Vort3x | Cybersalon | November 15, 2023
Vort3x, published on the 15th of each month, aims to pick out significant developments in the intersection of computers, freedom, privacy, and security for friends near and far. The views expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of Cybersalon, either individually or collectively.
Prepared by Wendy M. Grossman.
Contents: Cybersalon events | News | Features | Diary
Cybersalon Events
Public and Civic Social AI
16th November at Newspeak House 6-9pm
Magic of Mosaic Browser – celebrating 30 Years of Mosaic
NEWS
To stop thefts, British Museum in London Will Digitize Its Entire Collection
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The British Museum will digitize its entire collection at a cost of £10 million, which it intends to raise privately, to improve both security and public access, Karen K. Ho reports at ARTnews. The decision follows the discovery of a series of thefts from the collection and accompanies other changes to enhance security. The museum also believes that enhanced digital access can be part of its response to requests to return or repatriate items.
EU strikes back – New Strict Rules against Targeted Political ads agreed 6/11
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Hot off the press – Big Tech will pay fine at 6% of turnover if they allow ads based on ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. All political ads will have to be available in an online ad Repository to stop third countries interference (Russia, watch out!)
UK Hosts AI Safety Summit – lip service or effective attempt at real regulation?
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The UK has hosted an AI Safety Summit whose 100 invited guests included numerous government and industry leaders from around the world, Dan Milmo and Kiran Stacey report at the Guardian. Among their five takeaways: the US is a hard power in AI, and while attendees disagree about whether AI poses an existential risk, there is consensus on the fear of an AI-powered disinformation glut and disruption to 2024 national elections in the US, India, and the UK. In the US, President Joe Biden has issued an executive order on safe, secure, and trustworthy artificial intelligence. The EO focuses on safety testing for new models and systems, including synthetic biological materials, and aims to protect privacy, protect cybersecurity, and ensuring social fairness. At Time Magazine, Heidy Khlaaf points out that although industry insiders often say that we need to regulate artificial general intelligence the way we regulate nuclear energy, they are highly resistant to the EU’s nascent AI Act, which is far simpler than nuclear regulations.
War tests uploading guidelines as Adobe Sells Fake Images of Gaza Conflict
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Users on Adobe Stock are selling AI-generated images showing fake scenes of bombings in both Gaza and Israel, Matthew Gault reports at Vice. Some are obviously computer-made, but the best are photorealistic, and at least one is circulating as if it were a real image. Adobe began accepting submissions of AI-generated images in 2022. The company requires AI-generated material to be labeled as such and warns users not to submit material to which they don’t have full rights, but says nothing about uploading images depicting ongoing violent conflicts.
AI Startup Recruits Striking Hollywood Actors for Avatar Database
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The London AI startup RealEyes recruited striking Hollywood actors to record voice, face, movements, and expressions for a database to be used to create avatars for, among others, Meta, Eileen Guo reports at MIT Technology Review. The job posting described the project as “research-based”; actors could take the work without crossing the picket line. However, the actors were required to sign away rights to uses of the recordings “in perpetuity” as long as their likenesses are not used. Reuse of recorded performances is one of the core issues over which the strike was called and touches on the long-running Hollywood issue of personality rights.
FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
Social Network Traffic to News Sites Shrinks
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In this article at the New York Times, Mike Isaac, Katie Robertson, and Nico Grant examine the fraying relationship between the news industry and the technology platforms. In September 2020, top news sites got about 11.5% of their traffic from social networks; three years later it’s down to 6.5%. Meanwhile, Facebook has discontinued its partnership programs, part of Twitter’s transformation into X has involved removing headlines from linked articles and removing the usefulness of the “verified” check mark, and even Google has laid off news employees. Intermediate platforms like Flipboard, SmartNews, and Apple News are becoming more important, but publishers are still struggling to find a strategy in case Google’s AI products further bury links to news publishers.
Marc Andreesen Manifesto Lists Sustainability as an “Enemy” – Ben Grosser responds
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In this 5,000-word “techno-optimist manifesto” blog posting, Marc Andreesen, author of the early browser Netscape and now a venture capitalist, outlined his philosophy of technology. At The Conversation, Hallam Stevens finds Andreesen’s ideas bleak and dangerous, and a “vision of dominance” that smacks of colonialism, noting that his “enemies” list includes sustainability, social responsibility, and technology ethics. At his blog, Ben Grosser offers a “redaction poetry” version that boils the manifesto down to its key concepts.
EU’s Reformed eIDAS Regulation Threatens Web Security
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In this article at Computer Weekly, Alex Scroxton analyzes the problems with proposals to reform the EU’s Electronic Identification, Authentication, and Trust Services Regulations (eIDAS). The rapid evolution in recent years of digital identity and signatures makes reform a sensible idea. However, 309 security experts from 31 countries have called on the EU to abandon Article 45 of the reformed eIDAS, which allows EU member states to insert new root certificates into the lists of trusted authorities browsers use to authenticate websites with no opt-out for users. The consequence would be to enable states to surveil and intercept web traffic and undermine the security of web connections in the EU.
When more data means less (safety) – Electronic Logging Changes Trucking Industry
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In this episode of the Plutopia News Network podcast, Karen Levy, author of Data Driven, talks to hosts Jon Lebkowsky, Scoop Sweeney, and Wendy Grossman about her work studying the introduction of electronic logging devices into truckers’ cabs. Brought in with claims of improving safety, the devices have not changed structural conditions within the trucking industry, and are actually contributing to making it less safe.
Generative AI Spreads Stereotyping
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In this article at Rest of World, Victoria Turk studies 3,000 images that the generative AI system Midjourney produced in response to a series of prompts adapted for a range of countries. The analysis shows that stereotyping is built into the system; even where these are not negative they reflect value judgments and flatten diversity. Given that image generators are being built into applications from advertising to the tools used to make forensic sketches of crime suspects, they could represent a regressive step after years of work to improve diversity.
DIARY
Journalism AI FESTIVAL 2023 – Online 5th and 6th December 11am GMT
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January 24, 2024
Brussels, Belgium
Privacy Camp brings together digital rights advocates, activists as well as academics and policy-makers from all around Europe and beyond to discuss the most pressing issues facing human rights online. It is jointly organised by EDRi, VUB-LSTS, Privacy Salon vzw and the Institute for European Studies at USL-B. The 2024 edition invites investigations into systems that shape the field of privacy and digital rights. We also invite discussions and propositions about what systemic and transformative change can look like.
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February 6-7, 2024
London, UK
The UK’s open technology conference – open source software, open hardware, and open data.
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February 12, 2024
Washington, DC, USA
The State of the Net Conference Series is hosted by the Internet Education Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and policymakers about the potential of a decentralized global Internet to promote communications, commerce and democracy. Annually attracting over 600 attendees, the State of the Net Conference provides unparalleled opportunities to network and engage on key policy issues. It is also the only Internet policy conference with over 50 percent of Congressional staff and government policymakers in attendance, making it the perfect setting to explore important, emerging trends.
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March 2024
Boston, Massachusetts, USA and online
LibrePlanet provides an opportunity for activists, hackers, law professionals, artists, educators, students, developers, policymakers, tinkerers, and anyone looking for technology that respects the users freedom to come together in order to discuss current issues in technology and ethics. For 2024, the theme will be “Cultivating Community”.
Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection
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May 22-24, 2024
Brussels, Belgium
CPDP offers the cutting edge in legal, regulatory, academic and technological development in privacy and data protection. Within an atmosphere of independence and mutual respect, CPDP gathers academics, lawyers, practitioners, policy-makers, industry and civil society from all over the world in Brussels, offering them an arena to exchange ideas and discuss the latest emerging issues and trends. This unique multidisciplinary formula has served to make CPDP one of the leading data protection and privacy conferences in Europe and around the world.
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Summer 2024
Krakow, Poland
Wikimania is the annual conference celebrating all the free knowledge projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation with days of conferences, discussions, meetups, training, and workshops. Hundreds of volunteers and Free Knowledge leaders from around the world gather to discuss issues, report on new projects and approaches, and exchange ideas.
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June 3-6, 2024
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The seventh annual ACM FAccT conference will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from June 3rd to June 6th, 2024. The conference brings together researchers and practitioners interested in fairness, accountability, and transparency in socio-technical systems.
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June 17-19, 2024
Vilnius, Lithuania
The European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) is an open multi-stakeholder platform to exchange views about the Internet and how it is governed. First organised in 2008 by several organisations, government representatives and experts, it fosters dialogue and collaboration with the Internet community on public policy for the Internet – culminating in an annual conference that takes place in a different European city every year. EuroDIG ‘Messages’ are prepared and presented to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
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July 11-13, 2024
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Since 2006, Netroots Nation has hosted the largest annual conference for progressives, drawing up to 4,000 attendees from around the country and beyond. The annual event brings together diverse voices from around the country and beyond.
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August 8-11, 2024
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Def Con is the world’s largest hacker conference.
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September 6-8, 2024
Nairobi, Kenya and online
State of the Map 2024 will bring together passionate mappers, data enthusiasts, technologists, and community members from all corners of the globe to celebrate the spirit of collaboration and open mapping. Building on the valuable lessons and experiences from the previous events, SotM is committed to making this edition even more accessible to everyone who wishes to partake in this grand celebration of open mapping, sharing passionate voices with the entire community.
