Example articles from the Privacy Project:
-
James Bennet: Do You Know What You’ve Given Up?
-
A. G. Sulzberger: How The Times Thinks About Privacy
-
Samantha Irby: I Don’t Care. I Love My Phone.
-
Tim Wu: How Capitalism Betrayed Privacy
On 03/23/2019,
in Canada, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values,
by Daniel Christian
The moral issue here — from law21.ca by Jordan Furlong
Excerpt:
“I’m not worried about the moral issue here,” said Gordon Caplan, the co-chair of AmLaw 100 law firm Wilkie Farr, according to transcripts of wiretaps in the college admission scandal that you’re already starting to forget about. Mr. Caplan was concerned that if his daughter “was caught …she’d be finished,” and that her faked ACT score should not be set “too high” and therefore not be credible. Beyond that, all we know from the transcripts about Mr. Caplan’s ethical qualms is that “to be honest, it feels a little weird. But.”
That’s the line that stays with me, right through the “But” at the end. I want to tell you why, and I especially want to tell you if you’re a law student or a new lawyer, because it is extraordinarily important that you understand what’s going on here.
…
So why does any of this matter to lawyers, especially to young lawyers? Because of that one line I quoted.
“I mean this is, to be honest, it feels a little weird. But.”
Do you recognize that sound? That’s the sound of a person’s conscience, a lawyer’s conscience, struggling to make its voice heard.
This one apparently can’t muster much more than a twinge of doubt, a feeling of discomfort, a nagging sense of this isn’t right and I shouldn’t be doing it. It lasts for only a second, though, because the next word fatally undermines it. But. Yeah, I know, at some fundamental level, this is wrong. But.
It doesn’t matter what rationalization or justification follows the But, because at this point, it’s all over. The battle has been abandoned. If the next word out of his mouth had been So or Therefore, Mr. Caplan’s life would have gone in a very different direction.
On 03/19/2019,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, change, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, ethics, future, game-changing environment, generational differences, human-computer interaction (HCI), law schools, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, pace of change, platforms, society, sociology, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, tools, United States,
by Daniel Christian
A Chinese subway is experimenting with facial recognition to pay for fares — from theverge.com by Shannon Liao
Excerpt:
Scanning your face on a screen to get into the subway might not be that far off in the future. In China’s tech capital, Shenzhen, a local subway operator is testing facial recognition subway access, powered by a 5G network, as spotted by the South China Morning Post.
The trial is limited to a single station thus far, and it’s not immediately clear how this will work for twins or lookalikes. People entering the station can scan their faces on the screen where they would normally have tapped their phones or subway cards. Their fare then gets automatically deducted from their linked accounts. They will need to have registered their facial data beforehand and linked a payment method to their subway account.
From DSC:
I don’t want this type of thing here in the United States. But…now what do I do? What about you? What can we do? What paths are open to us to stop this?
I would argue that the new, developing, technological “Wild Wests” in many societies throughout the globe could be dangerous to our futures. Why? Because the pace of change has changed. And these new Wild Wests now have emerging, powerful, ever-more invasive (i.e., privacy-stealing) technologies to deal with — the likes of which the world has never seen or encountered before. With this new, rapid pace of change, societies aren’t able to keep up.
And who is going to use the data? Governments? Large tech companies? Other?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m generally pro-technology. But this new pace of change could wreak havoc on us. We need time to weigh in on these emerging techs.
Addendum on 3/20/19:
- Chinese Facial Recognition Database Exposes 2.5 Million People — from futurumresearch.com by Shelly Kramer
Excerpt:
An artificial intelligence company operating a facial recognition system in China recently left its database exposed online, leaving the personal information of some 2.5 million Chinese citizens vulnerable. Considering how much the Chinese government relies on facial recognition technology, this is a big deal—for both the Chinese government and Chinese citizens.
On 03/13/2019,
in ethics, faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, morals/values, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
Isaiah 55:8-11 New International Version (NIV) — from biblegateway.com
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
On 03/03/2019,
in ethics, faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, law schools, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, relationships, religion, society, sociology,
by Daniel Christian
Isaiah 58:6-11 New International Version (NIV) — from biblegateway.com
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
On 02/27/2019,
in 21st century, adjunct faculty, computer science, education, education reform, emerging technologies, ethics, faculty/staff, future, game-changing environment, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, liberal arts, morals/values, society, sociology, United States, universities, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
A model for other CS departments to follow? https://t.co/KchlDi2Try
— Chris Kuang (@chris_kuang) February 22, 2019
Joint CS and Philosophy Initiative, Embedded EthiCS, Triples in Size to 12 Courses — from thecrimson.com by Ruth Hailu and Amy Jia
Excerpt:
The idea behind the Embedded EthiCS initiative arose three years ago after students in Grosz’s course, CS 108: “Intelligent Systems: Design and Ethical Challenges,” pushed for an increased emphasis on ethical reasoning within discussions surrounding technology, according to Grosz and Simmons. One student suggested Grosz reach out to Simmons, who also recognized the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to computer science.
“Not only are today’s students going to be designing technology in the future, but some of them are going to go into government and be working on regulation,” Simmons said. “They need to understand how [ethical issues] crop up, and they need to be able to identify them.”
On 02/21/2019,
in computer science, emerging technologies, engineering, ethics, human-computer interaction (HCI), India, intelligent systems, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, morals/values, pace of change, platforms, programming, robotics, society,
by Daniel Christian
India Just Swore in Its First Robot Police Officer — from futurism.com by Dan Robitzski
RoboCop, meet KP-Bot.
Excerpt:
RoboCop
India just swore in its first robotic police officer, which is named KP-Bot.
The animatronic-looking machine was granted the rank of sub-inspector on Tuesday, and it will operate the front desk of Thiruvananthapuram police headquarters, according to India Today.
From DSC:
Whoa….hmmm…note to the ABA and to the legal education field — and actually to anyone involved in developing laws — we need to catch up. Quickly.
My thoughts go to the governments and to the militaries around the globe. Are we now on a slippery slope? How far along are the militaries of the world in integrating robotics and AI into their weapons of war? Quite far, I think.
Also, at the higher education level, are Computer Science and Engineering Departments taking their responsibilities seriously in this regard? What kind of teaching is being done (or not done) in terms of the moral responsibilities of their code? Their robots?
On 01/31/2019,
in business, career development, collaboration, communications, computer science, corporate / business world, creativity, curriculum, education, engineering, ethics, global / globalization, higher education, ideas, K-12 related, leadership, marketplaces, morals/values, reinvent, relationships, society, staying relevant, STEAM-related, surviving, using teams, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
LinkedIn 2019 Talent Trends: Soft Skills, Transparency and Trust — from linkedin.com by Josh Bersin
Excerpts:
This week LinkedIn released its 2019 Global Talent Trends research, a study that summarizes job and hiring data across millions of people, and the results are quite interesting. (5,165 talent and managers responded, a big sample.)
In an era when automation, AI, and technology has become more pervasive, important (and frightening) than ever, the big issue companies face is about people: how we find and develop soft skills, how we create fairness and transparency, and how we make the workplace more flexible, humane, and honest.
…
The most interesting part of this research is a simple fact: in today’s world of software engineering and ever-more technology, it’s soft skills that employers want. 91% of companies cited this as an issue and 80% of companies are struggling to find better soft skills in the market.
What is a “soft skill?” The term goes back twenty years when we had “hard skills” (engineering and science) so we threw everything else into the category of “soft.” In reality soft skills are all the human skills we have in teamwork, leadership, collaboration, communication, creativity, and person to person service. It’s easy to “teach” hard skills, but soft skills must be “learned.”
Also see:
Employers Want ‘Uniquely Human Skills’ — from campustechnology.com by Dian Schaffhauser
Excerpt:
According to 502 hiring managers and 150 HR decision-makers, the top skills they’re hunting for among new hires are:
- The ability to listen (74 percent);
- Attention to detail and attentiveness (70 percent);
- Effective communication (69 percent);
- Critical thinking (67 percent);
- Strong interpersonal abilities (65 percent); and
- Being able to keep learning (65 percent).