Author: jon
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#StopShotSpotter: my comments at the Seattle Budget Committee hearing
See the livetweet thread here for context. I’m Jon. My comments today focus on the $1 million for gunshot detection. Gun violence is a huge problem – but systems like ShotSpotter won’t help address it. These systems don’t reduce crime. Instead, they waste police time and resources – and harm people in the communities they’re…
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Privacy News: October 10
A US/EU data transfer agreement, student privacy, privacy after Roe, Colorado privacy regulations … and more! President Biden Signs Executive Order to Implement the European Union-U.S. Data Privacy Framework The White House (whitehouse.gov) Biden’s Executive Order (EO) is the latest attempt to satisfy European Union (EU) concerns about US intelligence agencies’ access to data and…
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Federal Privacy Legislation: What’s likely to happen the “lame duck” session?
With the House on recess until after the election, the only chance for federal privacy legislation to move forward is in the “lame duck” session in November and December. At the Washington Post Across the Aisle livestream in late September, Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) co-sponsor Rep. Frank Pallone said there was still plenty…
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Privacy News: October 6
Before we get to news around the web, a couple of updates here on The Nexus of Privacy: Last week’s post on #StopShotSpotter now has updates about Detroit, Cleveland, and Dayton – which decided not to renew its ShotSpotter contract! Yesterday’s White House Releases a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” now has an…
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White House Releases a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights”
“This is the Biden-Harris administration really saying that we need to work together, not only just across government, but across all sectors, to really put equity at the center and civil rights at the center of the ways that we make and use and govern technologies. We can and should expect better and demand better…
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#StopShotSpotter: Detroit, Cleveland, Portland, Seattle, Dayton and a short reference list (UPDATED)
Originally written September 29; last updated October 5. See the Updates at the bottom. “We cannot ignore the fact that there’s no data that proves that ShotSpotter actually works…. I’ve asked (police) give me some data. Please. Don’t just be running around putting fear into people. Folks are scared to death in this city. They…
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Privacy News: October 4 mega-update
Once again, it’s been over a week since the last update so this is a loooong list. Where to start? With federal privacy legislation, of course, followed by post-Roe privacy, automated decision systems, news from “across the pond” … and much much more, with almost 50 links all together. Federal privacy legislation Passage of Federal…
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“White Man’s Gambit”: yet another ‘pundit’ suggests a real names policy
Every few weeks or so, someone white dude suggests that the way to solve all of our online problems is to require users to submit ID verification and use their “real names,” ignoring years of research and commentary. This is what I like to call the White Man’s Gambit. – Jillian C. York, Peter Steiner’s…
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Comments For Impact: Using FTC Rulemaking to Challenge Commercial Surveillance and Consumer Data Abuses
The next Disinfo Defense League training is on Tuesday, October 4, at 9:00 am Pacific Time (12:00 noon Eastern). The session is open to the public and will help organizations consider how to get involved in this exciting process. RSVP at bit.ly/CommentsForImpact From the description: Big news: the Federal Trade Commission has announced it will…
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Federal privacy legislation: a quick ADPPA roundup
One of Big Tech’s favorite tactics in their incessant attempts to pass weak privacy here in Washington state has been to try to push a “compromise” bill through at the very end of the session…. So it wouldn’t surprise me if there are still some shenanigans in store for ADPPA. – Who could have predicted?…
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Surveillance cameras in New York subway cars: Whose voices are heard?
This was originally published as part of the September 26 Privacy News, but it’s long enough that it deserves its own post. The ‘Surveillance Solutionism’ of Putting Cameras in NYC Subways Alfred Fox Cahn, Wired (wired.com) “You think Big Brother’s watching you on the subways?” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at a news conference…
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Privacy News: September 26
Note: after publication, I moved the top story here to a separate post: Surveillance cameras in New York subway cars: Whose voices are heard? Privacy after Roe Apple Keeps Pretending We Don’t Live in a Post-Roe World Justin Sherman, Slate’s Future Tense (slate.com) Apple’s latest version of its Watch includes fertility tracking. What could possibly…
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Privacy News: September 23
Every time I do one of these, I’m surprised by how many interesting privacy-related stories there are out there. Admittedly, most of them are depressing, but still! Despite Privacy Concerns, San Francisco Supervisors Expand Police Access to Live Camera Feeds Janie Har, Associated Press and KQED Staff on KQED (kqed.org) Ignoring the concerns of civil…
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“An alphabet soup of federal privacy legislation”
Here’s the video of the webinar Maya Morales of WA People’s Privacy and I did, discussing the various privacy bills Congress is working on. Thanks to Electronic Frontiers Georgia for hosting! Or, if you prefer, here it is on Facebook. Here’s the description: Congress is working on a half-dozen privacy bills, most of them…
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Privacy News: September 20
Tracked: How Colleges Use AI To Monitor Student Protests Arijit Douglas Sen and Derêka Bennett, Dallas Morning News / Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network (pulitzercenter.org) Social Sentinel (now known as Navigate360 Detect) offers schools colleges technology to scan social media posts from students. The company positions it as a life-saving tool to help students…
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Privacy News: September 17 mega-update
It’s been ten days since our last privacy news update, so we’ve got even more links than normal. Electronic Frontier Foundation to Present Annual Awards to Alaa Abd El-Fattah, Digital Defense Fund, and Kyle Wiens Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org) This year’s EFF awards for helping to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for…
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Who could have predicted? A potential “new compromise” for ADPPA!
Last updated September 15 It could well be that [lobbyist Jon] Leibowitz et. al. are just posturing, and the industry plan is to demand concessions on other fronts in return for a “compromise” on preemption: add California’s privacy law to the already-long list of preemption exceptions, give the California Privacy Protection Agency the authority they…
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Automated Systems and Discrimination: Comments at FTC Public Forum for Commercial Surveillance and Data Security
The September 8 Who Audits the Auditors policy recommendations And the details of the rulemaking matter a lot. Too often, well-intended regulation has weaknesses that commercial surveillance companies, with their hundreds of lawyers, can easily exploit. Looking at proposals through an algorithmic justice lens can highlight where they fall short. For example, here’s how the…
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Stress-testing privacy legislation with a queer lens
Last updated: November 18. See Updates at the end for a change log. The best way for any federal or state legislature to assure all consumers’ privacy is protected online is to stress-test their laws against the harsh and worsening realities of queer experiences. If a law can protect queer interests, it will ensure that…
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Privacy News: September 6
At least in Washington state, there’s already a touch of fall in the air … as well as plenty of provacy news of course! Encrypted app Signal just hired one of Big Tech’s sharpest critics Nitasha Tiku on The Washington Post (washingtonpost.com) Meredith Whittaker, the former Google manager, is Signal’s first President. (Signal founder…