LLRX – Law and Technology Resources for Legal Professionals

LLRX February 2023 Issue

Articles and Columns for February 2023

The expanding role of technology in the law firm business model – The premise of this article by COO and legal technologist Kenneth Jones is that individual capabilities and excellence (either legal or technical) standing alone are not enough to ensure long-term, sustainable success. No superstar technologist or lawyer is equipped to do it all, as there are too many specialties and functional roles which need to be filled. Rather, a better approach is to construct team-based, cross-functional units that offer greater operational efficiency while building in layers of redundancy that reduce the potential for surprises, errors, or disruption. This comprehensive and actionable guide validates deploying the cross-functional team approach across the enterprise.
Satellite data: The other type of smartphone data you might not know about – Subject matter experts Tommy Cooke, Alicia Sabatino, Benjamin Muller and Kirstie Ball used critical code and documentary research methods to identify that raw satellite location measurement data are perpetually created in our devices all the time. Because satellite data are building blocks used by our phones to determine where we are, they don’t always get turned off — nor are they collected and treated the same way as location data. The collection and use of these data are a significant risk to our privacy.
Book Review: Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools – Attorney and legal tech expert Jerry Lawson’s positive review of this new book states: “It’s the best way to spend $100 I can imagine for any lawyer looking to improve their bottom line. Any lawyer who wants to lead the way (or at least avoid being crushed by inevitable changes) needs this book.”
The Efficacy of ChatGPT: Is it Time for the Librarians to Go Home? – In preparation for a presentation about race and academic libraries, Curtis Kendrick, formerly Dean and currently Binghamton University Libraries Faculty and Staff mentor, tried ChatGPT (Jan 9 version) to see what it (they?) had to say. He was curious about how it worked and how accurately it responded to queries. For our consideration, Kendrick offers his analysis of this interaction.
What the First Amendment really says – 4 basic principles of free speech in the US – Lynn Greenky, Associate Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Syracuse University delves into Elon Musk’s claim that he believes in free speech no matter what. He calls it a bulwark against tyranny in America and promises to reconstruct Twitter, which he now owns, so that its policy on free expression “matches the law.” Yet his grasp of the First Amendment – the law that governs free speech in the U.S. – appears to be quite limited. And he’s not alone.
ChatGPT: What It Is And Why It Matters To Lawyers – Attorney and legal technologist Nicole Black cautions user that ChatGPT is a great start, but that’s all it is. No matter what you’re using ChatGPT for, whether for personal or professional reasons, you’ll need to have a full understanding of the topic at hand and thoroughly review, edit, and supplement the draft language it provides you.
ChatGPT is a data privacy nightmare. If you’ve ever posted online, you ought to be concerned – ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. Within two months of its release it reached 100 million active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application ever launched. Users are attracted to the tool’s advanced capabilities – and concerned by its potential to cause disruption in various sectors. A much less discussed implication is the privacy risks ChatGPT poses to each and every one of us. Just yesterday, Google unveiled its own conversational AI called Bard, and others will surely follow. Technology companies working on AI have well and truly entered an arms race. Uri Gal identifies a significant issue not discussed in the current hype – this technology is fuelled by our personal data.
The new climate denial? Using wealth to insulate yourself from discomfort and change – Hannah Della Bosca, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney addresses a distinct form of emerging climate denial. You may have experienced it and not even realised. It’s called implicatory denial, and it happens when you consciously recognise climate change as a serious threat without making significant changes to your everyday behaviour in response.
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 26, 2023 – Four highlights from this week: These 26 words ‘created the internet.’ Now the Supreme Court may be coming for them; Global internet connectivity at risk from climate disasters; Zelle fraud claims surge. How can you protect yourself?; and Email security still has a forwarding problem.
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 18, 2023 – Four highlights from this week: GAO Cybersecurity High-Risk Series: Challenges in Protecting Privacy and Sensitive Data; Now for sale: Data on your mental health; How to Prepare for a Lost, Stolen or Broken Smartphone; and ChatGPT Amendment Shows the EU is Regulating by Outrage.
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 11, 2023 – Four highlights from this week: How to safely use payment apps; NY attorney general forces spyware vendor to alert victims; Welcome to the Era of Internet; and Does Big Brother Microsoft see you on Windows 11?
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 4, 2023 – Four highlights from this week: Have a Conversation (Not a Lecture) About Fraud With Older Adults; List of consumer reporting companies; Cybersecurity High-Risk Series: Challenges in Securing Federal Systems and Information; and NIST debuts long-anticipated AI risk management framework.

LLRX.com® – the free web journal on law, technology, knowledge discovery and research for Librarians, Lawyers, Researchers, Academics, and Journalists. Founded in 1996.

Subjects: KM

The Disappeared: Indigenous Peoples and the international crime of enforced disappearance

Catherine Morris and Rebekah Smith of Peacemakers Trust Canada conducted extensive research on disproportionate violence against Indigenous persons in Canada that includes uncounted disappearances of Indigenous children, women, and men. Canada’s decades of failure to prevent and halt disappearances forms part of a long litany of grave international human rights violations against Indigenous Peoples. Continued reports of officially hushed-up violence lead to increasingly clarion allegations of genocide. The authors’ work on documenting enforced disappearance, failure to investigate and prosecute crimes against indigenous people has parallel application to the habitual failure of U.S. authorities to address crimes perpetrated against Native Americans.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Comparative/Foreign Law, Human Rights, International Legal Research, KM, Legal Research

Manhattan grand jury votes to indict Donald Trump, showing he, like all other presidents, is not an imperial king

Following news that a Manhattan grand jury had voted to indict Donald Trump, CNN’s John Miller announced on Thursday evening March 30, 3023: “I am told by my sources that this is 34 counts of falsification of business records, which is probably a lot of charges involving each document, each thing that was submitted, as a separate count.” Prof. Shannon Bow O’Brien, a presidency scholar, takes on the concept of the imperial presidency: “Throughout history, many presidents have pushed the boundaries of power for their own personal preferences or political gain. However, Americans do have the right to push back and hold these leaders accountable to the country’s laws. Presidents have never been monarchs. If they ever act in that manner, I believe that the people have to remind them of who they are and whom they serve.”

Subjects: Accounting, Business Research, Criminal Law, Government Resources, Leadership, Legal Research, Public Records, United States Law

2023 Finding People MiniGuide

This guide by Marcus P. Zillman is a selected list of free and fee based (some require subscriptions), people finding resources, from a range of providers. A significant number of free sources on this subject matter are sourced from public records obtained by a group of companies who initially offer free information to establish your interest, from which point a more extensive report requires a fee to obtain. It is important to note that can be many errors in these data, including the inability to correctly de-duplicated individuals with the same common names. Also note that each service targets a different mix of identifying data such as: name, address, date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, relatives, education, employment, criminal records. social media accounts, income. As we conduct research throughout the day it is useful to employ both impromptu and planned searches about individuals that are referenced.

Subjects: Business Research, Competitive Intelligence, KM, Public Records, Search Engines, Search Strategies

AI tools are generating convincing misinformation. Engaging with them means being on high alert

Lisa M. Given, Professor of Information Sciences & Director, Social Change Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University writes: AI tools can help us create content, learn about the world and (perhaps) eliminate the more mundane tasks in life – but they aren’t perfect. They’ve been shown to hallucinate information, use other people’s work without consent, and embed social conventions, including apologies, to gain users’ trust. For example, certain AI chatbots, such as “companion” bots, are often developed with the intent to have empathetic responses. This makes them seem particularly believable. Despite our awe and wonder, we must be critical consumers of these tools – or risk being misled. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI (the company that gave us the ChatGPT chatbot), has said he is “worried that these models could be used for large-scale disinformation”. As someone who studies how humans use technology to access information, so am I.

Subjects: AI, Communications, Internet Trends, KM

A survey of over 17,000 people indicates only half of us are willing to trust AI at work

Professor Nicole Gillespie, and Research Fellows Caitlin Curtis, Javad Pool and Steven Lockey, discuss their new 17-country study involving over 17,000 people reveals how much and in what ways we trust AI in the workplace, how we view the risks and benefits, and what is expected for AI to be trusted. They find that only one in two employees are willing to trust AI at work. Their attitude depends on their role, what country they live in, and what the AI is used for. However, people across the globe are nearly unanimous in their expectations of what needs to be in place for AI to be trusted.

Subjects: AI, Information Management, Software, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 25, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Canceling subscriptions is notoriously difficult. A proposed FTC rule wants to change that; Analysts share 8 ChatGPT security predictions for 2023; It’s impossible to review security cameras in the age of breaches and ransomware; and TikTok parent ByteDance owns a bunch of other popular apps. Seems relevant!

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Computer Security, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Privacy, Social Media, Technology Trends

Algorithms are moulding and shaping our politics. Here’s how to avoid being gamed

In a recent paper, Prof. Chantelle Gray coined the term “algopopulism”: algorithmically aided politics. The political content in our personal feeds not only represents the world and politics to us. It creates new, sometimes “alternative”, realities. It changes how we encounter and understand politics and even how we understand reality itself.

Subjects: AI, Conflicts, Education, Search Engines, Search Strategies

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 11, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: What to Do When Your Boss Is Spying on You; Biden Administration’s Cybersecurity Strategy Takes Aim at Hackers; Your user data can be the prosecution’s star witness; and Browser Security report reveals major online security threats.

Subjects: AI, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Financial System, Government Resources, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 4, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Global internet connectivity at risk from climate disasters; The Insecurity of Photo Cropping; These 26 words ‘created the internet.’ Now the Supreme Court may be coming for them; and NSA Releases Best Practices For Securing Your Home Network.

Subjects: AI, Climate Change, Computer Security, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Privacy, RSS Newsfeeds