Category «Legislative»

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 22, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, 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: 81% of Americans unaware digital health apps can sell personal data; How NIST is helping to guide the government conversation on AI; You may deactivate anyone’s WhatsApp account with a simple email; and The scary world of online behavioral advertising.

Subjects: Big Data, Cybersecurity, Data Mining, E-Government, Email, Government Resources, Healthcare, Privacy, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 30, 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: Amazon delays virtual care service’s unveiling after senators raised privacy concern; FBI launches national ‘swatting’ database amid rising incidents; How Do Some Companies Get Compromised Again and Again?; and Does ChatGPT Save My Data? OpenAI’s Privacy Policy Explained.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Congress, Criminal Law, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Education, Email Security, Financial System, Health, Healthcare, Legal Research, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 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: Top 5 Most Common Text Message Scams & How to Avoid Them; From “Heavy Purchasers” of Pregnancy Tests to the Depression-Prone: We Found 650,000 Ways Advertisers Label You; Service Rents Email Addresses for Account Signups; and FTC Slams Amazon with $30.8M Fine for Privacy Violations Involving Alexa and Ring.

Subjects: AI, Communications, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Healthcare, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

How AI could take over elections and undermine democracy

Archon Fung, Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government, Harvard Kennedy School, and Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law and Leadership, Harvard University, pose the question: “Could organizations use artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to induce voters to behave in specific ways? Sen. Josh Hawley asked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this question in a May 16, 2023, U.S. Senate hearing on artificial intelligence. Altman replied that he was indeed concerned that some people might use language models to manipulate, persuade and engage in one-on-one interactions with voters. Altman did not elaborate, but he might have had something like this scenario in mind. Imagine that soon, political technologists develop a machine called Clogger – a political campaign in a black box. Clogger relentlessly pursues just one objective: to maximize the chances that its candidate – the campaign that buys the services of Clogger Inc. – prevails in an election. While platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube use forms of AI to get users to spend more time on their sites, Clogger’s AI would have a different objective: to change people’s voting behavior.

Subjects: AI, Communications Law, Congress, Constitutional Law, KM, Legal Research, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 20, 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: Artificial Intelligence: Key Practices to Help Ensure Accountability in Federal Use; Don’t get scammed by fake ChatGPT apps: Here’s what to look out for; Apple Employees Forbidden From Using ChatGPT; and How to Enable Advanced Data Protection on iOS, and Why You Should.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, KM, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 26, 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: 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.

Subjects: AI, Communications, Congress, Criminal Law, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Email Security, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy

What social media regulation could look like: Think of pipelines, not utilities

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, and his controversial statements and decisions as its owner, have fueled a new wave of calls for regulating social media companies. Elected officials and policy scholars have argued for years that companies like Twitter and Facebook – now Meta – have immense power over public discussions and can use that power to elevate some views and suppress others. Critics also accuse the companies of failing to protect users’ personal data and downplaying harmful impacts of using social media. As an economist who studies the regulation of utilities such as electricity, gas and water, Theodore Kury, Director of Energy Studies at the University of Florida’s Public Utility Research Center, wonders what that regulation would look like. There are many regulatory models in use around the world, but few seem to fit the realities of social media. However, observing how these models work can provide valuable insights.

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Legal Research, Legislative, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 31, 2022

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: How to Wipe a Computer Clean of Personal Data; AI paper mills and image generation require a coordinated response from academic publishers; US House boots TikTok from government phones; and How to Use ChatGPT and Still Be a Good Person.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Criminal Law, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media

Jan. 6 committee tackled unprecedented attack with time-tested inquiry

Claire Leavitt, Assistant Professor of Government, Smith College, presents an overview of the broad investigative powers of the Congress from the 1920s to the present. The latest investigation may be its most consequential to date. After 18 months, more than 1,200 interviews and 10 public hearings that presented 70 witnesses’ testimony, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack released its 845-page final report late on Dec. 22, 2022. The report recommended that the Department of Justice prosecute former President Donald Trump on four criminal charges, including conspiracy and incitement of insurrection. The committee’s recommendation to prosecute a former president was unprecedented. But its investigation of the events of Jan. 6, 2021 fell squarely within Congress’ power, and added a new chapter to a centuries-long history of congressional investigations into government scandals and failures.

Subjects: Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Election Law, Government Resources, Legal Research

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 3, 2022

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: 5 cybersecurity predictions for 2023; Cops Can Extract Data From 10,000 Different Car Models’ Infotainment Systems; A Peek Inside the FBI’s Unprecedented January 6 Geofence Dragnet; and Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid.

Subjects: Big Data, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email, Email Security, KM, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media, Spyware, Travel