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Category Archives: EU Data Protection

Antisemitism has moved from the right to the left in the US − and falls back on long-standing stereotypes

Via LLRXAntisemitism has moved from the right to the left in the US − and falls back on long-standing stereotypes – Prof. Arie Perliger, director of the graduate program in Security Studies at the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell addresses the fact the the U.S. is currently experiencing one of the most significant waves of antisemitism that it has ever seen. Jewish communities are shaken and traumatized. Jewish and civil rights organizations both in the U.S. and in other Western countries reported a rise in antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli military response. The Anti-Defamation League reported that in the first week after Hamas’ deadly attack, in which 1,400 Israelis were killed, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. tripled in comparison to the same week last year. Similarly, London police recorded a 1,353% increase in antisemitic crimes compared with the same period a year earlier. In addition, antisemitic symbols and rhetoric seem to be part of a growing number of protests that erupted around the globe following the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

See also JTA – At a meeting with Jewish leaders, Biden administration officials vowed to make a plan within two weeks to counter what they say is an alarming rise in antisemitism at U.S. colleges and universities since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack started a war with Israel…The Biden Administration has also expedited an initiative launched just over a week before the Hamas attack to instruct federal officials to include antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry as protected under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. That initiative was part of a broader presidential strategy to combat antisemitism launched in May, the first of its kind.

AI in Banking and Finance, October 15, 2023

Via LLRX – AI in Banking and Finance, September 15, 2023 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government reports, industry white papers, academic papers and speeches on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available,… Continue Reading

IBM promised to back off facial recognition then signed a $69.8M contract to provide it

The Verge: “The company denies its new government deal enables ‘general purpose’ biometric surveillance. Human rights advocates disagree. IBM has returned to the facial recognition market — just three years after announcing it was abandoning work on the technology due to concerns about racial profiling, mass surveillance, and other human rights violations. In June 2020,… Continue Reading

Social media giants urged to tackle data-scraping privacy risks

Tech Crunch: “A joint statement signed by regulators at a dozen international privacy watchdogs, including the U.K.’s ICO, Canada’s OPC and Hong Kong’s OPCPD, has urged mainstream social media platforms to protect users’ public posts from scraping — warning they face a legal responsibility to do so in most markets. “In most jurisdictions, personal information… Continue Reading

How governments are looking to regulate AI

Economist Intelligence – EIU: The EU has taken the lead with the strictest rules, which will have the biggest impact globally Chinese rules are also strict, but their impact is domestic, and geared towards keeping control and power with the ruling party The US favours innovation, and its political system hinders any attempt at regulation,… Continue Reading

The Coolest Library on Earth

Hakai Magazine:  “At the University of Copenhagen, researchers store ice cores that hold the keys to Earth’s climate past and future…Copenhagen is one of several places in the world where pieces of ice cores drilled from our planet’s extremities are kept safely cold. Other large research freezers are located in the United States, Australia, France,… Continue Reading

Do Foundation Model Providers Comply with the Draft EU AI Act?

Stanford University Center for Research on Foundation Models, Rishi Bommasani and Kevin Klyman and Daniel Zhang and Percy Liang: “Foundation models like ChatGPT are transforming society with their remarkable capabilities, serious risks, rapid deployment, unprecedented adoption, and unending controversy. Simultaneously, the European Union (EU) is finalizing its AI Act as the world’s first comprehensive regulation… Continue Reading

Data Act: Commission welcomes political agreement on rules for a fair and innovative data economy

European Commission: “The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, on the European Data Act, proposed by the Commission in February 2022. Today, the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution fuels exponential growth with projected data volume set to skyrocket in the coming years. A significant… Continue Reading

Top EU Tech Regulator – Twitter to Face Stress Test This Month

WSJ [free link to article]: “European Union regulators plan to subject Twitter to a stress test to determine how well it complies with Europe’s new digital-content law, a top EU tech regulator said, ramping up the bloc’s preparations for enforcing the West’s most far-reaching digital-content law. A team of roughly five to 10 digital specialists… Continue Reading

EU names 19 large tech platforms that must follow Europe’s new Internet rules

Ars Technica: “The European Commission will require 19 large online platforms and search engines to comply with new online content regulations starting on August 25, European officials said. The EC specified which companies must comply with the rules for the first time, announcing today that it “adopted the first designation decisions under the Digital Services… Continue Reading

Digital Privacy Legislation is Civil Rights Legislation

EFF: “As Congress ponders legislation to reform “big tech,” it must view comprehensive digital privacy legislation as desperately needed civil rights legislation, because data abuses often disproportionately harm communities already bearing the brunt of other inequalities. Harvesting and monetizing personal data whenever anyone uses social media or even vital online services has become ubiquitous, yet… Continue Reading

Primer – Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law

The Alan Turing Institute and the Council of Europe: Primer – Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law: “…It is a remarkable fact that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven technologies over the last two decades have placed contemporary society at a pivot-point in deciding what shape the future of… Continue Reading