Vort3x | Cybersalon | February 15, 2022
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.
Cybersalon Events
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NFTs, DeepFakes and Creator Authentication
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March 15, 2022
Newspeak House, London
Panel discussion on future of NFTs, 7pm
Book Tickets HereNEWS
SIM swapping attacks up five-fold in 2021
Internet Crime Complaint Centre reported that 1611 SIM complaints were reported, noting losses exceeding 68mln dollars. The technique is based on a fraudster socially engineering a mobile phone carrier agent to switch the victim’s mobile number to a SIM card owned by the criminals. If the SIM is swapped successfully, all calls, text and other data that should go to the victim, are now diverted to the criminal’s mobile. This route allows the fraudsters to send “Forgot Password’ requests to victim’s emails. Lawyers and crypto traders were targeted.
FBI warns about ‘romance’ scam around Valentine’s Day
Love is in the air but you may get interest from someone who just loves your money. Last year over 281 million dollars were lost by victims of romance fraudsters/
The warning signs are attempts to communicate by messaging services outside of a dating site, requests for banking details or credit card information, ‘rescue needed’ type of messages.
Creative Commons License Bug Enables Copyleft Trolls
A bug in early Creative Commons licenses is allowing “copyleft” trolls to demand payments from individuals and small businesses using licensed works in good faith, Cory Doctorow writes at Medium. The mistake, which was not fixed for 14 years, is a clause in the original CC license that says the license would terminate automatically upon any breach; the troll finds (extremely common) minor errors of attribution and then sends a speculative invoice demanding payment for the use of the work plus a threat to collect US statutory damages for willful infringement of $150,000. All CC licenses need to be updated to 4.0.
Meta Losses Drop Share Price 26% in One Day
Shares in Facebook owner Meta dropped a record-setting 26% – shrinking its market cap by $200 billion – on February 3 after the company’s latest financial results showed that its user base had shrunk for the first time in the company’s history and that Apple’s new tracking-blocking tools will cost Meta $10 billion this year, Reuters reports. At Inews, Rhiannon Williams outlines Facebook’s “long future of decline”, as growth in the developing world can’t compensate for Westerners deleting their accounts and youngsters preferring TikTok. At Protocol, Issie Lapowsky notes that the drop has brought Meta close to the $550 billion market cap threshold used to determine which platforms are covered by current US antitrust proposals. At The Guardian, Kari Paul reports that whistleblowers and civil society organizations are calling on Facebook to release the report it commissioned in 2020 on its impact on human rights in India. Finally, also at The Guardian Nesrine Malik reports on Facebook’s entrenchment in Africa, where practice and disrupted supply chains make it indispensable for both individuals and businesses.
FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
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EU and UK Target Misinformation Online
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In this blog posting at the Royal Society, Lilian Edwards discusses current UK and EU legislative proposals intended to solve the problem of disinformation by targeting platform power rather than focusing on the individuals posting the content. The EU in particular is focusing on algorithmic amplification and its role in dissemination. The posting is one of a series published to support the Royal Society’s Online Information Environment report, which warns that removing inaccurate information may undermine the scientific process, and instead advocates building resilience against harmful misinformation and the promotion of a healthy online information environment.
American Hacker Retaliates Against North Korean Attacks
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In this article at Wired, Andy Greenburg tells the story of an unnamed independent American hacker who decided to retaliate after he, along with numerous other security researchers, was hacked by North Korean spies. In the absence of a visible response from the US government, he began his own attacks on North Korean systems, finding numerous known but unpatched vulnerabilities that enabled him to launch denial-of-service and other attacks. The goal, he says, is to “keep North Korea honest”.
Squatters Seize Augmented Reality Versions of Real Property
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In this article at Protocol, Janko Roettgers discovers that a stranger has acquired his virtual property in the blockchain-powered game Upland, which he describes as “like Monopoly, played on top of Google Maps”. Who, he asks, should have the rights to an augmented reality layer tied to a physical address? The question applies not only to Upland but to other AR networks such as Spotselfie and the Geo Web, who will all almost certainly face lawsuits eventually.
Joe Rogan and Underpayment Cost Spotify Leading Musicians
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In this article at The Atlantic, Will Butler argues that there are more important reasons for artists to pull their music off Spotify in protest after a recent Joe Rogan podcast included misinformation about covid vaccines. In an industry notorious for treating artists poorly, Spotify stands out for its low payments, in part because it’s very hard to make much profit on streaming music and Spotify has no other revenue stream. Podcasts, which can carry advertising, offer potential to capture market share and additional revenues despite the initial costs – Rogan’s exclusive deal is estimated at up to $100 million. Meanwhile, Butler concludes, what’s happening feels like the razing of the music ecosystem. At the Dada Drummer Almanach, Damon Krukowsk explains why Spotify isn’t a music company; it invests nothing in music or artists, who, especially if they’re famous, have more lucrative alternatives.
Amazon Prime Raises Consumer Prices Across the Board
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In this video clip from Breaking Points, the first of a series on monopoly power, Matt Stoller analyzes the effect of Amazon Prime, arguing that Prime enables Amazon to force third-party sellers to pay commissions that cover the free-to-consumers shipping costs while using site design to prohibit sellers from offering better prices elsewhere. The consequence is to raise prices across the board. In May 2021, Attorney General Karl Racine filed suit against Amazon, alleging that Prime is a scam enabled by monopoly power.
DIARY
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In light of the coronavirus outbreak, please check links to events listed below for participation restrictions and updates as to whether events will go ahead.
ONE-OFF EVENTS
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March 7-10, 2022
Amsterdam, Netherlands, and online
MozFest is a unique hybrid: part art, tech and society convening, part maker festival, and the premiere gathering for activists in diverse global movements fighting for a more humane digital world. This year’s theme is “building a healthier internet”.
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March 19-20, 2022
Online from Boston, MA, USA
LibrePlanet is the annual conference hosted by the Free Software Foundation. It provides an opportunity for community activists, domain experts, and people seeking their own solutions to come together in order to discuss current issues in technology and ethics. The 2022 theme is “Living Liberation”.
Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection
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May 23-25, 2022
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. The theme of the 2022 conference is “data protection and privacy in transitional times”.
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June 21-24, 2022
Seoul, South Korea and online
The fifth annual ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency brings together researchers and practitioners interested in fairness, accountability, and transparency in socio-technical systems. The online version of the conference—including both live-streamed elements of the in-person conference, and online-only content—will also begin on June 21, with content and discussion available for two weeks from that date, and a library of content available subsequently.
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July 22-24, 2022
New York, NY, USA
Four years after the last edition of the New York-based hacker conference, A New HOPE promises to be transformational for the hacker community and the first in its new venue at Brooklyn’s St. John’s University.
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August 11-14, 2022
Las Vegas, NV, USA
The largest hacking conference presents its 30th edition.
ONGOING
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London’s Ada Lovelace Institute, founded in 2019 to ensure the ethical use of AI, is running a series of events on the issues surrounding the use of technologies in response to the pandemic. Late-2020 events included discussions of regulating for algorithm accountability and “almost-future” AI.
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Recent webinars sponsored by Bace Security include a “fireside” discussion with prominent women in security, security problems in online voting, methods for privacy-protecting digital contact tracing, advanced botnet researcher, and using marketing techniques to improve cybersecurity communication.
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The Benchmark Initiative is running regular events on topics such as the use of location data to end the global sanitation crisis, the safe use of location data in human migration; data, power, and the pandemic; and managing social distancing in public spaces. All events are posted on Vimeo soon after they conclude.
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The Communication and Media Institute (CAMRI) at London’s University of Westminster hosts a series of online events presenting the work of sociologists, historians, economists, and activists studying online developments around the world. Spring 2021 offerings include a reassessment of the 2010 Arab Spring and studies of internal communication connections within the Global South, the changing role of public service media, decolonizing the curriculum, and using Facebook to reduce polarization.
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
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The Carnegie Council runs frequent events on topics such as illiberal threats to democracy, the societal limits of AI ethics, AI and ethics in Africa, and inclusion. The Council posts audio and a transcript after each event.
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Ongoing series of events on topics such as new legislation, using data to combat counterfeit goods, and trends in online advertising.
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Data & Society has moved its weekly Databites and Network Power Hours programs into online interactive formats. Its first event for 2021 examines digital technology and democratic theory.
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The Research Group on Data, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Law & Society is presenting a series of discussions on topics such as robotics (Frank Pasquale, April 1), rights, technology, and society (Anne-Sophie Hulin, May 19), and justifiability and contestability of algorithmic decision systems (Daniel Le Métayer, June 1).
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EFF and its local counterparts in the Electronic Frontier Alliance are running numerous events on subjects such as technology education, open source, voting security, and content moderation.
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Frequent events on topics such as cybersecurity, digital tax, online content moderation, and upcoming EU legislation.
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Future in Review is running a series of online “FiReSide” events. Recent topics include Chinese-US relations after the presidential election, and the future technology struggle.
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The Geneva Internet Platform (GIP), a Swiss initiative run by DiploFoundation is organizing monthly briefings on internet governance, providing updates and news and projections of how they will influence future developments.
Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence at Stanford
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HAI’s series of events covers AI-related topics such as upcoming regulation, issues with algorithms, health, and AI and society.
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Kate Klonick, an assistant professor at St John’s University School of Law who specializes in online speech and governance, and Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and co-founder and chief editor of Lawfare, hold a nightly discussion of current affairs, law, politics, and digital media with invited guests. Daily at 5pm Eastern Time.
Legal Frontiers in Digital Media 2020
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The Berkeley Center for Law and Technology’s online seminars on emerging legal issues at the intersection of digital media, freedom of speech, and law include AI, privacy law, technology law as a vehicle for anti-racism, and a look ahead to the next telecommunications act.
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The London Futurists group, led by former Psion and Symbian architect David Wood, is presenting near-weekly speaker-led events focusing on potential radical transformations of humanity and society. Upcoming topics include anticipating future pandemics and a discussion of Michael Baxter’s new book, Living in the Age of the Jerk. Event recordings are made available soon after meetings conclude.
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The ODI’s Friday lunchtime (London time) talks have moved online. These one-hour talks cover topics such as data ethics, social equity, trust, and converting weather into music.
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The Open Rights Group and its local offshoots are running frequent online presentations and discussions of digital privacy, democracy, and data exploitation. Recent topics have included the launch of ORG’s data and democracy report, a proposed law to ensure that contact-tracing apps are surrounded with privacy-protecting safeguards, and the effect of the pandemic on democratic institutions.
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Public Knowledge is running public web events on subjects such as algorithmic amplification of hate speech, the survival of local journalism, and how to protect privacy during a pandemic.
RUSI
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London’s Royal United Services Institute is running frequent online events considering topics relating to international politics, terrorism, financial crime, policing, and warfare, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes it will bring.
https://rusi.org/events/
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Singularity University’s upcoming events include reimagining primary education and a series of executive programs aimed at various countries.
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Freelance Policy Consultant
Head of Policy and Litigation
Consultant (Events and Network Coordination – Immigration, Data, and Technology
Based: UK (remote working)
