June 2019 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Amazon Is Watching – OneZero
by Alberto Cammozzo June 27, 2019

June 27, 2019

<https://onezero.medium.com/amazon-is-watching-d51b20f1668a> When you think of Amazon, you might think of comparison shopping from your couch, buying exactly what you want, for less than you’d pay at the store. You might think of a delivery person dropping a package at your door, right on time, and how if there’s anything amiss you can send it back for a full refund. You might think of asking Alexa to play a song or a TV show or turn on the lights, and the marvel of how it all just works (usually). You might think of a Prime members’ discount on avocados at Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired in 2017. Amazon’s reputation for serving its customers with low prices and ruthless efficiency might help to explain why, in survey after survey, the Seattle-based company ranks as America’s most valuable — nay, most loved — brand. One recent study found that Amazon is the second most-trusted institution of any kind in the United States, ahead of Google, the police, and the higher-education system, and trailing only the U.S. military. At a time when an endless string of privacy and election scandals has left Facebook’s reputation in smoldering ruins, and Google’s has been dented by YouTube’s radicalization and content moderation woes, Amazon’s is stronger than ever. But Amazon’s public image as a cheerfully dependable “everything store” belies the vast and secretive behemoth that it has become — and how the products it’s building today could erode our privacy not just online but also in the physical world. Even as rival tech companies reassess their data practices, rethink their responsibilities, and call for new regulations, Amazon is doubling down on surveillance devices, disclaiming responsibility for how its technology is used, and dismissing concerns raised by academics, the media, politicians, and its own employees. “We’re all hoping they’re not making a panopticon,” says Lindsey Barrett, staff attorney at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Public Representation. Last month, the institute, serving as counsel to a group of 19 watchdog groups, called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Amazon for alleged violations of the federal law protecting children’s online privacy. Among other concerns, they found that Amazon’s Echo Dot Kids Edition smart speaker retained children’s voice recordings and personal data even after parents tried to delete them. Amazon blamed at least part of the problem on a software bug, which it says it has since fixed. While the outcome of that case remains to be seen, the complaint represents just the tip of the iceberg. The Amazon of today runs enormous swaths of the public internet; uses artificial intelligence to crunch data for many of the world’s largest companies and institutions, including the CIA; tracks user shopping habits to build detailed profiles for targeted advertising; and sells cloud-connected, A.I.-powered speakers and screens for our homes. It acquired a company that makes mesh Wi-Fi routers that have access to our private Internet traffic. Through Amazon’s subsidiary Ring, it is putting surveillance cameras on millions of people’s doorbells and inviting them to share the footage with their neighbors and the police on a crime-focused social network. It is selling face recognition systems to police and private companies. The Amazon of tomorrow, as sketched out in patents, contract bids, and marketing materials, could be more omnipresent still. Imagine Ring doorbell cameras so ubiquitous that you can’t walk down a street without triggering alerts to your neighbors and police. Imagine that these cameras have face recognition systems built in, and can work together as a network to identify people deemed suspicious. Imagine Ring surveillance cameras on cars and delivery drones, Ring baby monitors in nurseries, and Amazon Echo devices everywhere from schools to hotels to hospitals. Now imagine that all these Alexa-powered speakers and displays can recognize your voice and analyze your speech patterns to tell when you’re angry, sick, or considering a purchase. A 2015 patent filing reported last week by the Telegraph described a system that Amazon called “surveillance as a service,” which seems like an apt term for many of the products it’s already selling. [...]

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Editoria cattolica sul digitale: Abeltino (Google), la qualità fa la differenza
by don Luca Peyron June 27, 2019

June 27, 2019

Chi può faccia la sua parte, così in tanti faremo tante cose! A voi la nostra piccola parte, in parte. Buon lettura dl https://www.vaticannews.va/it/vaticano/news/2019-06/editoria-cattolica-digi… _________________________ www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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How to speak Silicon Valley: decoding tech bros from microdosing to privacy | US news | The Guardian
by Alberto Cammozzo June 27, 2019

June 27, 2019

Il dizionario tecnologico come lo avrebbe scritto Ambrose Bierce. Divertente. <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/26/how-to-speak-silicon-valley…>

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From 1985: "Weizenbaum examines computers and society"
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 27, 2019

June 27, 2019

MIT The Tech - Volume 105 >> Issue 16 : Tuesday, April 9, 1985 Weizenbaum examines computers and society *By Diana ben-Aaron* /Professor Joseph Weizenbaum is well-known, both as a teacher of computer science and as an activist for scientific and educational responsibility. He designed the first computerized banking system before coming to MIT in the 1960s. He invented ELIZA, the first "psychiatric" program, and was moved by the reaction to it to write the best-selling /Computer Power and Human Reason/. / Q: What, if anything, do you think should be the role of the computer in education? A:I'll tell you my reaction to that question without answering it directly. There's a Russian joke that goes something like this: Two people are standing in a very large breadline in Moscow, and they're talking about the fact that the harvest failed once more and that's why there's a shortage of bread, and one of them says to the other, "You know, it's all the fault of the Jews and the bicyclists." The other one says, "Why the bicyclists?" and the first one answers, "Why the Jews?" / / [...] continua qui: http://tech.mit.edu/V105/N16/weisen.16n.html / / / /

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Turismo digitale tra Stato e Regioni
by Valerio Lubello June 27, 2019

June 27, 2019

Cari amici nexiani, sono lieto di invitarVi all'evento in oggetto previsto per il prossimo primo di luglio presso la SDA Bocconi. Nelle pagine di Medialaws trovate il link per la registrazione: http://www.medialaws.eu/turismo-digitale-tra-stato-e-regioni-sda-bocconi-mi… Resto a disposizione per chi volesse ricevere ulteriori informazioni o confrontarsi sui temi ad oggetto della ricerca, cordialmente, Valerio Lubello

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(no subject)
by costanza matteuzzi June 27, 2019

June 27, 2019

mi permetto di segnalare questo cordiali saluti Avv. Costanza Matteuzzi *Avvertenze ai sensi del Regolamento Generale UE 679/2016 (Regolamento Privacy)* Il presente messaggio, corredato dei relativi allegati, potrebbe contenere informazioni strettamente riservate o confidenziali ed è riferito esclusivamente al destinatario sopra indicato. Quest’ultimo è l'unico autorizzato ad usarlo, copiarlo e, sotto la propria responsabilità a diffonderlo. Chiunque ricevesse questo messaggio per errore o lo leggesse senza esserne legittimato è avvisato che trattenerlo, copiarlo, divulgarlo, distribuirlo a persone diverse dal destinatario è severamente proibito ed è pregato di rinviarlo immediatamente al mittente distruggendo l'originale. Grazie. This message, together with its annexes, may contain information strictly confidential or privileged and is intended only for the addressee(s) identified above, who only may use, copy and, under his/their responsibility, further disseminate it. If you are not the intended recipient or have read it without entitlement, please be aware that keeping, copying, disseminating or distributing this message to persons other than the addressee(s) is strictly forbidden and transmit it immediately back to the sender, deleting the original message received. Thank you.

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MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito on Kara Swisher podcast Recode Decode - Vox
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 26, 2019

June 26, 2019

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/6/26/18758776/joi-ito-mit-media-lab-resisti… The problem with tech people who want to solve problems On the latest Recode Decode, MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito says we need to resist the urge to oversimplify the problems we’re solving. By Eric Johnson@HeyHeyESJ Jun 26, 2019, 6:20am EDT (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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"Policy and investment recommendations for trustworthy Artificial Intelligence"
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 26, 2019

June 26, 2019

*REPORT / STUDY 26 June 2019 Policy and investment recommendations for trustworthy Artificial Intelligence** * This document was written by the High-Level Expert Group on AI (AI HLEG). It is the second deliverable of the AI HLEG and follows the publication of the group's first deliverable, Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, published on 8 April 2019. The AI HLEG is an independent expert group that was set up by the European Commission in June 2018. PDF: https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=60343

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changing our e-mail address
by Facultad de Comunicacion Digital Studies June 26, 2019

June 26, 2019

Please, take note that we've just change our e-mail address to digitalunav(a)unav.es thanks a lot, Ana Azurmendi Director of Digital Unav. Center for Internet Studies and Digital Life Spain -- *Digital Unav* digitalstudies(a)unav.es <rsalaver(a)unav.es> digitalunav(a)unav.es School of Communication University of Navarra 31080 Pamplona — Spain web: www.unav.edu/web/digitalunav twitter: @digitalunav <http://twitter.com/digitalunav> -- *Este mensaje puede contener información confidencial. Si usted no es el destinatario del mismo o lo ha recibido por error, por favor, bórrelo de sus sistemas y comuníquelo a la mayor brevedad al remitente. Los datos personales incluidos en los correos electrónicos que intercambie con el personal de la Universidad de Navarra podrán ser almacenados en la libreta de direcciones de su interlocutor y/o en los servidores de la Universidad durante el tiempo fijado en su política interna de conservación de información. La Universidad de Navarra gestiona dichos datos con fines meramente operativos, para permitir el contacto por email entre sus trabajadores/colaboradores y terceros. Puede consultar la Política de Privacidad de la Universidad de Navarra en la dirección: **https://www.unav.edu/aviso-legal* <https://www.unav.edu/aviso-legal>**** ** ** *This email message may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. The personal information included in email messages exchanged with employees of the University of Navarra may be stored in the database of your interlocutor and/or the servers of the University for the time-period stipulated by its internal information storage policy. The University stores such data for purely administrative purposes, to facilitate e-mail contact between its employees and third parties. The University of Navarra Privacy Policy may be accessed at https://www.unav.edu/aviso-legal <https://www.unav.edu/aviso-legal> ***** ** ** _Antes de imprimir este mensaje o sus documentos anexos, asegúrese de que es necesario. Proteger el medio ambiente está en nuestras manos. Before printing this e-mail or attachments, be sure it is necessary. _It is in our hands to protect the environment.__

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Fwd: EXTENDED DEADLINE: Money talks? - The impact of corporate funding on academic research in information law and policy
by J.C. DE MARTIN June 26, 2019

June 26, 2019

(Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any)) Begin forwarded message: > Resent-From: <d004620(a)polito.it> > From: "Balazs Bodo" <bodo(a)uva.nl> > Date: 26 June 2019 at 10:33:00 CEST > > Subject: EXTENDED DEADLINE: Money talks? - The impact of corporate funding on academic research in information law and policy > > UPDATE & EXTENDED DEADLINE: > > Money talks? - The impact of corporate funding on academic research in information law and policy > > October 23, 2019, Amsterdam > > > > > > We have a number of announcements to make! > > First, we are happy to have Sandra Braman (Texas A&M University) as the keynote speaker for the conference! > > Second, we received an offer by a top tier academic press to publish quality conference papers, so we hope to have a lasting impact! > > Third, we decided to extend the deadline till the 7th of July, so more people have the chance to participate! > > Fourth, we would like to widen the scope of the discussion by accepting contributions in the form of code of best practices, blog posts, newspaper articles, etc. > > And last but not least, we can confirm the members of the program committee (see below). > > > > > > Call text and additional information: > > Concerns about the corporate funding of scientific research, and about the presence of corporate sponsors in scientific events are not an exceptional issue in the academic field. For decades, scientific domains like medicine, climate research[1], health [2] and nutrition [3] science have been struggling with controversies [4] and dilemmas around the direct and indirect impact of corporate funding [5] on the quality of their scholarship, integrity, independence, both actual, and as perceived by others. > > Research in the domain of the information society is not immune to these controversies. For example, the emerging giants of the information society are active research funders, and promote academic research as a way to influence public policy, or at least are perceived to do so. The information industry is also increasingly in exclusive control of fundamental research resources, such as data, or technology design. The 2017 Campaign for Accountability (CA) [6] controversy perfectly captures the complexity of the situation this creates around science. CA was apparently set out to identify Google’s influence on information policy research and (controversially) identified 329 research papers on public policy matters that were directly or indirectly funded by the search company. Only later it turned out that one of the funders of CA was Oracle [7], which at the same time was fighting Google in Court, and perceived CA as part of that effort. > > In September 2018 a wide group of academics raised concerns [8] about the role of surveillance technology company Palantir as sponsor of academic events on data privacy. The subsequent debate raised important questions about the dimensions in which different corporations active in the online world should be critically assessed, and the terms on which science can engage with them. > > The growing concerns about the influence of corporate funding of academic research in all disciplines can be attributed to the effects of several connected factors. For a number of financial, political and social reasons there is a significant pressure on academics to be entrepreneurial, and attract and pursue funding from private sources [9]. Large corporations have been responding to this situation with often substantial amounts of funding, and various forms of collaborations. > > > > On the other hand, access to private funders and corporate sponsors may carry benefits: corporate participation is a prerequisite of a substantive and inclusive dialogue on contentious issues and policy developments. It can also foster collaborations, and provide scientists access to information, data, people, which would otherwise remain beyond reach. However, the intentions of corporations to invest in academic research are not always transparent. Some consider it to be relatively harmless when corporate sponsorship is motivated by the desire to associate their brand with academia, or to contribute to society to boost the public company image. Others claim that corporations may decide to fund research with malevolent intentions in order to influence the public debate, or pursue some hidden agenda. It often remains unclear for the public what motivates a company to fund academic research. Corporate sponsorship may be seen as suspicious, and detrimental to the results of the scientific outcomes, even if it was done with the right motivation, an ultimately it may also have an impact on the public trust in science. > > > > In order to prevent a conflict of interest and to ensure objectivity and transparency in research, institutions [10] and governments have been developing [11] policies [12] and guidelines [13] to foster integrity. The resulting codes of conducts are based on several widely supported fundamental principles which are translated into more specific standards for good research practices. The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity [14], for instance, is built around four principles: reliability, honesty, respect and accountability. > > > > Yet, it remains to be seen how effectively such international [15], European, national, and domain specific codes of conducts can be monitored, and enforced, and how effective they can be in safeguarding both the integrity of research, and it’s public perception. > > > > Recent events and the call for an action-oriented discussion on corporate sponsorship therefore warrant the impact of corporate funding on academic research as the theme for the next meeting for the European Hub of the Global Network of Centers for Internet and Society (NoC). The conference strives to bring together scholars within the information law discipline, as well as related fields to discuss questions such as: > > > > Understanding the problem: the scope, structure, amount, topics and beneficiaries of corporate funding in research > > ● How big corporate influence is in the first place? How much money are we talking about? > > ● What are the forms of (corporate) research funding, such as financial support, funded positions, data access, etc.? > > ● What drives corporate funding decisions? > > > > Internal safeguards of research independence and integrity > > ● What are the best ways to safeguard research independence and integrity? > > ● Are the current principles and safeguards that guide engagement with corporate sponsors and funders adequate? > > ● What are the limitations of current integrity safeguards? Is there room for improvement? > > ● Are there specific/additional principles that should to inform such engagement in the area of information law and policy? > > ● Does it make sense to differentiate between different forms of sponsoring (institutional/project, in-kind/access/money)? > > > > Interfaces and firewalls between academia and industry > > ● What kind of integrity-infrastructure does academia need for the future where more and more essential resources are going to be in the exclusive control of corporations? > > ● What legal and policy innovations are needed to ensure due access to privately held or controller data sources? > > ● How could standards be set for the acceptance of corporate funding? What are the existing methods of standard setting? > > ● What is a proper way to signal the company support without creating the impression of industry research? > > > > The impact of corporate funding > > ● How to manage public trust in academia which is increasingly funded by private parties? > > ● What are the effects of increased acceptance of private funding of academic research on government spending on science? > > ● Are some geographies, institutions, and initiatives more dependent on, or more exposed to corporate funding? How to address these differences? > > ● Are there neglected research topics because they do not attract corporate funding? > > ● How to deal with public funding from authoritarian regimes? > > > > > > > > We welcome individual paper proposals and panel and workshop proposals, and other forms of interventions and actions, such as code of conducts, blog posts, best practices, etc. > > Please submit paper abstracts, and panel proposals of no more than a 1000 words to the following email address: money.talks(a)ivir.nl by July 7st, 2019. Acceptance decisions will be communicated in about a month. > > The event is organized by the Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam, as part of the European Hub of the Global Network of Centers for Internet and Society (NoC). > > Program Committee: Dr. Balazs Bodo, Prof. Dr. Mireille van Eechoud, Prof Dr. Nico Van Eijk, Sarah Eskens, Prof. Dr. Natali Helberger, Prof. Dr. Joris van Hoboken, Prof. Dr. Bernt Hugenholtz > > Detailed program and updates: https://www.ivir.nl/call-for-papers-money-talks-the-impact-of-corporate-fun… > > > > References: > > > > [1] Farrell, Justin. “Corporate Funding and Ideological Polarization about Climate Change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 19, 2015, 201509433. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1509433112. > > [2] Besley, John C., Aaron M. McCright, Nagwan R. Zahry, Kevin C. Elliott, Norbert E. Kaminski, and Joseph D. Martin. “Perceived Conflict of Interest in Health Science Partnerships.” PLOS ONE 12, no. 4 (April 20, 2017): e0175643. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175643. > > [3] Aveyard, Paul, Derek Yach, Anna B. Gilmore, and Simon Capewell. “Should We Welcome Food Industry Funding of Public Health Research?” BMJ 353 (April 20, 2016): i2161. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2161. > > [4] https://www.ucsusa.org/disguising-corporate-influence-science-about-sugar-a… > > [5] Krimsky, Sheldon. “Do Financial Conflicts of Interest Bias Research?: An Inquiry into the ‘Funding Effect’ Hypothesis.” Science, Technology, & Human Values, September 20, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243912456271. > > [6] https://campaignforaccountability.org/new-report-reveals-googles-extensive-… > > [7] http://fortune.com/2016/08/19/google-transparency-project-2/ > > [8] https://fundingmatters.tech/ > > [9] Holloway, Kelly Joslin. “Normalizing Complaint: Scientists and the Challenge of Commercialization.” Science, Technology, & Human Values 40, no. 5 (September 1, 2015): 744–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243915576004. > > [10] https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/strategy/support-policy-m… > > [11] https://www.vsnu.nl/en_GB/news-items/nieuwsbericht/471-new-netherlands-code… > > [12] http://archives.esf.org/media-centre/ext-single-news/article/the-european-c… > > [13] https://www.knaw.nl/nl/thematisch/ethiek/wetenschappelijke-integriteit > > [14] https://www.allea.org/allea-publishes-revised-edition-european-code-conduct… > > [15] https://www.knaw.nl/shared/resources/thematisch/bestanden/MontrealStatement… > > > > > > > > > >

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