February 2020 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

From ethics washing to ethics bashing: a view on tech ethics from within moral philosophy

by Giacomo Tesio

The word 'ethics' is under siege in technology policy circles. Weaponized in support of deregulation, self-regulation or handsoff governance, "ethics" is increasingly identified with technology companies' self-regulatory efforts and with shallow appearances of ethical behavior. So-called "ethics washing" by tech companies is on the rise, prompting criticism and scrutiny from scholars and the tech community at large. In parallel to the growth of ethics washing, its condemnation has led to a tendency to engage in "ethics bashing." This consists in the trivialization of ethics and moral philosophy now understood as discrete tools or pre-formed social structures such as ethics boards, self-governance schemes or stakeholder groups. The misunderstandings underlying ethics bashing are at least threefold: (a) philosophy and "ethics" are seen as a communications strategy and as a form of instrumentalized cover-up or façade for unethical behavior, (b) philosophy is understood in opposition and as alternative to political representation and social organizing and (c) the role and importance of moral philosophy is downplayed and portrayed as mere "ivory tower" intellectualization of complex problems that need to be dealt with in practice. This paper argues that the rhetoric of ethics and morality should not be reductively instrumentalized, either by the industry in the form of "ethics washing," or by scholars and policy-makers in the form of "ethics bashing." Grappling with the role of philosophy and ethics requires moving beyond both tendencies and seeing ethics as a mode of inquiry that facilitates the evaluation of competing tech policy strategies. In other words, we must resist narrow reductivism of moral philosophy as instrumentalized performance and renew our faith in its intrinsic moral value as a mode of knowledgeseeking and inquiry. Far from mandating a self-regulatory scheme or a given governance structure, moral philosophy in fact facilitates the questioning and reconsideration of any given practice, situating it within a complex web of legal, political and economic institutions. Moral philosophy indeed can shed new light on human practices by adding needed perspective, explaining the relationship between technology and other worthy goals, situating technology within the human, the social, the political. It has become urgent to start considering technology ethics also from within and not only from outside of ethics. Continua su https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3351095.3372860 PDF: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3351095.3372860?download=true Che ne pensate? Giacomo

Feb. 13, 2020

Re: [nexa] Il documentario "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic" è online

by barbaracarfagna＠libero.it

Grazie! Inviato da Libero Mail per iOS mercoledì 12 febbraio 2020, 23:54 +0100 da cristina(a)cossuavv.191.it <cristina(a)cossuavv.191.it>: >Grazie infinite! >Ritengo che siano importanti spunti di riflessione e confronto ..anche sotto il profilo giuridico. >Sarebbe molto interessante approfondire le tematiche dal punto di vista degli operatori del diritto... >Cari saluti. >Cristina > > > > >Inviato da smartphone Samsung Galaxy. > > >-------- Messaggio originale -------- >Da: Antonio Casilli < antonio.casilli(a)telecom-paris.fr > >Data: 12/02/20 22:06 (GMT+01:00) >A: nexa < nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it > >Oggetto: [nexa] Il documentario "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic" è online > >Cari tutti, > >la serie di documentari "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic", è ormai disponibile gratuitamente sulla piattaforma della televisione pubblica francese, France Télévisions: https://www.france.tv/slash/invisibles/ . > >I 4 episodi saranno disponibili dal 14 febbraio anche su Youtube e Peertube (a cadenza settimanale). > >Presentazione: > >I social, le app di consegna a domicilio, i motori di ricerca... Come possiamo fare a meno di queste applicazioni che riempiono le nostre giornate e ci rendono la vita più facile? Facebook, Google, Amazon, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Airbnb, Booking, Tinder... Tutte queste piattaforme, come per magia, rispondono quasi istantaneamente ai nostri bisogni, desideri e aspirazioni. Tanto che ci si dimentica che dietro le loro interfacce ci sono migliaia di uomini e donne che lavorano ogni giorno per farle funzionare. > >Ep. 1 - "Gioventù in movimento" (produzione dati e gestione algoritmica del personale, da Uber ai ciclofattorini) > >Ep. 2 - "Microlavorare di più per il microguadagnare di meno" (i lavoratori che addestrano l'IA, tra l'Europa e l'Africa) > >Ep. 3 - "Traumi senza moderazione" (i rischi legati all'attività dei moderatori dei contenuti dei social, e le loro strategie di resistenza) > >Ep. 4 - "Oltre il clic" (quando i lavoratori del clic si organizzano, creano piattaforme alternative e diventano whistleblowers) > >Buon binge-watching, >Antonio > > > >-- >Antonio A. Casilli >Professore, Telecom Parigi, Institut Polytechnique de Paris >Membro, Istituto interdisciplinare per l'innovazione (i3 UMR 9217 CNRS) >Membro Associato, LACI-IIAC (EHESS) >Borsista di Facoltà, Centro Nexa per Internet e Società >_______________________________________________ >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

Feb. 13, 2020

Re: [nexa] Il documentario "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic" è online

by cristina

Grazie infinite!Ritengo che siano importanti spunti di riflessione e confronto ..anche sotto il profilo giuridico.Sarebbe molto interessante approfondire le tematiche dal punto di vista degli operatori del diritto...Cari saluti.Cristina Inviato da smartphone Samsung Galaxy. -------- Messaggio originale --------Da: Antonio Casilli <antonio.casilli(a)telecom-paris.fr> Data: 12/02/20 22:06 (GMT+01:00) A: nexa <nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it> Oggetto: [nexa] Il documentario "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic" è online Cari tutti, la serie di documentari "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic", è ormai disponibile gratuitamente sulla piattaforma della televisione pubblica francese, France Télévisions: https://www.france.tv/slash/invisibles/. I 4 episodi saranno disponibili dal 14 febbraio anche su Youtube e Peertube (a cadenza settimanale). Presentazione: I social, le app di consegna a domicilio, i motori di ricerca... Come possiamo fare a meno di queste applicazioni che riempiono le nostre giornate e ci rendono la vita più facile? Facebook, Google, Amazon, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Airbnb, Booking, Tinder... Tutte queste piattaforme, come per magia, rispondono quasi istantaneamente ai nostri bisogni, desideri e aspirazioni. Tanto che ci si dimentica che dietro le loro interfacce ci sono migliaia di uomini e donne che lavorano ogni giorno per farle funzionare. Ep. 1 - "Gioventù in movimento" (produzione dati e gestione algoritmica del personale, da Uber ai ciclofattorini) Ep. 2 - "Microlavorare di più per il microguadagnare di meno" (i lavoratori che addestrano l'IA, tra l'Europa e l'Africa) Ep. 3 - "Traumi senza moderazione" (i rischi legati all'attività dei moderatori dei contenuti dei social, e le loro strategie di resistenza) Ep. 4 - "Oltre il clic" (quando i lavoratori del clic si organizzano, creano piattaforme alternative e diventano whistleblowers) Buon binge-watching, Antonio -- Antonio A. Casilli Professore, Telecom Parigi, Institut Polytechnique de Paris Membro, Istituto interdisciplinare per l'innovazione (i3 UMR 9217 CNRS) Membro Associato, LACI-IIAC (EHESS) Borsista di Facoltà, Centro Nexa per Internet e Società _______________________________________________ nexa mailing list nexa(a)server-nexa.polito.it https://server-nexa.polito.it/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nexa

Feb. 12, 2020

Il documentario "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic" è online

by Antonio Casilli

Cari tutti, la serie di documentari "Invisibles - Les travailleurs du clic", è ormai disponibile gratuitamente sulla piattaforma della televisione pubblica francese, France Télévisions: https://www.france.tv/slash/invisibles/. I 4 episodi saranno disponibili dal 14 febbraio anche su Youtube e Peertube (a cadenza settimanale). Presentazione: I social, le app di consegna a domicilio, i motori di ricerca... Come possiamo fare a meno di queste applicazioni che riempiono le nostre giornate e ci rendono la vita più facile? Facebook, Google, Amazon, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Airbnb, Booking, Tinder... Tutte queste piattaforme, come per magia, rispondono quasi istantaneamente ai nostri bisogni, desideri e aspirazioni. Tanto che ci si dimentica che dietro le loro interfacce ci sono migliaia di uomini e donne che lavorano ogni giorno per farle funzionare. Ep. 1 - "Gioventù in movimento" (produzione dati e gestione algoritmica del personale, da Uber ai ciclofattorini) Ep. 2 - "Microlavorare di più per il microguadagnare di meno" (i lavoratori che addestrano l'IA, tra l'Europa e l'Africa) Ep. 3 - "Traumi senza moderazione" (i rischi legati all'attività dei moderatori dei contenuti dei social, e le loro strategie di resistenza) Ep. 4 - "Oltre il clic" (quando i lavoratori del clic si organizzano, creano piattaforme alternative e diventano whistleblowers) Buon binge-watching, Antonio -- Antonio A. Casilli Professore, Telecom Parigi, Institut Polytechnique de Paris Membro, Istituto interdisciplinare per l'innovazione (i3 UMR 9217 CNRS) Membro Associato, LACI-IIAC (EHESS) Borsista di Facoltà, Centro Nexa per Internet e Società

Feb. 12, 2020

(Ricerca) The future of platforms - MIT Sloan Management Review

by Federico Bo

Dalla MIT Sloan Management Review Platforms power the world’s most valuable companies, but it will get harder and harder to capture and monetize their disruptive potential. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-future-of-platforms/ (necessaria iscrizione (gratuita) per scaricare la ricerca) Federico -- Ing. Federico Bo /federicobo.eu <https://www.federicobo.eu/>/

Feb. 12, 2020

Re: [nexa] CIA controlled global encryption company for decades, says report | US news | The Guardian

by Giovanni Biscuolo

Buongiorno, Alberto Cammozzo <ac+nexa(a)zeromx.net> writes: > <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/11/crypto-ag-cia-bnd-germany-i…> [...] > Encryption weaknesses added to products sold by Crypto AG allowed the > CIA and its German counterpart, the BND, to eavesdrop on adversaries > and allies alike while earning million of dollars from the sales, Che dire... è sempre una buona cosa che venga fatta luce su cose del genere quindi evviva [1]! Però ritengo che simili operazioni di spionaggio sono perfettamente _normali_, sono parte integrante della mission delle agenzie di spionaggio (intelligence fa meno impressione, vero?). Faccio invece *sommessamente* notare quanto cose del genere siano *niente* rispetto a quanto ormai già noto e *incontrovertibile* dal 2013 (sette anni, sette) con le rivelazioni di Snowden, che a loro volta confermano [2] quanto già _ampiamente_ emerso con Echelon: esistono (sono esistiti?) piani per attuare un sistema di sorveglianza globale [3], _non_ mirata, attraverso Internet; tali piani comprendono _anche_ la compromissione della crittografia. cordiali saluti, Giovanni [...] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_AG#Compromised_machines è dal 2015 che la cosa è ufficiale, senza troppo clamore... e la storia è ricca di aneddoti (si veda articolo citato sopra) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON#Confirmation_of_ECHELON_(2015) [3] intercettazione indiscriminata a tappeto, compresa memorizzazione in enormi database e relativo sistema di ricerca -- Giovanni Biscuolo Xelera IT Infrastructures

Feb. 12, 2020

Commons Markets and Public Policy

by Marco Ciurcina

Commons, Markets and Public Policy Free and Open Source Software as a Laboratory for the Information Paradigm di Marco Berlinguer Lo trovate qui https://www.transform-network.net/en/publications/issue/commons-markets-and… m.c.

Feb. 12, 2020

CIA controlled global encryption company for decades, says report | US news | The Guardian

by Alberto Cammozzo

<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/11/crypto-ag-cia-bnd-germany-i…> The Swiss government has ordered an inquiry into a global encryption company based in Zug following revelations it was owned and controlled for decades by US and German intelligence. Joe Biden leaves New Hampshire early as Democrats vote in primary – live Read more Encryption weaknesses added to products sold by Crypto AG allowed the CIA and its German counterpart, the BND, to eavesdrop on adversaries and allies alike while earning million of dollars from the sales, according the Washington Post and the German public broadcaster ZDF, based on the agencies’ internal histories of the intelligence operation. “It was the intelligence coup of the century,” the CIA report concluded. “Foreign governments were paying good money to the US and West Germany for the privilege of having their most secret communications read by at least two (and possibly as many as five or six) foreign countries.” The mention of five or six countries is probably a reference to the Five Eyes electronic intelligence sharing agreement between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The operation, codenamed Thesaurus and then renamed Rubicon in 1980s, demonstrated the overwhelming intelligence value of being able to insert flaws into widely sold communications equipment. The CIA’s success over many years is likely to reinforce current US suspicions of equipment made by the Chinese company Huawei. Neither China or the Soviet Union bought Crypto encryption devices, suspicious of the company’s origins, but it was sold to more than 100 other countries. Carolina Bohren, a spokeswoman for the Swiss defence ministry, said in an emailed statement: “The events under discussion date back to 1945 and are difficult to reconstruct and interpret in the present day context.” Bohren said that following media inquiries about the company, the Swiss government appointed a former federal supreme court judge, Niklaus Oberholzer, in January to “investigate and clarify the facts of the matter” and report back to the defence ministry in June. Meanwhile, Switzerland has suspended foreign sales of Crypto products. At their height, Operations Thesaurus and Rubicon provided the US with a powerful intelligence edge. When Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin were hosted by the former president Jimmy Carter at Camp David in 1978 to negotiate an Egyptian-Israeli peace accord, the US was able to monitor all Sadat’s communications with Cairo. Iran was also a Crypto customer, allowing CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on the revolutionary government in Tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis. US intelligence was also able to eavesdrop on Libyan officials congratulating each other on the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco. According to the CIA’s history, the US passed on intercepted communications about Argentinian military plans to the UK during the Falklands war, exploiting Argentina’s reliance on Crypto encryption equipment. The CIA and BND agreed the purchase of Crypto in 1970 but, fearing exposure, the BND sold its share of the company to the US in the early 1990s. According to the Washington Post, the CIA continued to exploit the company until 2018, when it sold the company’s assets to two private companies. [...]

Feb. 12, 2020

Per chi fosse a Milano venerdì prossimo

by Oreste Pollicino

Presentazione Volume Garante privacy

Feb. 11, 2020

Deadline extension announcement - GIG-ARTS 2020 Conference

by Mauro SANTANIELLO

Dear colleagues, This is to announce that the deadline for abstracts submission to the 4th GIG-ARTS Conference has been extended until next Sunday 16 February. ======== *GIG-ARTS 2020 - The Fourth European Multidisciplinary Conference on Global Internet Governance Actors, Regulations, Transactions and Strategies7-8 May 2020, Vienna* *Online Information Governance – More Expression, Less Freedom?* *Organised by:* - Media Governance and Industries Research Lab & Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence FreuDE / Universität Wien - LIP6 Computer Science Research Lab / Sorbonne Université & Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique *Call for Abstracts - Extended Deadline: 16 February 2020 * It is now 30 years since the invention of the World Wide Web, and over fifteen years since the development of the interactive Web or also known as Web2.0. Online information and communication have never seemed easier and more accessible to everyone, thanks to the mediation of social networks, search engines, and other kinds of platforms and technologies. With such capabilities “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”, freedom of speech and freedom of the press should have grown to such an extent that some of the utopian visions of full participatory democracy would have appeared to be within our reach. At the very least, some of the long-standing informational imbalances concerning information flow globally, diversity of content and authors, and the accessibility of accurate information would have been taken as a given framework against which societies would have been called to solve problems and to look after citizens’ well-being. Paradoxically, the levels of freedom and freedom of expression, as captured in global measuring instruments by a variety of institutions and organisations, do not show the expected or desired advancement. Rather there is evidence that freedom in societies and freedom of the press deteriorate. Ambitious goals of freedom to express one’s own identity and opinion at the global public sphere on an equal basis and free from fear of retaliation or misuse evaporate for many, such as those subjected to hate speech, those persecuted by autocratic authorities and the great majority of citizens whose personal data become de facto ownership of private companies. Misinformation, spread not only by politically extreme groups but also by “normal”, mainstream parties in the (desperate or calculated) attempt to influence voters, can undermine the quality and freedom of global debate. Information conflict thus becomes even more an object of state rivalry and diplomacy, but also the tool for the erosion of citizenship as the utmost form of participation in the commons. These phenomena are coupled with the fact that even values once considered unquestionable, such as the value of independent journalism, the value of human rights such as privacy and dignity, are being challenged. The technological capabilities allowed the world over to express and share information and opinions, to connect and form alliances. However, they have also enabled the spread of misinformation, have been undermining the human right to privacy on digital communication channels, subjected vulnerable groups to more vulnerability, and provided for economic models putting at stake the fundamental pillars of democracy. Within this context, policies governing the fate of users’ data, citizens’ freedoms and the integrity of content have fallen short of helping pave the path to the desired communication environment. Regulatory responses capturing communication and information have oscillated between forms of a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to resist any attempt to provide for the normative standards of content and a tendency to securitise communication as a matter of national security. Importantly, critics argue that even where governance has allowed for more democratic processes in raising concerns and suggesting solutions, the gaps in connecting the dots are glaring. If governance refers to the role of ideas and principles, the role of actors and the processes of negotiation and solution, it is urgent to return, on the one hand, to the basic and fundamental rights questions and take stock of the achievements of hitherto frameworks. On the other hand, it seems crucial to interrogate what futures exactly are current policy frameworks shaping, especially in relation to a politics of care for young citizens and hence the future generations? After having addressed global internet governance as a diplomacy issue at its first edition held in Paris in 2017, how to overcome inequalities in internet governance at the second edition held in Cardiff in 2018, and the role of Europe in the global governance of the internet at its third edition held in Salerno in 2019, this year’s GIG-ARTS conference turns its attention to the governance of online information, to address the relation of citizens to the quality of content online as an often neglected area of regulation and governance of the internet. In that respect, the conference continues the conversation on internet governance turning its attention from institutions and structural factors to the role of content and misinformation as an object of governance, and to internet users as forces of change. GIG-ARTS is inviting you to this conversation to help shape the debate of what kinds of futures might be desirable and envisioned in the process of internet governance, who and which actors might be most suitable to help shape such governance goals and under which conditions might these be achieved. Hence, in addition to general internet governance issues and topics, submissions are particularly welcome on the following possible areas of investigation: - The governance of fundamental freedoms online between global platforms, conflicts of jurisdictions and extraterritorial legislation - The role of European and global institutions in shaping the conditions of free expression online - Responsibility and liability of platforms and other intermediaries in content regulation - Restrictive regulation and the securitization of content - Privacy, misinformation, democracy: challenges to internet governance - Structural role of individual targeting, behavioural advertising and other economic models of online platforms on the reshaping of fundamental freedoms and democracy - From nudging to manipulation: consequences on autonomy and human dignity - Successive copyright reforms and their impact on freedom of expression, freedom of the press and democracy - Changes in and challenges to journalism practice through intentional misinformation - Governance from below: how practices and principles by civil society aim to shape the conditions of technology for the advancement of democracies and human well-being - Youth and access to information; news and misinformation in the online world; the purpose of thinking towards the future *Submission Information and Publication Opportunities*Authors are invited to submit their extended abstracts (no longer than 500 words), describing their research question(s), theoretical framework, approach and methodology, expected findings or empirical outcome. Submitted abstracts will be evaluated through a peer-review process. Abstracts and authors’ information should be submitted through the Easychair conference management system at: *https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=gigarts2020 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=gigarts2020>*Authors of selected submissions will have the opportunity to submit their full manuscript for publication. *Key dates* Extended deadline for abstract submissions: 16 February 2020 Notification to authors: 19 March 2020 Programme publication: 9 April 2020 Conference dates: 7 & 8 May 2020 *GIG-ARTS 2020 Co-Chairs*- Meryem Marzouki (LIP6, CNRS & Sorbonne Université, France) - Katharine Sarikakis (Media Governance and Industries Research Lab & Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence FreuDE, University of Vienna, Austria) *GIG-ARTS 2020 Scientific Programme Committee*- Francesco Amoretti (University of Salerno, Italy) - Wolfgang Benedek (University of Graz, Austria) - Eric Brousseau (Université Paris Dauphine, France) - Andrea Calderaro (Cardiff University, United Kingdom) - Jean-Marie Chenou (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia) - Loreto Corredoira y Alfonso (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) - Wolfgang Hofkirchner (The Institute for a Global Sustainable Information Society, Austria) - Matthias C. Kettemann (Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, Germany) - Joanna Kulesza (University of Lodz, Poland) - Nanette S. Levinson (American University Washington DC, USA) - Ursula Maier-Rabler (University of Salzburg, Austria) - Robin E. Mansell (London School of Economics, United Kingdom) - Meryem Marzouki (CNRS and Sorbonne Université, France) - Trisha Meyer (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) - Michèle Rioux (Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada) - Mauro Santaniello (University of Salerno, Italy) - Katharine Sarikakis (University of Vienna, Austria) - Yves Schemeil (Sciences Po Grenoble, France) - Ingrid Schneider, University of Hamburg, Germany - Jan Aart Scholte (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) *Venue*The conference will be held at the Concordia Press Club, in the heart of Vienna (https://concordia.at/) *Conference Registration and Fees* Registration fees are 100€ for regular participants and 50€ for students showing proof of status. The conference fees include a participant kit as well as coffee breaks and meals. *GIG-ARTS 2020 Communication Details* - Website: events.gig-arts.eu - Email for information: events(a)gig-arts.eu - Submissions: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=gigarts2020 - Twitter: @GigArtsEU - Hashtag: #GIGARTS20 - Mailing list for updates: http://tinyurl.com/yc7rvxm4 Mauro Santaniello (PhD) *Internet & Communication Policy Centre * *Department of Political and Social Studies * *Università degli Studi di Salerno * *Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132 84084 Fisciano (SA) - Italy * *E. msantaniello(a)unisa.it <msantaniello(a)unisa.it> * *Skype: internetpolicy * *T. twitter.com/webvoodoo <http://twitter.com/webvoodoo>*

Feb. 11, 2020