August 2018 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Deleting Your Online DNA Data Is Brutally Difficult

by Alberto Cammozzo

Visto l'accordo tra 23andMe e GSK (<https://www.wired.com/story/23andme-glaxosmithkline-pharma-deal/>), questo mi pare rilevante: <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-15/deleting-your-online-dna…> In the name of journalism, I have spit into a lot of test tubes. I’ve sent samples of my saliva to Ancestry and 23andMe Inc. <https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/8142214Z:US> to find out about my heritage <https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-heritage-and-probab-…>; mailed my spit to Helix for insight into my athletic ability <https://gizmodo.com/the-search-for-the-olympian-gene-1822975337>, diet and sleep patterns <https://gizmodo.com/i-tried-a-bunch-of-dna-tests-and-all-i-got-was-a-bunch-…>; and uploaded my DNA to the website of a startup that said it could craft a skin care routine <https://gizmodo.com/i-tried-a-dna-optimized-skin-care-routine-and-i-was-all…> genetically optimized to give me perfect skin. Overall, I’ve shared my genetic information with nearly a dozen companies. You might call me an oversharer. [] Recently, I started feeling uneasy about how freely my DNA**data flowed. So I decided to try to erase my DNA data footprint from all the websites and databases and laboratories in which it was stored. It turns out that isn’t so easy. When you send your DNA to consumer genetic-testing companies, the sample**typically is stripped of identifying details and sent to a third-party laboratory. There, DNA is extracted and purified from your saliva and analyzed. Then the anonymized**data is stored and the sample is stashed for future tests. Most companies’ privacy policies and terms of service assert the right to share data with business partners or law enforcement, if compelled. If you agree to take part in research, your information can be shared with groups involved in scientific studies. [...]

Aug. 8, 2018

The no-platforming of Infowars is a watershed moment for the information age

by Alberto Cammozzo

"So if we are indeed witnessing international erasure on the basis of political opportunism rather than a specified threshold of the rules being breached, we should all have cause for concern." <https://medium.com/@silkiecarlo/the-no-platforming-of-infowars-is-a-watersh…> Always the trend-setter, Apple’s decisive action against Infowars has led to an unprecedented domino effect. After Apple delisted podcast links from the right-wing media outlet, Spotify soon followed. Facebook made a decision to ‘unpublish’ Infowars’ pages hours later, before the group’s main home, YouTube, said it had ‘terminated’ the group’s channel, watched by 2.5 million subscribers. Hundreds of well-intentioned campaigners, commentators and even journalists are celebrating the public hanging of Infowars — but this style of execution benefits no one. The major internet platforms are increasingly society’s chief arbiters of free speech. Our conversations, relationships, businesses and democracies are increasingly mediated by a handful of global, for-profit companies. Those companies are within their rights to set their own rules about who can and cannot share information on their sites — but Facebook and YouTube have become de facto global information services. Of the world’s 3 billion internet users, 2.2 billion are active Facebook users and 1.8 billion have active YouTube accounts. When tech giants hold a monopoly on free speech online, that responsibility must be taken particularly seriously. But the way in which the tech giants have dealt with Infowars doesn’t appear to be serious at all. The industry-wide no-platforming appears to be a herd-like PR exercise rather than a regulatory one. Despite the prevalence of misogynistic, race-baiting and some frankly bonkers Infowars content, the removals were not in relation to specific posts or videos and the reasons given were generalised ones. Even Discus, Linkedin, Mailchimp and Pinterest have rushed in to the industry dog-pile. It may be that Infowars exceeded a prescribed number of strikes or warnings and therefore committed its own suicide — but it is vanishingly unlikely that Apple, Spotify, Facebook and YouTube, not to mention the others, all arrived at their own independent conclusions against Infowars at the same time purely by coincidence. So if we are indeed witnessing international erasure on the basis of political opportunism rather than a specified threshold of the rules being breached, we should all have cause for concern. It is vital that the tech companies inspire public trust and confidence in their judgements. They must take their responsibility to protect users from violent and unlawful content as seriously as their duty to uphold and promote free expression. Sensitive decisions about what is and is not permissible speech or information need to be made transparently and delivered honestly, objectively and equitably. The rules must be fair, and where they are breached, there should be clear, foreseeable consequences. [] For the tech giants to collectively erase Infowars with little explanation — despite the likely availability of multiple rule breaches, some of which I had reported myself — risks the appearance of arbitrary censorship, executed in concert. Surely the very worst way to convince conspiracy theorists that there is no conspiracy is for the world’s most powerful tech companies to simultaneously silence the most popular conspiracy theorist? We cannot unconditionally trust profit-driven tech companies to censor responsibly — public trust needs to be earned and procedural safeguards need to be instituted. Just last week, it emerged that YouTube’s parent company Google is building a Chinese state-approved news app and search engine <https://twitter.com/bbw1984/status/1024953410326614016> to deliver a highly censored world view to millions of citizens on behalf of the communist dictatorship. Complicity with a totalitarian regime to oppress a population would suggest that a regulatory system deserving of public trust is missing. []

Aug. 8, 2018

Re: [nexa] Amazon launches curbside pickup at Whole Foods stores

by Stefano Quintarelli

Epperò, come il Tigros vicino a casa mia! ;-) In data 8 agosto 2018 5:58:10 AM Luigi Scorca <luigi.scorca(a)gmail.com> ha scritto: > https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/amazon-launches-curbside-pick… > > > > ---------- > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa

Aug. 8, 2018

Facebook says efforts to subvert upcoming US elections resemble ‘new arms race’

by Alberto Cammozzo

Le nuove armi sono "memi" e il vettore sono i social, dove diffondere notizie scala bene, ma controllarle e rimuoverle non scala affatto. Se i SN globali vengono ritenuti responsabili dei contenuti che veicolano, sono al capolinea. Almeno con questo modello di business. <https://intelnews.org/2018/08/01/01-2367/> Facebook has said it is involved in an “arms race” against “bad actors” as it announced on Tuesday the removal of accounts that allegedly tried to subvert the upcoming mid-term elections in the United States. The social-media giant said its security division had identified <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-45018516> 32 profiles and pages that were set up for the sole purpose of disrupting, subverting or otherwise influencing the American political process. At least seven more accounts were shut down on the Instagram platform –which is also owned by Facebook– for the same reasons. In the past 14 months, the suspect accounts generated nearly 10,000 posts and were liked or followed by over 290,000 users, said Facebook. In addition to producing memes that aimed to stir existing racial, political and religious tensions in American society, the suspect accounts are also believed to have generated approximately 150 paid advertisements, spending around $11,000 for that purpose. Moreover, close to 30 public events were organized, advertised and hosted by the suspect pages throughout the US in the past 14 months. One such event was subscribed to by 4,700 users, with another 1,400 users stating that they would attend. In a preliminary report <https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/07/removing-bad-actors-on-facebook/> posted on its online newsroom, Facebook said it was too early in the investigation to identify the party or parties behind the alleged effort to influence the US mid-term elections. Its security team had detected “one instance” of a connection between this latest operation and the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA), which Facebook identified as being one of the main sources behind efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential elections. But the report cautioned that the instigators of this latest attempt to influence the US political process had gone to great pains to hide their identities, affiliations and geographical coordinates. For instance, they routinely employed virtual private networks in order to disguise their internet protocol addresses. They also used third parties to purchase advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. These and many other tactics severely limited the ability of security technicians to attribute these efforts to specific countries, governments or companies, said Facebook. Using unusually strong language to describe its ongoing probe, Facebook said that the exploitation of its platform for sinister political purposes resembled “an arms race” and that constantly changing tactics were needed to combat it. In addition to removing the suspect accounts, Facebook said it was working closer with law enforcement and leading online security firms in order to analyze and eliminate threats from what it described as “bad actors”. It added that it was “investing heavily” in more people and better technology in order to eliminate those who were trying to weaponize its communication platform for sinister goals

Aug. 8, 2018

Amazon launches curbside pickup at Whole Foods stores

by Luigi Scorca

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/amazon-launches-curbside-pick…

Aug. 8, 2018

4 Powerful Ways Artificial Intelligence is Molding E-Commerce

by Luigi Scorca

https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiv…

Aug. 7, 2018

The Holocaust and the General Data Protection Regulation

by Guido Noto La Diega

Car* Collegh* NINSO The Northumbria Internet & Society Research Group vi invita a partecipare ad una lectio su “*Holocaust and the GDPR: The Duty to Remember v The Right to be Forgotten*”. Il relatore, il giurista israeliano *Arye Schreiber*, parlera' dei problemi che il c.d. Right to be Forgotten pone alla ricerca sulla Shoah. Secondo Schreiber, il GDPR rischia di costituire un serio ostacolo alla prevenzione degli abusi di diritti umani*.* I *discussants* sono il Prof. Tom Lawson, storico della Shoah, e piu' modestamente il sottoscritto. Spero possiate essere dei nostri l'8 Ottobre 2018 alle 12 presso la Facolta' di Business and Law della Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne (room CCE1 – 213). Potete registrarvi all'indirizzo https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ e/holocaust-and-the-gdpr-the-duty-to-remember-v-the-right- to-be-forgotten-tickets-47473991988. Cordialmente, Guido Dr Guido Noto La Diega Senior Lecturer / European Research Partnerships Coordinator @ Northumbria Law School Director @italiot | Fellow @nexacenter | Co-convenor @NINSOrig | Founder @DPA2018 Northumbria Law School City Campus East, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST noto.la.diega(a)gmail.com +44(0)191 349 5562 You can access my papers on Academia.edu <http://northumbria.academia.edu/GuidoNotoLaDiega> and on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1794950>) This e-mail and any attachment hereto are strictly confidential and are exclusively intended for the person above identified. Without intended recipient’s entitlement, use, copy and dissemination of this e-mail is prohibited. If you have received it in error, please advice us immediately by telephone and return the documents received to the above address, deleting the files. Thank you. Unless necessary, please do not print this e-mail.

Aug. 3, 2018

Prison and Communications

by Davide Brunello

Buongiorno, E’ la prima volta che condivido un contenuto su questa Newsletter, ma leggendo questo articolo non ho potuto fare a meno di pensare che ci siano ancora moltissimi ambiti nello sviluppo di mezzi tecnologici che rimangono incontrollati, dove sembra che il profitto sia il principale obiettivo. Nella speranza di non trattare argomento già affrontato, confido che sia scoperta di interesse e di sprone a mantenere uno sguardo sempre vigile sulle nuove applicazioni di strumenti tecnologici. https://www.wired.com/story/jpay-securus-prison-email-charging-millions/ Saluti, Davide Brunello.

Aug. 3, 2018

The Web is still a DARPA weapon.

by Giacomo Tesio

Salve, vi propongo questa breve analisi storico politica di due gravi vulnerabilità tecniche "nascoste in piena vista" nel Web 2.0. https://medium.com/@giacomo_59737/the-web-is-still-a- darpa-weapon-31e3c3b032b8 La più interessante permette a chiunque controlli una CDN (ad esempio Google CDN o Amazon CloudFront) e sia in grado di profilare gli utenti con adeguata precisione, di introdurre surrettiziamente materiale illegale sul PC (nella cache del browser, per la precisione) di persone specifiche o piccoli gruppi, senza lasciare tracce e senza destare sospetti nel resto della popolazione. L'attacco in realtà è piuttosto semplice ed è disponibile anche a governi e persino piccole aziende purché dispongano di informazioni sufficienti per identificare gli obbiettivi durante la loro visita al sito. Una CDN, tuttavia, ha la possibilità di far veicolare l'attacco a siti di terzi (di cui le vittime si fidano), ha una maggiore probabilità di passare inosservata ed è semplicemente meno sospetta, garantendosi una perfetta "plausible deniability". Il trucco è semplicemente modificare uno dei javascript inviati al browser delle vittime (senza modificarne la dimensione, cosa piuttosto semplice vista la presenza di header di copyright etc nei JS minimizzati dei framework maggiormente utilizzati) servendoli con header HTTP Expire e Cache control appropriati. Tale JS scarica il contenuto illegale solo nella cache (ad esempio attraverso una immagine trasparente molto piccola aggiunta dallo script stesso al DOM), poi rimuove le tracce e riscarica se stesso dalla CDN nella versione pulita, sovrascrivendo il file in cache. Una analisi forense del disco del pc troverebbe facilmente il contenuto illegale nella cache dell'utente (immaginiamo un documento rubato.. o peggio), ma nessuna traccia dell'attacco, attribuendo il documento alla vittima ignara. In realtà l'attacco non è descritto in questo dettaglio nell'articolo perché è piuttosto ovvio, ma credo possa essere di maggiore interesse qui per comprendere la portata politica del problema. L'altra vulnerabilità è piuttosto di natura geopolitica, ma credo sia ben nota in questa mailing list. Spero possa essere una lettura interessante e vi prego di segnalarmi eventuali approfondimenti ed errori tecnici, storici (molti degli eventi citati sono avvenuti prima che io nascessi) o grammaticali... :-) A presto! Giacomo

Aug. 1, 2018

Re: [nexa] R: Report su Blockchain Innovation in Europe

by athos gualazzi

< https://www.eublockchainforum.eu/sites/default/files/reports/20180727_repor… > Il giorno mer 1 ago 2018 alle ore 18:12 Marco Ricolfi < marco.ricolfi(a)studiotosetto.it> ha scritto: > Copia e incolla tutto, non solo la prima parte della stringa > > > > *Da:* nexa [mailto:nexa-bounces@server-nexa.polito.it] *Per conto di *Vincenzo > Mario Bruno Giorgino > *Inviato:* mercoledì 1 agosto 2018 17:54 > *A:* Marco Ciurcina > *Cc:* Nexa > *Oggetto:* Re: [nexa] Report su Blockchain Innovation in Europe > > > > Page not found? > > > > Il Mer 1 Ago 2018, 16:13 Marco Ciurcina <ciurcina(a)studiolegale.it> ha > scritto: > > Per chi è interessato > https://www.eublockchainforum.eu/sites/default/files/reports/ > 20180727_report_innovation_in_europe_light.pdf > m.c. > > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa > > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa > -- Athos Gualazzi Partito Pirata http://www.partito-pirata.it/ http://www.primalepersone.eu http://www.altraitalia.it http://www.piratpartiet.it http://www.piratpartiet.it/mediawiki/ https://forum.partito-pirata.it http://www.altrarovereto.it

Aug. 1, 2018