell'articolo segue una narrativa di "grazie ai big data ed alla correlazione si possono trovare i patter nascosti". Che poi sarà pur vero che interpola l'OSINT con i dati che gli hai dati, ma trovare i pattern nascosti è una chimera in vendita dopo il primo motore di ricerca, e tecnologicamente non risolvibile. L'analogia con Minority Report serve solo a far rendere il libro meno serio. Ma, se guardi nella chiave promozionale, il mio messaggio scettico sulla ML di nexa ha un valore nullo, mentre una certa quantità di facoltosi executive nel mondo avrà letto quell'articolo e chiesto un preventivo. Effetto collaterale: i dati delle organizzazioni che usano palanthir sono posseduti da palathir nel suo cloud "per ragioni tecniche" ti trovi a cedere assetts a un sistema di data mininig i quali legami con la CIA non sono manco nascosti. On Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 8:51 AM, Alberto Cammozzo <ac+nexa(a)zeromx.net> wrote: > <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/palantir- > peter-thiel-cia-data-crime-police> > > Palantir, the CIA-backed startup, is Minority Report come true. It is > all-powerful, yet no one knows it even exists. Palantir does not have an > office, it has a “SCIF” on a back street in Palo Alto, California. SCIF > stands for “sensitive compartmentalised information facility”. Palantir > says its building “must be built to be resistant to attempts to access the > information within. The network must be ‘airgapped’ from the public > internet to prevent information leakage.” > ... > In 2004, Peter Thiel – the billionaire PayPal co-founder, Facebook > investor and and latter-day Trump ally – created Palantir alongside Nathan > Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen and Alex Karp. Their intention was to > create a company that took Big Data somewhere no one else dared to go. In > 2013, Karp, Palantir’s CEO, announced that the company would not be > pursuing an IPO, as going public would make “running a company like ours > very difficult”. This is why. > > Palantir watches everything you do and predicts what you will do next in > order to stop it. As of 2013, its client list included the CIA, the FBI, > the NSA, the Centre for Disease Control, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, > Special Operations Command, West Point and the IRS. Up to 50% of its > business is with the public sector. In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture arm, was an > early investor. > ... > Palantir does not just provide the Pentagon with a machine for global > surveillance and the data-efficient fighting of war, it runs Wall Street, > too. Palantir is exactly what it says it is: a giant digital eye like > Saruman’s seeing stone in The Lord of the Rings. > > On the streets of Chicago and Los Angeles, Palantir is getting closest to > Philip K Dick’s vision of the future, now. In the film, a premonition of an > Orwellian thought-police state, crime rates drop to zero as the pre-crime > unit successfully imprisons thousands of individuals for merely thinking of > committing a felony. > ... > One could argue that sophisticated pre-crime algorithms are not necessary > when being black and male is seen as reason enough for the police to swoop. > What predictive policing has done is militarise American cities, creating a > heightened culture of suspicion and fear in areas where tensions are > highest and policing is already most difficult. Officers being led to > certain neighbourhoods solely because of an algorithm is enough to cause > tension; enough to ignite a powder keg and push a delicate policing > situation over the edge. > ... > > > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa > > -- Claudio Agosti, https://facebook.tracking.exposed - https://twitter.com/_vecna PGP mail: claudio﹫tracking・exposed - key here https://keybase.io/vecna

July 31, 2017

Palantir: the ‘special ops’ tech giant that wields as much real-world power as Google

by Alberto Cammozzo

<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/palantir-peter-thiel-cia-data…> Palantir, the CIA-backed startup, is Minority Report come true. It is all-powerful, yet no one knows it even exists. Palantir does not have an office, it has a “SCIF” on a back street in Palo Alto, California. SCIF stands for “sensitive compartmentalised information facility”. Palantir says its building “must be built to be resistant to attempts to access the information within. The network must be ‘airgapped’ from the public internet to prevent information leakage.” ... In 2004, Peter Thiel – the billionaire PayPal co-founder, Facebook investor and and latter-day Trump ally – created Palantir alongside Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen and Alex Karp. Their intention was to create a company that took Big Data somewhere no one else dared to go. In 2013, Karp, Palantir’s CEO, announced that the company would not be pursuing an IPO, as going public would make “running a company like ours very difficult”. This is why. Palantir watches everything you do and predicts what you will do next in order to stop it. As of 2013, its client list included the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the Centre for Disease Control, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, Special Operations Command, West Point and the IRS. Up to 50% of its business is with the public sector. In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture arm, was an early investor. ... Palantir does not just provide the Pentagon with a machine for global surveillance and the data-efficient fighting of war, it runs Wall Street, too. Palantir is exactly what it says it is: a giant digital eye like Saruman’s seeing stone in The Lord of the Rings. On the streets of Chicago and Los Angeles, Palantir is getting closest to Philip K Dick’s vision of the future, now. In the film, a premonition of an Orwellian thought-police state, crime rates drop to zero as the pre-crime unit successfully imprisons thousands of individuals for merely thinking of committing a felony. ... One could argue that sophisticated pre-crime algorithms are not necessary when being black and male is seen as reason enough for the police to swoop. What predictive policing has done is militarise American cities, creating a heightened culture of suspicion and fear in areas where tensions are highest and policing is already most difficult. Officers being led to certain neighbourhoods solely because of an algorithm is enough to cause tension; enough to ignite a powder keg and push a delicate policing situation over the edge. ...

July 31, 2017

Germania: "Center for Advanced Internet Studies"

by J.C. DE MARTIN

In UK e Germania si moltiplicano i centri studi dedicati a Internet - l'ultimo di cui sono venuto a conoscenza è questo: *Center for Advanced Internet Studies* http://www.cais.nrw/ *Our goals* /The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) aims at playing an active role in the shaping of the rapid social, political and economic changes brought about by digitalization and is dedicated to promoting an ongoing dialogue between science and society.// // //CAIS sees itself as a place of innovative and interdisciplinary research and as an initiator of critical public debate among stakeholders who face the challenges and opportunities of digitalization and are committed to developing a normative framework for life in a digital society./ Ma noi italiani stiamo a posto con il pistacchio di Bronte e i ristoranti per turisti. juan carlos

July 31, 2017

Forum Innovazione di Roma Capitale

by Marco Scialdone

Ciao, spero che la notizia possa interessare i nexiani romani o che frequentano la Capitale. Come forse alcuni di voi già sanno, sono in corso le iscrizioni al Forum Innovazione di Roma Capitale (c'è tempo fino a venerdì 8 settembre 2017). Il Forum sarà il luogo di costruzione partecipata delle politiche in materia di innovazione nella convinzione che solo da un confronto continuo con i cittadini possano emergere le soluzioni migliori per rendere Roma una città più semplice e moderna. Il Forum lavorerà su singoli progetti, con tempi definiti e risultati verificabili. Qui tutte le informazioni per iscriversi: http://www.comune.roma.it/pcr/it/newsview.page?contentId=NEW1644084 ----- Avv. Marco Scialdone http://www.computerlaw.it Mobile: +393470830540

July 31, 2017

Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint

by Alberto Cammozzo

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/07/30/googles-new-pr…>; A prominent privacy rights watchdog is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate a new Google advertising program that ties consumers’ online behavior to their purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. The legal complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, to be filed with the FTC on Monday, alleges that Google is newly gaining access to a trove of highly sensitive information -- the credit and debit card purchase records of the majority of U.S. consumers -- without revealing how they got the information or giving consumers meaningful ways to opt out. Moreover, the group claims that the search giant is relying on a secretive technical method to protect the data -- a method that should be audited by outsiders and is likely vulnerable to hacks or other data breaches. “Google is seeking to extend its dominance from the online world to the real, offline world, and the FTC really needs to look at that,” said Marc Rotenberg, the organization’s executive director. Google called its advertising approach "common" and said it had "invested in building a new, custom encryption technology that ensures users' data remains private, secure and anonymous." The Washington Post detailed Google's program, Store Sales Measurement, in May. Executives have hailed it as a “revolutionary” breakthrough in advertisers’ abilities to track consumer behavior. The company said that, for the first time, it would be able to prove, with a high degree of confidence, that clicks on online ads led to purchases at the cash register of physical stores. To do this, Google said it had obtained access to the credit and debit card records of 70 percent of U.S. consumers. It had then developed a mathematical formula that would anonymize and encrypt the transaction data, and then automatically match the transactions to the millions of U.S. users of Google and Google-owned services such as Gmail, search, YouTube and maps. This approach prevents Google from accessing the credit or debit card data for individuals. But the company did not disclose the mathematical formula it uses to protect consumers' data. In a statement, Google said it had taken pains to build custom encryption technology that ensures the data the company receives remains private and anonymous. The privacy organization is asking the government not to take Google’s word for it and to review the algorithm itself. In its complaint, the organization said the mathematical technique that Store Sales Measurement is based on, CryptDB, has known security flaws. Researchers hacked into a CryptDB-protected health-care database in 2015, accessing more than 50 percent of the stored records. Google also would not disclose which companies were providing it with the transaction records. When asked if users had consented to having their credit and debit transactions shared, Google would not specifically say. The company replied it requires that its unnamed partners have “the rights necessary” to use this data. In its complaint, reviewed by The Washington Post, the privacy group alleges that if consumers don’t know how Google gets its purchase data, then they cannot make an informed decision about which cards not to use or where not to shop if they don’t want their purchases tracked. The organization points out that purchases can reveal medical conditions, religious beliefs and other intimate information. Google also told The Post that it does not have access to the names or other personal information of the credit and debit card users, and that it does not share any information about individual Google users with partners. Advertisers receive aggregate information. For example, for an ad campaign for sneakers that received 10,000 clicks, the advertiser learns that 12 percent of the clickers made a purchase. Users can opt out anytime, Google says. To do so, users of Google’s products can go to their My Activity Page, click on Activity Controls, and uncheck “Web and Web Activity,” Google says. The privacy group says the opt-out settings and the descriptions of what users are opting out of are confusing and opaque. The group says the company continues to store server and click data even when Web and App Activity is turned off, and that to opt out of everything requires a labyrinthine process of going to a number of third-party sites. Meanwhile, opting out of location-tracking requires going to a separate button and interface. None of the opt out descriptions specifically describes credit card data. ...

July 31, 2017

privacy @ linuxday2017

by Roberto Guido

Sabato 28 ottobre si svolgera' l'edizione 2017 del Linux Day, manifestazione nazionale per la promozione del software e della cultura libera. http://www.linuxday.it/ Quest'anno il tema di riferimento e' quello della privacy, spesso centrale nelle discussioni in transito su questa lista, e vorrei pertanto invitare gli esperti del settore ad auto-candidarsi per tenere un talk presso il Linux Day piu' vicino. Attraverso questo form http://www.linuxday.it/2017/candidati e' possibile segnalare la propria disponibilita' per la provincia desiderata, le informazioni saranno condivise con gli organizzatori delle istanze locali della manifestazione affinche' i candidati possano essere ricontattati. Grazie per la partecipazione ;-) -- Roberto Guido http://www.madbob.org/

July 27, 2017

Predatory Innovation: The Definite Need for Legal Recognition?

by Luigi Scorca

The main objective of this paper, in the first instance, is to portray the practices that can and should be condemned as predatory innovation. And in fact, most predatory innovation practices are currently addressed under the label of “technological tying.” https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2997586

July 26, 2017

Google Fights Against Canada's Order to Change Global Search Results

by Alberto Cammozzo

Ri-territorializzazione del diritto: una legge canadese che pretende vigenza globale potrebbe violare un diritto statunitense. <https://www.wired.com/story/google-fights-canada-order-global-search-results> In June, Canada's Supreme Court came down on Google—hard. It ruled that the tech giant must take down certain Google search results for pirated products. And not just in Canada, but globally. Now, Google is going south of the Canadian border to push back on this landmark court ruling. The tech giant filed an injunction Monday with the US District Court for Northern California, arguing that globally removing the search results violates US law, and thus Google should not be forced to comply with the Canadian ruling. “We’re taking this court action to defend the legal principle that one country shouldn’t be able to decide what information people in other countries can access online,” says David Price, senior product counsel at Google. “Undermining this core principle inevitably leads to a world where internet users are subject to the most restrictive content limitations from every country. ...

July 26, 2017

53° Nexa Lunch Seminar - 26 luglio 2017

by Nexa Media

*REMINDER*: vi ricordiamo che mercoledì 26 luglio 2017, dalle ore 13 alle ore 14, si svolgerà il 53° Nexa Lunch Seminar, con un incontro dal titolo: *"Tell Me Quality: uno strumento per misurare la qualità dei dati".* Ospite dell'incontro *Marco Berlot *(Politecnico di Torino). Ingresso libero, webcast live all'indirizzo: http://nexa.polito.it/upcoming-events. Maggiori informazioni sono disponibili all'indirizzo: *https://nexa.polito.it/lunch-53 <https://nexa.polito.it/lunch-53>* Cordiali saluti, Francesco Il giorno 17 luglio 2017 10:59, Nexa Media <media(a)nexa.polito.it> ha scritto: > Se non visualizzi correttamente questo messaggio clicca qui > <http://nexa.polito.it/lunch-53> > [image: NEXA] > > 53° Nexa Lunch Seminar > Mercoledi 26 luglio 2017, ore 13.00 - 14.00 > > Politecnico di Torino > > http://nexa.polito.it/lunch-53 > Tell Me Quality: uno strumento per misurare la qualità dei dati > > Speaker > Marco Berlot (Politecnico di Torino) > > This event will be webcast live: http://nexa.polito.it/upcoming-events > La qualità dei dati viene identificata come il grado con cui le > caratteristiche dei dati, utilizzate in condizioni specifiche, soddisfano > determinati requisiti. *Attualmente la qualità dei dati rappresenta un > problema per molti professionisti operanti in un ampio settore dei sistemi > d’informazione*. Fra questi, vi sono il data warehousing, la business > intelligence, la gestione delle relazioni con i clienti e la gestione della > catena di distribuzione. Uno studio aziendale ha stimato che il costo > totale per l’economia degli Stati Uniti legata ai problemi di qualità dati > superi i 600 miliardi di dollari l’anno (Eckerson, 2002). > Tell Me Quality è uno strumento che ha l’obbiettivo di misurare la qualità > di file contenenti dati secondo gli standard ISO/IEC 25024 e ISO/IEC 25012. *Il > risultato di queste misurazioni viene rappresentato con delle > visualizzazioni quantitative studiate appositamente per questo tipo di > software*. Il design del progetto è iniziato con Alessio Melandri, un > fellow del Centro Nexa su Internet e Società. La presentazione verterà > principalmente sullo sviluppo della parte front end del software e sullo > studio della visualizzazione quantitativa delle misure. Questi argomenti > verranno discussi da Marco Berlot, uno studente del Politecnico di Torino e > della Tongji University di Shanghai che ha svolto un tirocinio presso il > Centro Nexa. > > > *Ingresso libero - Saranno disponibili panini e bibite per coloro che si > saranno registrati su http://lunch53.eventbrite.com > <http://lunch53.eventbrite.com> entro il 24 luglio.* > > BIOGRAFIE - e informazioni supplementari > > [image: [BERLOT]] > > MARCO BERLOT è uno studente di ingegneria informatica iscritto al > programma di doppia Laurea tra il Politecnico di Torino e la Tongji > University di Shanghai. Nel 2017 ha svolto un tirocinio presso il centro > Nexa lavorando allo sviluppo del progetto Tell Me Quality. L’obbiettivo di > questo software è quello di misurare la qualità dei dati attraverso la > tecnologia dei Linked Data. Il suo lavoro si è concentrato prevalentemente > nel design del front end e sullo studio della visualizzazione quantitativa > delle misurazioni. > > Letture consigliate e link utili: > > - Data Quality: High-Impact Strategies - What You Need to Know: > Definitions, Adoptions, Impact, Benefits, Maturity. Kevin Roebuck, > Lightning Source, 2011. > - Systems and software engineering -- Systems and software Quality > Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE) -- Measurement of data quality > <https://www.iso.org/standard/35749.html>. > - Data on the Web Best Practices: Data Quality Vocabulary > <https://www.w3.org/TR/vocab-dqv/>. > - Visualizzazione dell'Informazione Quantitativa > <http://softeng.polito.it/courses/VIQ/>. > > > > > 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 mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa > >

July 24, 2017