February 2019 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

This week an EU ‘Big Brother’ administration became almost inevitable

by Alberto Cammozzo

This week an EU ‘Big Brother’ administration became almost inevitable <https://www.shoeman.eu/this-week-eu-big-brother-administration/> [...] the EU Council quietly announced this week that it has reached preliminary agreement with the European Parliament on interoperable information systems in justice and home affairs. The very blandness of the Council’s press release hides the importance of the agreement reached. The focus is of course the perennial security threat – the intention is to detect potential terrorists. The Romanian Council Presidency said today, “To make sure we detect those who pose a security threat or who are lying about their identity, competent authorities carrying out checks need to have a full picture of the person in front of them.” What will this mean in practice? More comprehensive datasets on individuals will provide EU border-control officials with a detailed picture of each individual stood in front of them at an EU border. The rationale presented by the EU Council and Commission is that this interoperability meets the threats from terrorism and migration and will only affect non-EU nationals. So all well and good, you might think. As we travel within the European Union, we can be reassured that law-enforcement authorities are delivering on their duty to ensure the safety of EU citizens. But, and it is a big but, the Council and the Security Commissioner have made clear that any new centralised database will include all new and existing databases. So the contents of the EU PNR (Passenger Name Record) will be incorporated, as will those of the Prüm database (DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registrations of EU nationals). In effect, the new datasets will apply to EU citizens as well as those from other countries. But this is unavoidable, you might say. Maybe, but is it really the sign of a healthy democracy to make every detail of each individual’s life and liberties available to every border control official? As far as I can tell, there are no ‘layered rights’ of access to knowledge contained within these future datasets, which means every lowly customs official or border-force officer will know everything about you. It is kind of difficult to have an interesting or enjoyable life, when you consider that every incident and mistake made when you were in your teens or twenties will be available for just about everyone with any kind of official access to data, right up until the time you die. Really makes a mockery of the concept of personal privacy. [...] Press release UE: <http://statewatch.org/news/2019/feb/eu-trilogue-bb-policing-borders-migrati…>

Feb. 19, 2019

Facebook labelled 'digital gangsters' by report on fake news / Facebook is out of control and politicians have no idea what to do

by Alberto Cammozzo

Facebook labelled 'digital gangsters' by report on fake news <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/18/facebook-fake-news-inves…> Company broke privacy and competition law and should be regulated urgently, say MPs Facebook deliberately broke privacy and competition law and should urgently be subject to statutory regulation, according to a devastating parliamentary report denouncing the company and its executives as “digital gangsters”. The final report of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee’s 18-month investigation into disinformation and fake news accused Facebook of purposefully obstructing its inquiry and failing to tackle attempts by Russia to manipulate elections. “Democracy is at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens with disinformation and personalised ‘dark adverts’ from unidentifiable sources, delivered through the major social media platforms we use every day,” warned the committee’s chairman, Damian Collins. The report: Accuses Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive, of contempt for parliament in refusing three separate demands for him to give evidence, instead sending junior employees unable to answer the committee’s questions. Warns British electoral law is unfit for purpose and vulnerable to interference by hostile foreign actors, including agents of the Russian government attempting to discredit democracy. Calls on the British government to establish an independent investigation into “foreign influence, disinformation, funding, voter manipulation and the sharing of data” in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the 2016 EU referendum and the 2017 general election. Labour moved quickly to endorse the committee’s findings, with the party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, announcing: “Labour agrees with the committee’s ultimate conclusion – the era of self-regulation for tech companies must end immediately. “We need new independent regulation with a tough powers and sanctions regime to curb the worst excesses of surveillance capitalism and the forces trying to use technology to subvert our democracy.” [...] Facebook is out of control and politicians have no idea what to do <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/18/facebook-powerful-pol…> Death threats, bullying, mental torture, privacy invasion, election rigging, fake news, monopoly abuse: as was said of a medieval pope, this is merely to suppress more serious charges. It is hard to recall the social media of 15 years ago and its offer of universal love, democracy and global peace. Britain’s parliament has finally caught up, and today’s Commons report is at least unequivocal. A menace stalks the land, and must be curbed. Some of the report’s accusations are astonishing. Facebook “purposefully obstructed” the committee. Its boss, Mark Zuckerberg, who “continues to choose profit over data security,” held parliament in contempt. His rambling empire is portrayed as lying, thieving “digital gangsterism”. Yet British electoral law is puny. It is “unfit for purpose,” leaving elections “vulnerable to foreign influence, disinformation and voter manipulation”. Not a week passes without evidence that cybersecurity is inadequate and public services have been left vulnerable to hacking. So far, so familiar, as are the report’s proposals: the usual comfort blankets of a code of ethics, an independent regulator and “more transparency”. We have sought them for a decade and still not found them. The real question is, why not? What are the pressures, who are the lobbyists, why the inertia? As over Brexit, parliament is fine at demolition, hopeless at construction. The spirit fails at the door marked Something Must Be Done. [...] Il rapporto finale del parlamento britannico: <https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/1791/1791.…>

Feb. 18, 2019

Re: [nexa] This is how Google will collapse – Hacker Noon

by David Orban

Qualche giorno fa stavo rivedendo le illustrazioni per l'edizione spagnola del mio libro Singolarità [1] e ho potuto toccare con mano la rapidità del cambiamento. L'edizione del 2015, parlando di interfacce conversazionali aveva questa immagine: [image: 7 - Digital Assistant.png] Allora Google Now (adesso Google Assistant) e Cortana di Microsoft sembravano contendenti importanti. Se chiedevamo ad Apple, Google o Microsoft, chi sarebbe stato il leader di questo importante mercato emergente, nessuno di loro avrebbe detto Amazon! [2] Siamo pronti a chiederci non solo quale cambiamento provocherà un'eventuale perdita di leadership di Google, ma quale sarà quello subito da Amazon? [1] In Italia pubblicato da Hoepli https://www.hoepli.it/libro/singolarit/9788820370459.html [2] Ho aggiornato l'illustrazione, con nuovi loghi ed elencando Siri, Google Assistant e Alexa. David Orban "What is the question that I should be asking?" twitter, linkedin, etc: davidorban http://davidorban.com ᐧ On Mon, Feb 18, 2019 at 8:24 PM J.C. DE MARTIN <demartin(a)polito.it> wrote: > > https://hackernoon.com/how-google-collapsed-b6ffa82198ee > > > (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any)) > _______________________________________________ > nexa mailing list > nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa >

Feb. 18, 2019

This is how Google will collapse – Hacker Noon

by J.C. DE MARTIN

https://hackernoon.com/how-google-collapsed-b6ffa82198ee (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

Feb. 18, 2019

Open Data Day 2019 | 2 marzo 2019, Torino

by Francesco Ruggiero

Carissimi, vi segnalo che l'edizione torinese dell'*Open Data Day* *2019* si svolgerà il *2 marzo* dalle ore 09.30 alle ore 17.00, presso la sede di *Rinascimenti Sociali,* in via Maria Vittoria 38. *Open Data Day 2019 – Come monitorare i flussi dei soldi pubblici *è un’iniziativa organizzata da *Synapta* in collaborazione con *SocialFare* e il *Centro Nexa.* Nata per promuovere la trasparenza e dare ai cittadini la possibilità di capire qual è il ciclo di vita degli Open Government Data: come vengono generati e distribuiti, quali sono e a quali domande rispondono i diversi sistemi che ne consentono la fruizione. Ingresso libero fino a esaurimento posti. Sarà disponibile un piccolo rinfresco per tutti coloro che si registreranno all’indirizzo: https://bit.ly/2SuE6ZR Cordiali saluti, Francesco -- Francesco Ruggiero Communication Manager Nexa Center for Internet & Society Politecnico di Torino - DAUIN Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24 - 10129 Torino web: http://nexa.polito.it mail: francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it tel: 011 090 7219

Feb. 18, 2019

67° Nexa Lunch Seminar | 27 febbraio 2019

by Nexa Media

Nexa Center for Internet and Society Newsletter Se non visualizzi correttamente questo messaggio clicca qui <http://nexa.polito.it/lunch-67> NEXA 67° Nexa Lunch Seminar Mercoledi 27 febbraio 2019, ore 13.00 - 14.00 Politecnico di Torino http://nexa.polito.it/lunch-67 Follow the thing: li-ion battery Speaker Alberto Valz Gris (FULL - Politecnico di Torino) This event will be webcast live: https://nexa.polito.it/nexa-hangout-on-air Li-ion batteries are constructed through a complex production network spanning a significant portion of the planet. From raw materials extraction across the Southern hemisphere to cell production in the Northern one, their geographies mobilise urban theory well beyond its conventional site: cities. Through a multi-sited and relational research practice, the project aims at articulating *the role of production networks and emerging technologies in unequal processes of urbanisation at the planetary scale*. The talk will focus on broadly quantitative data describing the planetary scenario of the li-ion commodity chain as well as more detailed empirical data collected through the first of a series of mobile ethnographies across the Chilean-Argentinian lithium-rich Atacama plateau. /Ingresso libero - Sarà disponibile un leggero rinfresco per coloro che si saranno registrati su http://lunch67.eventbrite.com entro il 25 febbraio./ BIOGRAFIE - e informazioni supplementari [VAlzGris] *Alberto VALZ GRIS* is a PhD candidate in urban geography at the Polytechnic University of Turin and part of the Future Urban Legacy Lab <http://urbanlegacylab.net/>. His doctoral research focuses on emerging processes urbanisation at the planetary scale through global production networks and the automation of labour. Letture consigliate e link utili: * Merchant, B. (2017) /The One Device/. London: Bantam Press. * Frankel, T. & Whoriskey, P. (2016, December 19)/Tossed Aside in the 'White Gold' Rush/ <https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/batteries/tossed-aside-in-…>. The Washington Post. * JCook, I., Evans, J., Griffiths, H., Morris, R., & Wrathmell, S. (2007). /It’s more than just what it is’: Defetishising commodities, expanding fields, mobilising change…./ Geoforum, 38(6), 1113-1126. * Marcus, G. E. (1995)./Ethnography in/of the world system: The emergence of multi-sited ethnography/. "Annual review of anthropology", 24(1), 95-117. * Roy, A. (2009). /The 21st-century metropolis: new geographies of theory/. "Regional Studies". 43(6), 819-830. * Brenner, N. (2014)./Implosions/explosions. Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanization/. Berlin: Jovis. Che cosa sono il Centro Nexa e i cicli di incontri “Mercoledì di Nexa” e “Nexa Lunch Seminar” #lunch67 <https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23lunch67&src=typd> #urbanisation <https://twitter.com/hashtag/urbanisation?src=hash> #lionbattery <https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23lionbattery&src=typd> 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. Responsabile Comunicazione Centro Nexa su Internet & Società: *Francesco Ruggiero*, tel: +39 011 090 7219, Mob: +39 349 1335082, francesco.ruggiero(a)polito.it <mailto:francesco.ruggiero@polito.it>. 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>.

Feb. 18, 2019

Machines are not our masters – but the sinister side of AI demands a smart response | Will Hutton | Opinion | The Guardian

by Alberto Cammozzo

<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/17/machines-not-our-mast…> [...] Last week, OpenAI, a US-based nonprofit organisation, decided that its new AI model, GPT2, is so good at generating articles from just a few words and phrases that the model could be not be released until OpenAI better understood how it might be used. GPT2’s database is so sophisticated and its algorithms so smart that it has gone far beyond text prediction to writing readable and plausible text. The good news is that this means that computers, for example, could speed-read articles on our behalf, summarise them and answer our questions. Those chatbots that come to your aid when you are lost on some website could become really helpful. If you wear a watch that monitors your health, GPT2 could spell out warnings and diagnoses quickly in plain English. Interesting books in foreign languages will be translated more effectively. The bad news is that in the wrong hands the likes of GPT2 could flood every social media site on a grand scale with fake news or troubling comment. In one test carried out by the US news and technology network the Verge, which was given access to GPT2, a text prompt such as “Jews control the media” led to the following: “They control the universities. They control the world economy. How is this done? Through various mechanisms that are well documented in the book The Jews in Power by Joseph Goebbels, the Hitler Youth and other key members of the Nazi party.” [...]

Feb. 17, 2019

Come (e con chi) Trump sta spostando gli Stati Uniti verso un sistema basato sull'Intelligenza artificiale - Startmag

by J.C. DE MARTIN

https://www.startmag.it/mondo/trump-stati-uniti-intelligenza-artificiale/ (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

Feb. 16, 2019

Revealed: Facebook enables ads to target users interested in 'vaccine controversies'

by Alberto Cammozzo

<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/15/facebook-anti-vaccinatio…> Facebook enables advertisers to promote content to nearly 900,000 people interested in “vaccine controversies”, the Guardian has found. Other groups of people that advertisers can pay to reach on Facebook include those interested in “Dr Tenpenny on Vaccines”, which refers to anti-vaccine activist Sherri Tenpenny, and “informed consent”, which is language that anti-vaccine propagandists have adopted to fight vaccination laws. Facebook’s self-serve advertising platform allows users to pay to promote posts to finely tuned subsets of its 2.3 billion users, based on thousands of characteristics, including age, location, gender, occupation and interests. In some cases, users self-identify their interests, but in other cases, Facebook creates categories based on users’ online activity. In 2017, after a controversy involving antisemitic interest categories, Facebook vowed to build “new guardrails” on its targeting categories. Facebook is already facing pressure to stop promoting anti-vaccine propaganda to users amid global concern over vaccine hesitancy and a measles outbreak in the Pacific north-west. Facebook under pressure to halt rise of anti-vaccination groups On Thursday, California congressman Adam Schiff, the chair of the House intelligence committee, cited the Guardian’s reporting on anti-vaccine propaganda on Facebook and YouTube in letters to Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai urging them to take more responsibility for health-related misinformation on their platforms. [...]

Feb. 16, 2019

Quante persone micro-lavorano?

by Antonio Casilli

Carissim*, con il sindacato Force Ouvrière e il consultivo del governo France Stratégie, dirigo il progetto DiPLab (Digital Platform Labor) che studia i legami tra micro-lavoro e intelligenza artificiale. Abbiamo appena pubblicato un working paper che propone una stima del numero di "operai del clic" in Francia. Si intitola "How many people microwork in France? Estimating the size of a new labor force" e lo trovate qui in inglese: https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.03889 E per quell* che hanno poco tempo e leggono il francese, c'è un riassunto appena uscito su Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2019/02/15/jobs-du-clic-la-france-com… Al di là dei risultati (266 000 micro-lavorator•rici, ovvero 10 volte più dei dipendenti di Uber), vi potrebbero interessare i metodi che abbiamo sviluppato, che possono applicarsi anche a altre popolazioni difficili da stimare (riders, moderatori, gig-workers, etc). Cheers, Antonio -- Antonio A. Casilli Associate Professor (HDR), Telecom ParisTech Member, Interdisciplinary Institute for Innovation (i3 UMR 9217 CNRS) Associate Member, LACI-IIAC (EHESS) Faculty Fellow, Nexa Center for Internet & Society

Feb. 15, 2019