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Structural Indicators for Monitoring Education and Training Systems in Europe 2021: Overview of major reforms since 2015
by Alessandro Brolpito Dec. 12, 2021

Dec. 12, 2021

Ciao tutti, sono, da lungo tempo, assiduo lettore della newsletter, ed ho pensato di portare un modesto contributo personale condividendo del materiale, prevalentemente di "fonte EU". Mi chiamo Alessandro (Brolpito), lavoro presso l'agenzia dell'Unione europea con sede a Torino "European Training Foundation" (ETF - www.etf.europa.eu<http://www.etf.europa.eu>), mi occupo di competenze digitali e dell'uso pedagogico delle tecnologie digitali in ambito scolastico, per giovani ed adulti, essenzialmente in contesti formali (e non). Sono membro gruppo della Commissione europea che si occupa di queste tematiche. I Paesi nei quali lavoro sono quelli extra europei, prevalentemente nell'est Europa e nei Balcani. Condivido con questo primo post uno studio appena pubblicato che sintetizza più di 20 indicatori di base, in quattro aree, sulle politiche educative in Europa: (i) educazione e cura della prima infanzia, (ii) conseguimento delle competenze di base, (iii) abbandono scolastico ed (iv) educazione universitaria. Structural Indicators for Monitoring Education and Training Systems in Europe - 2021 | Eurydice (europa.eu)<https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/structural-in…> Saluti, Alessandro Alessandro Brolpito Senior Human Capital Development Expert - Digital Skills and Learning Policy and Public Outreach Department ADDRESS Villa Gualino, Viale Settimio Severo 65, I - 10133 Torino TELEPHONE +39 011 630 2279 FAX +390116302200 E-MAIL info(a)etf.europa.eu WEB http://www.etf.europa.eu

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The search is on for $50m in lost cryptocurrency after two Australian exchanges collapse | Cryptocurrencies | The Guardian
by Alberto Cammozzo Dec. 12, 2021

Dec. 12, 2021

<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/12/the-search-is-on-for-50m…> Andrew Yeo doesn’t know what’s happened to tens of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency belonging to hundreds of clients of the collapsed exchange ACX, but he aims to find out. In mid-October the veteran insolvency practitioner was appointed administrator of Blockchain Global, the company that used to run ACX, and since then he’s been getting a crash course in all things crypto from the tech experts at the firm where he’s a partner, Pitcher Partners. “There’s always stuff that’s different – you have that on every job,” he says. “Its always about finding out what’s different about this industry and how you can use it.” A cryptocurrency exchange is digital marketplace that enables customers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. It makes money through set fees or by taking a percentage of transactions. No mainstream banks in Australia allow customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, although the Commonwealth bank has a pilot in the works, so exchanges are currently the only means to do this. To get to the bottom of what has happened to the cash and coins held in the accounts of ACX customers, Yeo will need to cut through a jungle of claims and counter-claims that have been playing out in court since last year. “It’s clear that there’s a number of channels of investigation which we may have available and determining which ones are best to follow first is not a simple task,” he says. There’s plenty at stake. Since Yeo’s appointment, creditors, including ACX clients and Blockchain Global’s directors and management, have come forward with claims they are owed close to $50m. ACX is not the only Australian exchange to run into trouble in what is – for now – a completely unregulated industry. Last week, the smaller exchange Mycryptowallet also fell into administration, reportedly owing clients hundreds of thousands of dollars. Globally, exchanges have proven vulnerable to failure and theft; Japanese operation Mt Gox collapsed in 2014 after someone stole 850,000 bitcoins from it and in 2016 hackers stole almost 120,000 bitcoins from the British Virgin Islands group Bitfinex, which managed to survive and still exists today. It’s not suggested that ACX’s assets have been stolen. This week, the Morrison government announced plans to regulate exchanges – some time in the future. In a speech on Thursday to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said the government would consult on establishing a licensing system for digital currency exchanges, together with regulation of businesses that hold custody of crypto on behalf of customers. The consultation process is due to be finished by the middle of next year, after an election that must be held by 21 May 2022. Experts say licensing exchanges is a good idea, but it needs to be backed up by enforcement. “With regulation comes a halo, businesses can say they’ve got a stamp of approval, and represent that people should have trust and confidence in them,” says the chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, Gerard Brody. “The regulatory regime itself has got to be robust. It’s no good having a licence given to a business if the standards it’s got to meet under that licence result in consumer detriment.” Pamela Hanrahan, a professor of commercial law and regulation at the University of New South Wales, says licensing creates a “moral hazard”. “It does carry some kind of colour to it that people are properly regulated, but that’s true of every form of occupational licensing, from hairdressing to whatever,” she says. She points to failures such as the financial planning scandals that rocked the banking industry in the mid-2010s, and the 2009 Trio Capital failure, which deprived retirement savers of $176m and was the biggest superannuation collapse in Australian history, as examples of where licensing regimes have failed to safeguard consumers. “You do have to enforce it properly,” she says. Victims of ACX’s collapse certainly feel they’ve been neglected by regulators including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. In a lawsuit filed in the Victorian supreme court, 94 of them claim Blockchain Global, as operator of the exchange, owes them $13m worth of tokens including bitcoin, ethereum and ripple, as well as cash held in their ACX accounts. “The biggest thing I’m angry about is that we’re not getting any help from Asic,” one ACX client says. “These companies are registered with Asic but … we have to sue the company.” Not all of ACX’s clients are participating in the lawsuit and all up there are estimated to be more than 200 who claim to have lost access to crypto and cash held at the exchange. On Thursday afternoon, judge Richard Attiwill stayed the proceeding against Blockchain Global due to Yeo’s appointment as administrator. However, he allowed it to continue against the other defendants in the case, including Blockchain Global chief executive, Allan Guo, and the company’s chief financial officer, Samuel Lee. Guo and Lee did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia and they are yet to file defences in the matter. Meanwhile, in another dispute also before the Victorian supreme court, Blockchain Global and Guo are fighting a former company employee, Jin Chen, over control of 117 bitcoins. Chen claims that he is owed the crypto for work developing software to run the ACX exchange, but the company and Guo say Chen has failed to comply with a deal that was supposed to end the stoush, because he did not make the source code of the software accessible. Chen denies this. On Thursday afternoon Attiwill also stayed Chen’s claim against the company in light of the appointment of the administrator, but allowed the contest between Chen and Guo to go ahead. The issues are less clear at the smaller Mycryptowallet, which is in the hands of liquidator Terry van der Velde of SV Partners. SV Partners says little information is available because the appointment is “at very early stages” but van der Velde aims to sell the business.

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European Commission takes the lead in regulating platform work – Valerio De Stefano and Antonio Aloisi
by J.C. DE MARTIN Dec. 11, 2021

Dec. 11, 2021

European Commission takes the lead in regulating platform work by Valerio De Stefano and Antonio Aloisi on 9th December 2021 The draft directive published today is already breaking the united front of the platform companies. https://socialeurope.eu/european-commission-takes-the-lead-in-regulating-pl… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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Chrome Users Beware: Manifest V3 is Deceitful and Threatening
by Giacomo Tesio Dec. 10, 2021

Dec. 10, 2021

Manifest V3, Google Chrome’s soon-to-be definitive basket of changes to the world of web browser extensions, has been framed by its authors as “a step in the direction of privacy, security, and performance.” But we think these changes are a raw deal for users. We’ve said that since Manifest V3 was announced, and continue to say so as its implementation is now imminent. Like FLoC and Privacy Sandbox before it, Manifest V3 is another example of the inherent conflict of interest that comes from Google controlling both the dominant web browser and one of the largest internet advertising networks. Manifest V3, or Mv3 for short, is outright harmful to privacy efforts. It will restrict the capabilities of web extensions [...] like some privacy-protective tracker blockers [...] Google’s efforts to limit that access is concerning, especially considering that Google has trackers installed on 75% of the top one million websites. Firefox maintains the largest extension market that’s not based on Chrome, and the company has said it will adopt Mv3 in the interest of cross-browser compatibility. [...] As for Chrome’s other justification for Mv3– performance– a 2020 study by researchers at Princeton and the University of Chicago revealed that privacy extensions, the very ones that will be hindered by Mv3, actually improve browser performance. [...] "A web browser is supposed to act on behalf of the user and respect the user's interests. Unfortunately, Chrome now has a track record as a Google agent, not a user agent." Continua con altri commenti di ricercatori e sviluppatori su https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/chrome-users-beware-manifest-v3-decei… Gli adblocker danno molto fastidio sia a Mozilla che a Google, sopratutto sui browser mobile. Tant'è che gia da oltre un anno, molte utilissime estensioni di questo genere sono state bandite da Mozilla sul mobile. Eccetto uBlock Origin (che Mozilla non potevano proprio censurare senza perdere la faccia) quelle rimaste sembrano selezionate per non disturbare troppo il tracciamento ma lasciando agli utenti più sprovveduti l'illusione di essere protetti e tech-savy. Sarebbe interessante ragionare su come un sistema antitrust dovrebbe o anche solo potrebbe impedire queste pratiche. Non è nemmeno questione di interoperabilità: il nuovo framework taglia le gambe a tutte le estensioni privacy oriented in un solo colpo. Ne si può dire che sia questione di concorrenza, perché Google non produce ad blocker. Dunque? Giacomo

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[selfie] domenica alle 17 "Potere digitale"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Dec. 10, 2021

Dec. 10, 2021

Chiedendo scusa per il "selfie", segnalo che domani alle 17 a Torino terrò una lezione per Biennale Democrazia dal titolo "Potere digitale": http://biennaledemocrazia.it/evento/potere-digitale/ Tema immenso, ovviamente, ma qualcosa proverò a dirlo. jc

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una perplessità sull'euro digitale
by Enrico Nardelli Dec. 10, 2021

Dec. 10, 2021

Oggi, Fabio Panetta, membro del Comitato esecutivo della Banca centrale europea (BCE), nell'ambito di un intervento per FederCasse https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2021/html/ecb.sp211210~09b6887f8b.… ha detto che l’euro digitale può sostenere "l'esigenza di affermare la nostra sovranità in campo monetario e finanziario, in conformità con l’obiettivo di salvaguardare la nostra autonomia strategica stabilito dal Consiglio europeo", argomentando più oltre che questo potrebbe aiutarci a diminuire la dipendenza dalle Big Tech. In teoria condivido la possibilità, ma un euro digitale viaggia comunque su un'infrastruttura digitale di comunicazione (Internet) sulla quale non mi pare l'Europa abbia un qualche reale potere. Non penso quindi andare "full digital" offrirebbe davvero un vantaggio (ma sono pronto a prendere in considerazione solidi argomenti a favore). Ciao, Enrico -- EN ===================================================================== Prof. Enrico Nardelli Dipartimento di Matematica - Universita' di Roma "Tor Vergata" Via della Ricerca Scientifica snc - 00133 Roma tel: +39 06 7259.4204 fax: +39 06 7259.4699 mobile: +39 335 590.2331 e-mail: nardelli(a)mat.uniroma2.it home page: http://www.mat.uniroma2.it/~nardelli blog: http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/blog/enardelli/ http://link-and-think.blogspot.it/ ===================================================================== --

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HERBERT LIN - Op-Ed: What a house cat can teach us about cybersecurity - Los Angeles Times
by Diego.Latella Dec. 10, 2021

Dec. 10, 2021

;-) https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-11-07/op-ed-what-a-house-cat-can… D -- Dott. Diego Latella - Senior Researcher CNR/ISTI, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy (http:www.isti.cnr.it [1]) FM&&T Lab. (http://fmt.isti.cnr.it) CNR/GI-STS (http://gists.pi.cnr.it) https://www.isti.cnr.it/People/D.Latella - ph: +390506212982, fax: +390506212040 =================== I don't quite know whether it is especially computer science or its subdiscipline Artificial Intelligence that has such an enormous affection for euphemism. We speak so spectacularly and so readily of computer systems that understand, that see, decide, make judgments, and so on, without ourselves recognizing our own superficiality and immeasurable naivete with respect to these concepts. And, in the process of so speaking, we anesthetise our ability to evaluate the quality of our work and, what is more important, to identify and become conscious of its end use. […] One can't escape this state without asking, again and again: "What do I actually do? What is the final application and use of the products of my work?" and ultimately, "am I content or ashamed to have contributed to this use?" -- Prof. Joseph Weizenbaum ["Not without us", ACM SIGCAS 16(2-3) 2--7 - Aug. 1986] Links: ------ [1] http://www.isti.cnr.it

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DECISIONE DELLA COMMISSIONE del 8.12.2021 relativa alla concessione di licenze open source e al riutilizzo dei software della Commissione
by Marina Caporale Dec. 9, 2021

Dec. 9, 2021

salve, segnalo DECISIONE DELLA COMMISSIONE del 8.12.2021 relativa alla concessione di licenze open source e al riutilizzo dei software della Commissione https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:JOC_2021_495_I_… Marina Caporale http://www.unibo.it/docenti/marina.caporale [cid:7bcc16bd-72d0-4840-9190-3c2d2e9f8a72]

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The Commission adopts new rules for open source software distribution
by Guido Noto La Diega Dec. 9, 2021

Dec. 9, 2021

On 8 December the European Commission adopted a decision <https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/detail?ref=C(2021)8759…> on new rules for Open Source Software distribution that will enable the Commission services to publish the software source code they own in much shorter time and with less paperwork. https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/commission-adopts-new-rules-open-source-soft… *Guido Noto La Diega*, PhD FHEA Avv *Assoc Prof of Intellectual Property & Privacy Law @stirlaw <https://twitter.com/StirLaw>* Visiting Prof @unimc <http://giurisprudenza.unimc.it/it/dipartimento/dipartimento-di-eccellenza/b…> | Chair @LawScottish <https://www.scotlin.org/> <https://twitter.com/italiot> | Fellow @nexacenter <https://nexa.polito.it/about-en> E: notoladiega(a)gmail.com T: @guidonld <https://twitter.com/guidonld> For updates and open access to my research visit my website <https://guidonotoladiega.wordpress.com/>

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Apple reaches quiet truce over iPhone privacy changes
by db Dec. 9, 2021

Dec. 9, 2021

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/12/apple-reaches-quiet-truce-over-ipho… <start> Apple has allowed app developers to collect data from its 1 billion iPhone users for targeted advertising, in an unacknowledged shift that lets companies follow a much looser interpretation of its controversial privacy policy. In May Apple communicated its privacy changes to the wider public, launching an advert that featured a harassed man whose daily activities were closely monitored by an ever-growing group of strangers. When his iPhone prompted him to “Ask App Not to Track,” he clicked it and they vanished. Apple’s message to potential customers was clear—if you choose an iPhone, you are choosing privacy. But seven months later, companies including Snap and Facebook have been allowed to keep sharing user-level signals from iPhones, as long as that data is anonymised and aggregated rather than tied to specific user profiles. For instance Snap has told investors that it plans to share data from its 306 million users—including those who ask Snap “not to track”—so advertisers can gain “a more complete, real-time view” on how ad campaigns are working. Any personally identifiable data will first be obfuscated and aggregated. Similarly, Facebook operations chief Sheryl Sandberg said the social media group was engaged in a “multiyear effort” to rebuild ad infrastructure “using more aggregate or anonymized data”. These companies point out that Apple has told developers they “may not derive data from a device for the purpose of uniquely identifying it.” This means they can observe “signals” from an iPhone at a group level, enabling ads that can still be tailored to “cohorts” aligning with certain behavior but not associated with unique IDs. This type of tracking is becoming the norm. Oren Kaniel, the chief executive of AppsFlyer, a mobile attribution platform that works with app developers, said that when his company introduced such a “privacy-centric” tool based on aggregated measurement in July 2020, “the level of pushback that we received from the entire ecosystem was huge.” But now such aggregated solutions are the default for 95 percent of his clients. “The market changed their minds in a radical way,” he said. It is not clear whether Apple has actually blessed these solutions. Apple declined to answer specific questions for this article but described privacy as its North Star, implying it was setting a general destination rather than defining a narrow pathway for developers. Cory Munchbach, chief operating officer at customer data platform BlueConic, said Apple had to stand back from a strict reading of its rules because the disruption to the mobile ads ecosystem would be too great. “Apple can’t put themselves in a situation where they are basically gutting their top-performing apps from a user-consumption perspective,” she said. “That would ultimately hurt iOS.” For anyone interpreting Apple’s rules strictly, these solutions break the privacy rules set out to iOS users. Lockdown Privacy, an app that blocks ad trackers, has called Apple’s policy “functionally useless in stopping third-party tracking.” It performed a variety of tests on top apps and observed that personal data and device information is still “being sent to trackers in almost all cases.” But the companies aggregating user-level data said the reason apps continue to “leak” information such as a user’s IP address and location was simply because some require such information to function. Advertisers must know certain things such as the user’s language or the device screen size, otherwise the app experience would be awful. The risk is that by allowing user-level data to be used by opaque third parties so long as they promise not to abuse it, Apple is in effect trusting the very same groups that chief executive Tim Cook has lambasted as “hucksters just looking to make a quick buck.” Companies will pledge that they only look at user-level data once it has been anonymized, but without access to the data or algorithms working behind the scenes, users won’t really know if their data privacy has been preserved, said Munchbach. “If historical precedent in adtech holds, those black boxes hide a lot of sins,” she said. “It’s not unreasonable to assume it leaves a lot to be desired.” <end>

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