News Article (130)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2019
Non-profit companies such as Thorn and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection are using existing software, particularly facial recognition algorithms, to discover ways to become more proactive in fighting child pornography and human trafficking on the dark web.
- Wired
- 2019
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- 5 min
- Wired
- 2019
How Facial Recognition is fighting child sex trafficking
Non-profit companies such as Thorn and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection are using existing software, particularly facial recognition algorithms, to discover ways to become more proactive in fighting child pornography and human trafficking on the dark web.
How has technology facilitated underground illegal activities, such as child trafficking? How has technology also facilitated fighting back against them? What is your opinion on the debate on whether or not law enforcement should have extensive access to facial recognition technology or machine learning algorithms?
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2019
Internet users should start considering private browsers such as Duckduckgo to promote privacy and prevent personalized search results and ads. Many different pieces of software, including browsers by larger tech companies, are beginning to take this approach of erasing data, blocking outside tracking, or preventing cookies.
- Wired
- 2019
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2019
It’s Time to Switch to a Privacy Browser
Internet users should start considering private browsers such as Duckduckgo to promote privacy and prevent personalized search results and ads. Many different pieces of software, including browsers by larger tech companies, are beginning to take this approach of erasing data, blocking outside tracking, or preventing cookies.
Consider if the privacy-oriented browsers described in the article were the default. Whose interests would this work towards? Whose interests would this work against?
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- 5 min
- Gizmodo
- 2020
This article describes the new Amazon Sidewalk feature and subsequently explains why users should not buy into this service. Essentially, this feature uses the internet of things created by Amazon devices such as the Echo or Ring camera to create a secondary network connecting nearby homes which also contain these devices, which is sustained by each home “donating” a small amount of broadband. It is explained that this is a dangerous concept because this smaller network may be susceptible to hackers, putting a large number of users at risk.
- Gizmodo
- 2020
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- 5 min
- Gizmodo
- 2020
You Need to Opt Out of Amazon Sidewalk
This article describes the new Amazon Sidewalk feature and subsequently explains why users should not buy into this service. Essentially, this feature uses the internet of things created by Amazon devices such as the Echo or Ring camera to create a secondary network connecting nearby homes which also contain these devices, which is sustained by each home “donating” a small amount of broadband. It is explained that this is a dangerous concept because this smaller network may be susceptible to hackers, putting a large number of users at risk.
Why are “secondary networks” like the one described here a bad idea in terms of both surveillance and data privacy? Is it possible for the world to be too networked? How can tech developers make sure the general public has a healthy skepticism toward new devices? Or is it ultimately Amazon’s job to think about the ethical implications of this secondary network before introducing it for profits?
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- 5 min
- BBC News
- 2019
A Google affiliated urban development project in Toronto has raised concerns about the data privacy of its citizens. Specifically, the collection of large amounts of data within this “smart city” and the potential private direction of public services like transportation cause citizen pushback.
- BBC News
- 2019
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- 5 min
- BBC News
- 2019
The Google city that has angered Toronto
A Google affiliated urban development project in Toronto has raised concerns about the data privacy of its citizens. Specifically, the collection of large amounts of data within this “smart city” and the potential private direction of public services like transportation cause citizen pushback.
Can data be used as any sort of definitive solution to urban planning? What voices or considerations seem to be left out of the smart city vision? To whom do cities belong, and to whom should they belong?
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2020
As different levels of the U.S government have introduced and passed bills regulating or banning the use of facial recognition technologies, tech monopolies such as Amazon and IBM have become important lobbying agents in these conversations. It seems that most larger groups are on different pages in terms of how exactly face recognition algorithms should be limited or used, especially given their negative impacts on privacy when used for surveillance.
- Wired
- 2020
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- 7 min
- Wired
- 2020
Congress Is Eyeing Face Recognition, and Companies Want a Say
As different levels of the U.S government have introduced and passed bills regulating or banning the use of facial recognition technologies, tech monopolies such as Amazon and IBM have become important lobbying agents in these conversations. It seems that most larger groups are on different pages in terms of how exactly face recognition algorithms should be limited or used, especially given their negative impacts on privacy when used for surveillance.
Can and should the private sector be regulated in its use of facial recognition technologies? How is it that tech monopolies might hold so much sway with government officials, and how can this be addressed? Do the benefits of facial recognition, such as convenience at the airport, listed at the end of the article make enough of a case against a complete ban of the technology, or do the bad applications ultimately outweigh the good ones? What would the ideal bill look like in terms of limiting or banning facial recognition?
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- 5 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
In recent municipal elections in Brazil, the software and hardware of a machine learning technology provided by Oracle failed to properly do its job in counting the votes. This ultimately led to a delay in the results, as the AI had not been properly calibrated beforehand.
- ZDNet
- 2020
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- 5 min
- ZDNet
- 2020
AI Failure in Elections
In recent municipal elections in Brazil, the software and hardware of a machine learning technology provided by Oracle failed to properly do its job in counting the votes. This ultimately led to a delay in the results, as the AI had not been properly calibrated beforehand.
Who had responsibility to fully test and calibrate this AI before it was used for an election? What sorts of more dire consequences could result from a failure of AI to properly count votes? What are the implications of an American tech monopoly providing this faulty technology to another country’s elections?