April 2019 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Statement of the FinTech Council concerning the blockchain strategy of the German government in the context of public consultations
by Giacomo April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019

https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/EN/Downloads/2019-04-17-stat… Bitcoin is now ten years old and illustrates the potential, the successes and the problems of new blockchain technologies and DLT. It is problematic for the existing legal and economic system that this technology eludes regulatory intervention by operating on a distributed, dynamic and transnational basis. The idea of using the rules technically coded into the system as an absolute reference point instead of a legal framework appears attractive at first glance but is highly problematic. Every logical system is incomplete, as has been demonstrated using formal proofs (e.g. Gödel’s incompleteness theorem). This could also be true for DLT systems. The example of “The DAO” clearly shows that not all cases can be considered in advance and that errors exist in the system. However these systems do not provide for dealing with these cases or eliminating errors. In a way, the technical system resists a legal arrangement or correction and undermines the sovereignty of the legal system, in that users participate anonymously in a system without owner or operator. In this respect, this new technology disrupts the foundations of the existing economic and legal system. The question is whether, in the course of technological progress , the further development of operator-less blockchain technology, can create the possibilities of intervening in the technology which is necessary for the legal system, or whether the conflict between the legal system and the technical systems remains unresolved. In any case, the question arises regarding which system can prevail over the other. Morally, human sovereignty over the technical system is to be demanded; in practical terms, it remains to be seen which allegiances will form and whether humans are ready to prefer technical malfunctions to human misjudgments. At present, many societies seem to be more inclined to put their faith in technology.

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Implications of Quantum Computing for Encryption Policy - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
by Alberto Cammozzo April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019

<https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/04/25/implications-of-quantum-computing-…> [...] The security of encryption systems relies on the use of operations that can be done quickly by someone who knows a secret key but requires vastly more time for someone who does not know it. An encryption algorithm typically has an adjustable key size, and the algorithm is designed so that a modest increase in the key size causes a modest increase in decryption time for those who know the key, but a massive increase in decryption time for those who don’t know it. This ensures that the key size can be made large enough so that decryption becomes massively, prohibitively expensive for those who do not know the key, but remains very practical for keyholders. The security of a cryptographic algorithm depends on maintaining a very large gap between the effect of a key size increase on those that know the key versus those that do not know it. Decryption without knowing the key amounts, in practice, to a kind of brute-force search: it requires searching an extremely large space of possible secret keys, trying different keys in turn until finding one that unlocks the encrypted data. On a classical computer, the expected time required to do this is proportional to the number of possible keys that exist—the searcher must try half of the possible keys to have a fifty-fifty chance of trying the correct one. The effect of quantum computing on the security of an encryption algorithm depends on how large of an effect quantum computing will have on the time required for nonkeyholders to find the secret key. Encryption Algorithms That Quantum Will Thoroughly Compromise For some encryption algorithms, quantum computing might allow those without the key to sidestep entirely the need to do brute-force search by, for example, enabling a key extraction algorithm that can find the decryption key directly without a blind search. For instance, the popular Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) encryption algorithm relies on the assumption that factoring a large number is very difficult. In RSA, the secret key is essentially a pair of large prime numbers, P and Q. The product of multiplying P and Q is published, but it is assumed that an adversary who knows the product of P and Q cannot derive the factors P and Q from that product except by a variant of brute-force search. Factoring appears to be very time-consuming for classical computers, but a quantum computer could quickly extract the factors P and Q by using a method called Shor’s Algorithm. In a world with large quantum computers, RSA would not be secure because someone without the key who knows the publicly available product of P and Q could quickly recover the secret key. Encryption Algorithms That Can Be Kept Secure By Increasing Key Size Other encryption algorithms are not prone to being defeated so thoroughly by a method like Shor’s Algorithm. For these methods, quantum computing is not a fatal threat, because an adversary must still engage in brute-force search. But there is a quantum shortcut, called Grover’s Algorithm, that can speed up any brute-force search substantially, allowing a space of a given size to be searched in an amount of time proportional to the square root of that size. This approach would be enough to defeat many encryption methods if they are not adjusted. In this case, it is possible to compensate for the effect of quantum computing by increasing the key size, expanding the space that must be searched by brute force, so as to counteract the effect of Grover’s Algorithm. For many encryption algorithms, doubling the key size, say from 128 bits to 256 bits, has the effect of squaring the size of the key space that someone without the key would have to search. This countermeasure exactly offsets the square-root effect of Grover’s Algorithm, restoring the security level of the pre-quantum algorithm. One consequence is that data that was encrypted before the emergence of viable quantum computing—with the original smaller key size—will become susceptible to decryption when quantum computing does become available, but data encrypted with the larger quantum-safe key size will continue to be secure. (Like classical computers, quantum computers would be expected to get faster over time, necessitating the same kinds of generational increases in key size that have been necessary in the pre-quantum computing era.) [...]

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The Tech Industry’s Psychological War on Kids – Richard Freed – Medium
by J.C. DE MARTIN April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019

https://medium.com/@richardnfreed/the-tech-industrys-psychological-war-on-k… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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Bundeskartellamt - Homepage - Bundeskartellamt prohibits Facebook from combining user data from different sources
by J.C. DE MARTIN April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019

https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/20… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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Skip the Surveillance By Opting Out of Face Recognition At Airports
by gianluca quaglia April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019

By Jason Kelley April 24, 2019 Government agencies and airlines have ignored years of warnings from privacy groups and Senators that using face recognition technology on travelers would massively violate their privacy. Now, the passengers are in revolt as well, and they’re demanding answers. Last week, a lengthy exchange on Twitter between a traveler who was concerned about her privacy and a spokesperson for the airline JetBlue went viral, and many of the questions asked by the traveler and others were the same ones that we’ve posed to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials: Where did you get my data? How is it protected? Which airports will use this? Where in the airports will it be used? Most importantly, how do I opt-out? [...] continua qui https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/04/skip-surveillance-opting-out-face-rec…

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Aral Balkan: Le aziende tecnologiche minacciano l'esistenza umana
by Giacomo Tesio April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Analisi interessante di Aral Balkan. Dei vari passaggi degni di nota qui ne trascrivo qualcuno. L'ultimo in particolare esprime bene un'intuizione di cui abbiamo discusso di recente in lista ed è un mio leit motif da tempo (anche se Aral si limita ai dati personali, mentre io ne faccio un discorso più generale). L'informazione (e i dati che la rappresentano) non è e non può essere un prodotto o un bene. E' parte dell'individuo, della persona che l'ha generata, sia essa una canzone, un software o un click su un link. E come parte di un essere umano, non può essere oggetto di proprietà. https://invidio.us/watch?v=xy9gNOnoR8M The problem with technology is who own and controls it so if we as individuals own and control our own technology and the data that gather with that and the insight that it gives us about our lives there is no problem here. That's a system who is compatible with democracy and it's compatible with human righrs. The problem is that there are technologies that are controlled by a handful corporations and that gives them a huge amount of power and insights over us. And that's is not compatible with democracy. [...] What does it mean when corporations know everything about you and you don't know anything about them. [...] We need solutions where we don't rely on benevolent kings. [...] We can do that differently, we can build peer-to-peer systems where we own the data, we own the technology, we own the algorithms. And that changes completely the power structures, that's a more egalitarian power structure. [...] A Peerocracy is a social system that at its heart has individuals, has people whose integrity are intact. We have this in the biological sense, we protect the integrity of the self of the person, of our biological body. We have human rights that protect that (or it should). What we don't have is the same thing in the digital and networked worlds, in the digital and networked age. That's all "Peerocracy" means. It's having that basic structure, the person, safeguarded [...] When we talk about personhood in the digital network age, we are not talking about something that exists just within your biological body but also on your phone to some extent [...] So personhood have to transcend the boundaries of your biological body so that we can protect it within human rights law.

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Facebook takes down far-right groups days before Spanish election | World news | The Guardian
by Alberto Cammozzo April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

A conferma che serve una parte terza a monitorare i SN con elezioni in corso... <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/25/facebook-takes-down-far-right…> Facebook has taken down several networks that were spreading far-right content to nearly 1.7 million people in Spain, days before national elections that are expected to see a surge in support for the far-right Vox party. The networks were uncovered in an investigation by the campaign group Avaaz, and taken down only after it presented Facebook with its findings. The discovery of a large network, spreading politically sensitive content unmonitored days before a key European election, is likely to add to concerns about social media firms’ willingness and ability to control hate speech and criminal activity on their sites. On Wednesday British MPs condemned Facebook, Google and Twitter for their refusal to report users to the police when they remove criminal posts, except in rare cases when there is an immediate threat to life or limb. Quick guide Spain general election Avaaz found that the networks in Spain were spreading fake news, including a doctored photo of a political opponent giving a Hitler salute, and misogynist, Islamophobic and homophobic messages. They were also coordinating the publication of identical posts apparently designed to look like spontaneous messages. However, unlike its decision earlier this month to ban British far-right groups in a crackdown on hate organisations, Facebook said it had not taken down the Spanish pages because of their content, or for “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” – the network’s sanitised term for manufacturing and spreading fake news. Instead, Facebook said they were targeted for breaking network rules. “We have removed a number of fake and duplicate accounts that were violating our authenticity policies, as well as one page for name change violations,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “We aren’t removing accounts or pages for coordinated inauthentic behaviour. “As in other cases, we removed these accounts based on their behaviour, not the content they posted. Some additional pages were also disabled because they were administered solely by fake accounts.” The largest network – Unidad Nacional Española (UNE) – had more than 1.2 million followers, and others reached hundreds of thousands more. Together they had more than 7 million interactions, at a time of intense political activity and focus on the political rise of the upstart far-right party Vox. [...]

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25 aprile digitale
by don Luca Peyron April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Rivendicazioni sindacali in salsa digitale... davvero interessante sotto molti profili. dl https://torino.corriere.it/cronaca/19_aprile_25/non-lasciano-mancia-rider-m… www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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Facebook just hired the co-author of the Patriot Act.
by J.C. DE MARTIN April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

https://slate.com/technology/2019/04/facebook-new-general-counsel-patriot-a… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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Nuovi diritti lavoratori gig economy
by Mauro Alovisio April 25, 2019

April 25, 2019

Gent.me/mi segnalo news di interesse: http://www.ansa.it/europa/notizie/rubriche/altrenews/2019/04/16/parlamento-… Un caro saluto Mauro Alovisio

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