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Google says geofence warrants make up one-quarter of all US demands – TechCrunch
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 20, 2021

Aug. 20, 2021

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/19/google-geofence-warrants/ (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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The Risks of Election Believability (or Lack Thereof) - By Rebecca T. Mercuri, Peter G. Neumann CACM, June 2021, 64(6)
by Diego.Latella Aug. 20, 2021

Aug. 20, 2021

E' stato pubblicato a giugno, ma non mi pare sia passato nella lista: The Risks of Election Believability (or Lack Thereof) By Rebecca T. Mercuri, Peter G. Neumann CACM, June 2021, 64(6) https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2021/6/252836-the-risks-of-election-believab… Saluti Diego -- 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, mob: +39 348 8283101, 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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Tassare la pubblicità per regolamentare le Big Tech
by Giuseppe Attardi Aug. 19, 2021

Aug. 19, 2021

Da tempo sostengo che occorre intervenire sulla pubblicità per regolamentare le Big Tech. Ora lo dice anche il premio Nobel in Economia Paul Romer. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/06/14/1026207/taxing-digital-advertis… — Beppe

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The Taliban Have Seized U.S. Military Biometrics Devices
by Alberto Cammozzo Aug. 19, 2021

Aug. 19, 2021

<https://theintercept.com/2021/08/17/afghanistan-taliban-military-biometrics/> _The Taliban have_ seized U.S. military biometrics devices that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces, current and former military officials have told The Intercept. The devices, known as HIIDE, for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive, according to a Joint Special Operations Command official and three former U.S. military personnel, all of whom worried that sensitive data they contain could be used by the Taliban. HIIDE devices contain identifying biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints, as well as biographical information, and are used to access large centralized databases. It’s unclear how much of the U.S. military’s biometric database on the Afghan population has been compromised. While billed by the U.S. military as a means of tracking terrorists <https://www.army.mil/article/32609/bats_helps_id_insurgents_hostages> and other insurgents, biometric data on Afghans who assisted the U.S. was also widely collected and used in identification cards, sources said. “We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etc.” a U.S. military contractor explained. “[HIIDE] was used as a biometric ID tool to help ID locals working for the coalition.” A spokesperson for the Defense Intelligence Agency referred questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which did not respond to a request for comment. An Army Special Operations veteran said it’s possible that the Taliban may need additional tools to process the HIIDE data but expressed concerns that Pakistan would assist with this. “The Taliban doesn’t have the gear to use the data but the ISI do,” the former Special Operations official said, referring to Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. The ISI has been known to work closely with the Taliban. The U.S. military has long used HIIDE devices in the global war on terror and used biometrics to help identify <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-biometrics-helped-to-identif…> Osama bin Laden during the 2011 raid on his Pakistani hideout. According to investigative reporter Annie Jacobsen, the Pentagon had a goal <https://www.npr.org/2021/01/14/956705029/first-platoon-examines-how-war-on-…> to gather biometric data on 80 percent of the Afghan population to locate terrorists and criminals. <https://www.army.mil/article/47549/new_equipment_helps_troops_locate_insurg…> “I don’t think anyone ever thought about data privacy or what to do in the event the [HIIDE] system fell into the wrong hands,” said Welton Chang, chief technology officer for Human Rights First, himself a former Army intelligence officer. “Moving forward, the U.S. military and diplomatic apparatus should think carefully about whether to deploy these systems again in situations as tenuous as Afghanistan.” The Defense Department has also sought to share the biometrics data collected by HIIDE with other government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security. In 2011, the Government Accountability Office criticized <https://www.gao.gov/assets/a317375.html> the Pentagon for not doing enough to ensure these other surveillance agencies had easy access to the information, warning that the military “limits its federal partners’ ability to identify potential criminals or terrorists.” But the U.S. didn’t only collect information about criminals and terrorists; the government appears to also have been collecting biometrics from Afghans assisting diplomatic efforts, in addition to those working with the military. For example, a recent job posting by a State Department contractor sought to recruit a biometric technician with experience using HIIDE and other similar equipment to help vet personnel and enroll local Afghans seeking employment at U.S. embassies and consulates. The federal government has collected biometric data from Afghans despite knowing the risks entailed by maintaining large databases of personal information, especially given recent cyberattacks on government agencies and private companies. These efforts are continuing to expand. For example, a February 2020 article <https://peoiews.army.mil/aircraft-survivability-2-2/> published by the Army indicated that the service was modernizing its 20-year-old biometric processing technology and had saved more than 1 million entries in the Pentagon’s Automated Biometrics Identification System, or ABIS, which hosts HIIDE and data collected by other devices as well. “This updated database will make it more efficient for warfighters to collect, identify and neutralize the enemy,” wrote Col. Senodja Sundiata-Walker, project manager for the Pentagon’s biometrics program. President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for the Army in fiscal year 2022 seeks more than $11 million to purchase 95 new biometric collection devices expanding upon those used in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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US judge rejects suit over UK privacy law
by Enrico Nardelli Aug. 18, 2021

Aug. 18, 2021

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-tech/2021/08/18/china-seeks-gr… (la notizia è in basso) A ruling by a federal judge in California this week will likely quash any potential efforts to bring stricter European privacy laws into the U.S. legal system. On Monday, the court ruled against a U.K. citizen’s attempt to sue an American company over alleged violations — on British soil — of the U.K.’s version of the EU’s privacy law. — How it went down: The plaintiff, Hugh Elliott, was trying to file a U.S. class action suit composed solely of U.K. residents against PubMatic, a California-based third-party advertising company that uses cookies for its targeted marketing. When the plaintiff filed his lawsuit, PubMatic had placed 45 cookies in his web browser. But the move was blocked in a Monday order from Judge Phyllis Hamilton of Northern California’s federal district court, after PubMatic said it would submit to jurisdiction in the courts of England and Wales. — The privacy tug-of-war across the pond: The U.S. and Europe are increasingly facing down each other over privacy, including U.S. court orders demanding information protected under GDPR. Both sides are working on a replacement for the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield — a framework that allowed for transatlantic data transfers and had major implications for how U.S. tech companies operate in Europe — which has been invalidated by the courts. -- 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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Per i social l’Afghanistan diventa un “dilemma”
by don Luca Peyron Aug. 17, 2021

Aug. 17, 2021

Anche il mondo social lato aziende in fibrillazione per l'avanzata talebana. Un sunto dello stato dell'arte dl https://www.corrierecomunicazioni.it/over-the-top/facebook-vieta-i-contenut… _________________________ don Luca Peyron Direttore Ufficio per la Pastorale Universitaria Arcidiocesi di Torino www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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OpenAI's GPT-3-based pair programming model – Codex – now open for private beta testers through an API
by don Luca Peyron Aug. 17, 2021

Aug. 17, 2021

Un passo non particolarmente sorprendente immagino, tuttavia un passo fatto. Buona lettura dl https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/16/in_brief_ai/ _________________________ don Luca Peyron Direttore Ufficio per la Pastorale Universitaria Arcidiocesi di Torino www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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Tesla’s Autopilot faces US investigation after crashes with emergency vehicles
by Alberto Cammozzo Aug. 17, 2021

Aug. 17, 2021

<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/aug/16/teslas-autopilot-us-inve…> The US government has opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s driver-assistance system known as Autopilot after a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles. The investigation covers 765,000 vehicles, almost everything that Tesla has sold in the US since the start of the 2014 model year. Of the crashes identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as part of the investigation, 17 people were injured and one was killed. NHTSA says it has identified 11 crashes since 2018 in which Teslas on Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control have hit vehicles at scenes where first responders used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board or cones warning of hazards. The agency announced the action on Monday in a posting on its website. “Most incidents took place after dark and the crash scenes encountered included scene control measures such as first responder vehicle lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, and road cones,” the agency said. The investigation covers Tesla’s entire current model lineup, the Models Y, X, S and 3 from the 2014 through 2021 model years. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which also has investigated some of the Tesla crashes, has recommended that NHTSA and Tesla limit Autopilot’s use to areas where it can safely operate. The NTSB also recommended that NHTSA require Tesla to have a better system to make sure drivers are paying attention. NHTSA has not taken action on any of the recommendations. The NTSB has no enforcement powers and can only make recommendations to other federal agencies such as NHTSA. Autopilot has frequently been misused by Tesla drivers, who have been caught driving drunk or even riding in the back seat while a car rolled down a California highway. The investigation is the latest in a series launched by NHTSA which has opened at least 30 crash investigations involving Tesla cars that it suspected were linked to Autopilot. One investigation into a 2016 crash cleared Tesla’s Autopilot of any blame. Tesla and other manufacturers warn that drivers using the systems must be ready to intervene at all times. Teslas using the system have crashed into semis crossing in front of them, stopped emergency vehicles and a roadway barrier. A message was left early on Monday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations office. Earlier this month Tesla tweeted that “a Tesla with Autopilot engaged experienced 0.2 accidents per million miles driven, while the US average was 9x higher”. The crashes into emergency vehicles cited by NHTSA began on 22 January 2018 in Culver City near Los Angeles when a Tesla using Autopilot struck a firetruck that was parked partially in the travel lanes with its lights flashing. Crews were handling another crash at the time. Since then, the agency said there were crashes in Laguna Beach, California; Norwalk, Connecticut; Cloverdale, Indiana; West Bridgewater, Massachusetts; Cochise county, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina, Montgomery county, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; and Miami, Florida. “The investigation will assess the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist and enforce the driver’s engagement with the dynamic driving task during Autopilot operation,” NHTSA said in investigation documents. In addition, the investigation will cover object and event detection by the system, as well as where it is allowed to operate. NHTSA says it will examine “contributing circumstances” to the crashes, as well as similar crashes. An investigation could lead to a recall or other enforcement action by NHTSA. “NHTSA reminds the public that no commercially available motor vehicles today are capable of driving themselves,” the agency said in a statement. “Every available vehicle requires a human driver to be in control at all times, and all state laws hold human drivers responsible for operation of their vehicles.” The agency said it has “robust enforcement tools” to protect the public and investigate potential safety issues, and it will act when it finds evidence “of noncompliance or an unreasonable risk to safety”. In June NHTSA ordered all automakers to report any crashes involving fully autonomous vehicles or partially automated driver assist systems. The measures show the agency has started to take a tougher stance on automated vehicle safety than in the past. It has been reluctant to issue any regulations of the new technology for fear of hampering adoption of the potentially life-saving systems. Shares of Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, fell nearly 2% before the opening bell.

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Sul lavoro agile Generali scrive le regole per il post emergenza
by don Luca Peyron Aug. 17, 2021

Aug. 17, 2021

Interessante sperimentazione con accordo tra le parti sociali, un primo approccio che rimette al centro le persone, di interesse per gli studi in questo senso Buona lettura dl https://www.snfia.it/wp-content/uploads/20210727-Gruppo-Generali-Accordo-Ne… _________________________ don Luca Peyron Direttore Ufficio per la Pastorale Universitaria Arcidiocesi di Torino www.universitari.to.it via XX settembre 83, Torino tel. 011 5156239

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discorso di Jeffrey Sachs
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 16, 2021

Aug. 16, 2021

Breve discorso (10') del Professor Jeffrey Sachs. Ammetto che i riferimenti al digitale ci sono (parla anche di "digital access") ma non sono certo predominanti; tuttavia consentitemi lo stesso di segnalarvi questo discorso perché è raro sentire parlare in un'occasione ufficiale in questo modo, ovvero, con così tanta lucidità, passione e coraggio: https://youtu.be/WZ1xc491mnU juan carlos

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