Imagine, for a moment, the near future Amazon dreams of. Every morning, you are gently awakened by the Amazon Halo Rise. From its perch on your nightstand, the round device has spent the night monitoring the movements of your body, the light in your room, and the space’s temperature and humidity. At the optimal moment in your sleep cycle, as calculated by a proprietary algorithm, the device’s light gradually brightens to mimic the natural warm hue of sunrise. Your Amazon Echo, plugged in somewhere nearby, automatically starts playing your favorite music as part of your wake-up routine. You ask the device about the day’s weather; it tells you to expect rain. Then it informs you that your next “Subscribe & Save” shipment of Amazon Elements Super Omega-3 softgels is out for delivery. On your way to the bathroom, a notification bubbles up on your phone from Amazon’s Neighbors app, which is populated with video footage from the area’s Amazon Ring cameras: Someone has been overturning garbage cans, leaving the community’s yards a total wreck. (Maybe it’s just raccoons.) [...] Source: Amazon and the Rise of ‘Luxury Surveillance’ – The Atlantic
How to Read the White House’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights | Data & Society: Points
Nearly a year ago, Dr. Alondra Nelson of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) shared a vision for an AI Bill of Rights, arguing that “our country should clarify the rights and freedoms we expect data-driven technologies to respect.” At Data & Society, we believe that articulating how we govern data-centric technologies is a matter of great urgency, as these technologies impact lives and communities in ways we are only beginning to understand. Today, we are pleased to see the OSTP take a major step toward advancing Dr. Nelson’s vision with the release of its Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. What is a blueprint for a new bill of rights to govern AI, and how should we read it? [...] Source: How to Read the White House’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights | by Janet Haven | Oct, 2022 | Data & Society: Points
How expanding web of license plate readers could be ‘weaponized’ against abortion | The Guardian
Flock Safety, a rapidly expanding company that sells license plate readers to police and neighborhoods across the US, has an ambitious mission: to eliminate crime. Since being founded in 2017, Flock says it has contracted with more than 1,200 law enforcement partners in more than 40 states. It provides its services to more than 2,000 neighborhoods, and is expanding the products it offers beyond license plate readers to include a gunshot detection system. [...] Source: How expanding web of license plate readers could be ‘weaponized’ against abortion | Surveillance | The Guardian
Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: A Vision for Protecting Our Civil Rights in the Algorithmic Age | The White House
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is today releasing the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights to help guide the design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated systems so that they protect the rights of the American public. These technologies can drive great innovations, like enabling early cancer detection or helping farmers grow food more efficiently. But in the United States and abroad, people are increasingly being surveilled or ranked by automated systems in their workplaces and in their schools, in housing and banking, in healthcare and the legal system, and beyond. Algorithms used across many sectors are plagued by bias and discrimination, and too often developed with without regard to their real-world consequences and without the input of the people who will have to live with their results. [...] Source: Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: A Vision for Protecting Our Civil Rights in the Algorithmic Age – The White House
White House’s AI “Bill of Rights” enters crowded field | Axios
The White House issued a call for artificial intelligence systems to be developed with built-in protections Tuesday, even as the tech industry barrels forward in an AI free-for-all. Why it matters: Automated systems can influence or even determine important aspects of Americans' lives, including healthcare, employment, housing and education. In the U.S., government regulations covering the new technology remain minimal or nonexistent. Driving the news: The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, released Tuesday by the Office of Science & Technology Policy, describes 5 principles that should be incorporated into AI systems to insure their safety and transparency, limit the impact of algorithmic discrimination, and give users control over data. [...] Source: White House’s AI “Bill of Rights” enters crowded field
The New Front Facing Down Big Tech | New America
"[Algorithmic] systems rely on the harvesting of vast quantities of personal data...which can result in discrimination...and the manipulation of public debate and the democratic process." Though this may sound like the criticism of a member of Congress or digital rights activist, these are actually the words of Meta shareholders. With midterms looming under a shadow of disinformation that social media companies have failed time and again to address, as well as the loss of the fundamental right to choose still fresh in our minds, new coalitions have emerged with an interest in safeguarding the right to privacy. This growing commitment from a slate of different stakeholders promises progress that would have been unthinkable in years past. [...] Source: The New Front Facing Down Big Tech
Black women’s voices must be central to the battle for abortion access | The Washington Post
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and the efforts of Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) to ban most abortions after 15 weeks nationwide materialized the worst fears of Black reproductive rights activists and maternal health activists. They have long warned that if and when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it would have an injurious and disproportionate impact on Black women and other Black people who are able to get pregnant, particularly those living in the rural South. [...] Source: Black women’s voices must be central to the battle for abortion access | The Washington Post
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want (Hardcover) | The Booksmith
Long before the pandemic, Ruha Benjamin was doing groundbreaking research on race, technology, and justice, focusing on big, structural changes. But the twin plagues of COVID-19 and anti-Black police violence inspired her to rethink the importance of small, individual actions. Part memoir, part manifesto, Viral Justice is a sweeping and deeply personal exploration of how we can transform society through the choices we make every day. Vividly recounting her personal experiences and those of her family, Benjamin shows how seemingly minor decisions and habits could spread virally and have exponentially positive effects. She recounts her father's premature death, illuminating the devastating impact of the chronic stress of racism, but she also introduces us to community organizers who are fostering mutual aid and collective healing. Through her brother's experience with the criminal justice system, we see the trauma caused by policing practices and mass imprisonment, but we also witness family members finding strength as they come together to demand justice for their loved ones. And while her own challenges as a young mother reveal the vast inequities of our healthcare system, Benjamin also describes how the support of doulas and midwives can keep Black mothers and babies alive and well. [...] Source: Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want (Hardcover) | The Booksmith
Carr Center 2021-2022 Annual Report | Harvard Kennedy School
The world is rapidly changing, and with it, the human rights landscape continues to shift. As these changes continue, so does the work of the Carr Center to bring human rights front-and-center into our everyday lives. Our 2021-2022 annual report highlights the Carr Center’s growing reach over the past year, thanks to the continued expansion of our programs and the dedication of our faculty, fellows, and students to human rights policy and research. Our new research, publications, books, podcast episodes, and webinars over the course of the year—created in tandem with our faculty and fellows—have reached over 150 countries around the world, bringing the Carr Center’s mission into the homes, universities, and workplaces of thousands. To learn more about what the Carr Center accomplished during the 2021-2022 academic year, click the link below. Read the report. Source: Carr Center 2021-2022 Annual Report | Harvard Kennedy School
Contending for Democracy on Social Media and Beyond | Tech Policy Press
Today, the futures of both democracy and the internet lie at crossroads. These futures are intertwined in complex and critical ways, with each threatened from within, and by one another. While debates over the extent of the internet’s contributions to democracy’s degradation will continue for many years to come, this piece seeks to look beyond this concern to examine where we might be going, and to argue for a new direction. [...] Source: Contending for Democracy on Social Media and Beyond