- nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

Free Basics By Facebook – An Interview With Nishant Shah | Spheres
by J.C. DE MARTIN July 5, 2016

July 5, 2016

Following up the internet’s early democratic dreams, the Facebook-led initiative Free Basics, formerly known as internet.org, seeks to create a connected world by establishing internet access in areas, which, often due to financial reasons, have been disconnected so far. Despite the seemingly sensible purpose, the initiative has been highly scrutinised. Particularly in India, internet.org faced many complaints, ultimately resulting in the project being abandoned in the country. In the following interview, Nishant Shah, former director for research at the Center for Internet and Society in Bangalore and currently teaching at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, will illuminate several aspects of internet.org and its critique, addressing issues such as net neutrality, the importance of a universal internet access strategy and the conditions for its global implementation. http://spheres-journal.org/interview-on-internet-org/ (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

1 0

Uber Data And Leaked Docs Provide A Look At How Much Uber Drivers Make
by J.C. DE MARTIN July 4, 2016

July 4, 2016

https://www.buzzfeed.com/carolineodonovan/internal-uber-driver-pay-numbers?… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

1 0

il potere dei blog ("The Obscure Blogger Who Reversed the Recession")
by J.C. DE MARTIN July 4, 2016

July 4, 2016

Bell'esempio del potere dei blog (e anche bel video): http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/488948/the-obscure-blogger-who-rever… E' anche un inno al lavoro accademico di lungo termine, apparentemente oscuro, ma che alla fine manifesta la sua importanza. juan carlos *The Obscure Blogger Who Reversed the Recession* Jun 30, 2016 | 432 videos Video by Ian Reid Scott Sumner is a monetary economist who studies the Great Depression and runs the blog The Money Illusion. He also used his knowledge 20th century economics to help fix the 2007-2009 recession. “Most of the discussion was missing the point,” Sumner says in this film by Ian Reid. “Other economists were looking at interest rates. They assumed money was easy. But commodity prices, stock prices, real estate prices, every other asset market was signaling money was too tight.” This film was produced by Distant Moon and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

1 0

Linee guida di design per siti web di Regioni e Comuni
by Mauro Alovisio July 4, 2016

July 4, 2016

- Gent.me/mi - - segnalo news di interesse dal sito di Agid Cordiali saluti Mauro Alovisio - http://www.agid.gov.it/notizie/2016/07/03/online-linee-guida-design-i-siti-… - Online le linee guida di design per i siti web di Regioni e Comuni Online le linee guida di design per i siti web di Regioni e Comuni *Lunedì, 4 Luglio, 2016* I portali di Regione Sardegna e dei Comuni di Biella, Matera e Venezia primi progetti di un percorso che mira a migliorare il dialogo tra cittadini e pubblica amministrazione. [image: Online le linee guida di design per i siti web di Regioni e Comuni] Prosegue il percorso intrapreso dall’Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale verso la definizione di servizi online più semplici e orientati alle esigenze dei cittadini. Sono online le linee guida di design per Regioni e Comuni (link is external) <http://design.italia.it/>, che hanno l’obiettivo di definire standard web di usabilità e design condivisi da tutta la pubblica amministrazione. Dopo le amministrazioni centrali, anche quelle locali saranno guidate nella creazione di portali istituzionali più chiari e di più semplice fruizione. Da oggi sono online come progetti pilota i siti web del Comune di Biella, (link is external) <http://www.comune.biella.it/> del Comune di Matera (link is external) <http://www.comune.matera.it/> e della Regione Sardegna (link is external) <http://alpha.regione.sardegna.it>, cui farà seguito la progressiva integrazione dei contenuti. Anche il Comune di Venezia (link is external) <http://www.comune.venezia.it/> ha rinnovato il proprio portale istituzionale nel rispetto delle linee guida. Le linee guida nascono per semplificare l’accesso ai servizi e alle informazioni di carattere istituzionale. Rappresentano uno strumento volto a favorire il dialogo via web tra pubbliche amministrazioni e cittadini, colmando il divario che ci separa dai principali paesi europei. L’obiettivo finale è quello di fornire un’esperienza web più utile, semplice e intuitiva e che consenta un risparmio di tempo e risorse per cittadini e PA. Nei prossimi mesi, AgID ha previsto la definizione di specifiche indicazioni rivolte al mondo della scuola e delle università, nonchè l'ampliamento delle linee guida dai siti web ai servizi digitali. Comunicato stampa (PDF) <http://www.agid.gov.it/sites/default/files/ufficio_stampa/linee_guida_desig…> Tag: linee guida design PA <http://www.agid.gov.it/tags/linee-guida-design-pa>

1 0

Filtering, blocking and take-down of illegal content on the Internet
by J.C. DE MARTIN July 4, 2016

July 4, 2016

http://www.coe.int/en/web/freedom-expression/study-filtering-blocking-and-t… (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

1 0

Type I Diabetes, Coeliac Disease, Tennis.: When data fluxes collide: random thoughts on privacy and security.
by J.C. DE MARTIN July 4, 2016

July 4, 2016

http://type1tennis.blogspot.it/2016/05/when-data-fluxes-collide-random.html (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

1 0

A l’ère numérique, le capitalisme compatissant
by Alberto Cammozzo July 2, 2016

July 2, 2016

Bel pezzo di Morozov <http://blog.mondediplo.net/2016-07-02-A-l-ere-numerique-le-capitalisme-comp…> Conclude: Pour être tout à fait libre dans un avenir proche qui, curieusement, ressemble de plus en plus à notre passé féodal (lire « Féodalisme 2.0 »), nous devrons d’abord prêter allégeance à un géant de la technologie. Le jour où notre entreprise suzeraine se tournera vers un autre modèle commercial, ou décidera simplement que notre liberté n’est plus justifiée par les calculs de rentabilité, il nous faudra alors trouver un autre garant privé de notre liberté.

1 0

Facebook wins privacy case, can now track any Belgian it wants
by Alberto Cammozzo July 2, 2016

July 2, 2016

Facebook can go back to tracking Belgians who aren't logged in or don't have an account. <http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/06/facebook-wins-privacy-case-aga…> In a somewhat unexpected twist, Facebook has won a legal battle against Belgium's data protection authority, which had sought to prevent Facebook from tracking non-Facebook (or not-logged-into-Facebook) users, both on the Facebook website itself but also via the company's Like and Share buttons that can be found in even the darkest depths of the known universe. The Brussels appeals court dismissed the case on Wednesday, saying that the Belgian CPP (Commission for the Protection of Privacy) had no jurisdiction over Facebook, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. "We are pleased with the court's decision and look forward to bringing all our services back online for people in Belgium," a Facebook spokesperson said. "Today's decision simply and purely means that the Belgian citizen cannot obtain the protection of his private life through the courts and tribunals when it concerns foreign actors," the CPP said in a statement. The CPP also said that it may launch an appeal to the Belgian Court of Cassation—the court of last resort—which in the past had overruled cases that involved foreign company jurisdiction. Back in November 2015, a lower court ruled in favour of the CPP and ordered Facebook to quit tracking people who don't have a Facebook account or who aren't currently logged into the service. If Facebook didn't comply, it faced fines of up to €250,000 per day. Suffice it to say, the company complied: in December, Facebook said that it had stopped tracking Belgian visitors who were not logged in. Further Reading Facebook must stop tracking Belgian users within 48 hours, or be fined €250K per day More privacy woes for the company in the wake of Safe Harbour being struck down. Today's ruling is certainly a win for Facebook, but it's not the end of the story. The initial Belgian court ruling was based on EU privacy law, and so it's safe to assume that other national regulators will bring cases against Facebook in due course. Two likely candidates for following Belgian's example are the Netherlands and Germany, both of whose data protection authorities have been part of a European task force investigating possible violations of EU law by Facebook.

1 0

Paper "EU regulations on algorithmic decision-making and a "right to explanation""
by J.C. DE MARTIN July 2, 2016

July 2, 2016

Segnalo confidando di sentire il parere degli esperti. juan carlos EU regulations on algorithmic decision-making and a "right to explanation" Bryce Goodman <http://arxiv.org/find/stat/1/au:+Goodman_B/0/1/0/all/0/1>, Seth Flaxman <http://arxiv.org/find/stat/1/au:+Flaxman_S/0/1/0/all/0/1> (Submitted on 28 Jun 2016) We summarize the potential impact that the European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation will have on the routine use of machine learning algorithms. Slated to take effect as law across the EU in 2018, it will restrict automated individual decision-making (that is, algorithms that make decisions based on user-level predictors) which "significantly affect" users. The law will also create a "right to explanation," whereby a user can ask for an explanation of an algorithmic decision that was made about them. We argue that while this law will pose large challenges for industry, it highlights opportunities for machine learning researchers to take the lead in designing algorithms and evaluation frameworks which avoid discrimination. Comments: presented at 2016 ICML Workshop on Human Interpretability in Machine Learning (WHI 2016), New York, NY Subjects: Machine Learning (stat.ML); Computers and Society (cs.CY); Learning (cs.LG) Cite as: arXiv:1606.08813 <http://arxiv.org/abs/1606.08813> [stat.ML] (or arXiv:1606.08813v1 <http://arxiv.org/abs/1606.08813v1> [stat.ML] for this version)

1 0

Miles gloriosus cyberneticus
by Alberto Cammozzo July 2, 2016

July 2, 2016

Zero-day come arma segreta, da nascondere e in parte esibire. Swaggering in Cyberspace: Busting the Conventional Wisdom on Cyber Coercion <http://warontherocks.com/2016/06/swaggering-in-cyberspace-busting-the-conve…> Given increases in the ability and willingness of various actors to target a nation’s critical infrastructure, David Gompert and Hans Binnendijk have argued that the United States should use cyber operations to “amp up the power to coerce.” This is a reasonable objective, but it ignores the conventional wisdom about cyber coercion that says it doesn’t work. A major component of successful coercion is detailing the pain your enemy may endure. Communicating that capability in the cyber realm is likely to induce your enemy to “patch” the vulnerability you were hoping to exploit. How can actors ever coerce targets with cyber weapons if threatening them effectively neutralizes their utility? We propose one possible way of resolving this problem: selectively revealing an individual cyber tactic to your opponent. Exploiting the “perishable” nature of certain cyber weapons helps to address some of the problems with cyber coercion, though many problems will remain. This is true in at least three ways. First, it can reduce the uncertainty surrounding your capabilities by hinting at the breadth or depth of your remaining cyber arsenal. Second, because these weapons can be costly to develop, burning a tactic or vulnerability can serve as a “sunk cost” signal of resolve. Third, since some cyber weapons may be more damaging than others, the choice of which vulnerability to burn can communicate your level of interest in the dispute.

1 0