News/Privacy
Deepfake Porn is a Harrowing New Frontier of Digital Harassment for Women
The rise of deepfakes has enabled a disturbing new form of digital harassment targeting women, even at the highest levels of politics, with little recourse for victims. A public servant targeted: Sabrina Javellana, one of Florida's youngest elected officials, discovered explicit deepfake images of herself posted on online forums alongside misogynistic comments: The fakes were nearly identical to real photos from her social media accounts, but with her clothes digitally removed. As a progressive politician, Javellana had faced vitriolic threats before, but this violation felt distinctly personal and traumatizing. Seeking help and finding dead ends: Javellana's attempts to get the...
read Jul 30, 2024Bipartisan Bill Aims to Carve Out AI Deepfakes from Section 230
A bipartisan bill aims to combat AI deepfakes by amending Section 230 protections for tech platforms that fail to address the issue, potentially signaling a new approach to regulating online harms. Key provisions of the Intimate Privacy Protection Act: The proposed legislation, introduced by Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Ashley Hinson (R-IA), targets cyberstalking, intimate privacy violations, and digital forgeries: The bill would amend Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, removing legal immunity for platforms that fail to combat these harms. It establishes a "duty of care" for platforms, requiring them to have a reasonable process for addressing...
read Jul 29, 2024CrowdStrike Outage is Wakeup Call to Mitigate AI Hallucination Risks, Cybersecurity Challenges
The recent global IT outage caused by a software update from CrowdStrike and Microsoft, which affected an estimated 8.5 million devices across various sectors, including finance, healthcare, transportation, and media. The incident highlights the risks associated with AI hallucinations and the need for robust cybersecurity measures to ensure the trustworthiness of AI systems. Key takeaways: The global IT outage demonstrates the interconnectedness of cybersecurity, embedded AI, and data in our daily lives: The outage affected critical services in multiple sectors, such as banking, healthcare, transportation, and media, causing widespread disruptions and forcing some organizations to resort to manual processes. The...
read Jul 27, 2024AI Trains on Kids’ Photos Without Consent, Raising Alarms for Families and Policymakers
Human Rights Watch recently revealed that photos of children scraped from the internet, including some hidden behind privacy settings on social media, were used to train AI models without consent from the children or their families. This concerning revelation has broad implications for data privacy and the unintended consequences of "sharenting" in the age of AI. Key Takeaways: The unauthorized use of children's personal photos to train AI models raises serious privacy concerns: Many of the scraped images included children's names and identifying information, making them easily traceable. Some of the photos used were not even publicly available but hidden...
read Jul 27, 2024X’s Grok Has Been Secretly Training on Your Data
X is using user data to train its Grok AI chatbot, sparking privacy concerns as the feature is enabled by default, requiring users to actively opt out. Key details about X's data usage for Grok AI: X's social media platform is utilizing user posts, interactions, inputs, and results with the Grok chatbot to train and fine-tune the AI, which has caused outrage among some users upon discovering the opt-out nature of the feature: X's privacy policy has allowed for this data usage since at least September 2023, but it remains unclear exactly when the data collection for Grok began. While...
read Jul 27, 2024EU Watchdog Probes X’s Use of User Data for AI Without Consent
The EU's privacy watchdog is questioning X (formerly Twitter) over its use of user posts to train the xAI chatbot Grok without obtaining consent, potentially violating GDPR rules. Key details: The EU watchdog expressed surprise and is seeking clarity on X's data practices, which may not comply with GDPR requirements for obtaining user consent before using personal data: X users were likely opted-in by default to have their posts used as training data for Grok, an AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk's AI company xAI. Under GDPR, companies must obtain explicit consent from users before using their personal data for...
read Jul 27, 2024X Introduces User Opt-Out for Grok AI Training Data
X allows users to opt out of AI training data for Grok chatbot. The social media platform X now provides a setting for users to prevent their posts and interactions from being used to train and fine-tune the company's Grok AI assistant. Key details of the opt-out feature: The setting is accessible on the web and will soon be available on mobile. Users can uncheck a box to opt out of allowing their posts, interactions, inputs, and results with Grok to be used for training and fine-tuning purposes. Private accounts are automatically excluded from having their posts used to train...
read Jul 26, 2024Steve Jobs’ 1983 Speech Foreshadowed AI Revolution, Transformative Tech’s Promise and Perils
In a recently uncovered 1983 speech, a young Steve Jobs predicted the ubiquity of personal computers and their potential to revolutionize communication and society, foreshadowing the transformative impact of digital technology that we now take for granted. Key takeaways from Jobs' prescient speech: Jobs addressed a skeptical audience of designers, most of whom had never used or even seen a personal computer, and made bold predictions about the future: Jobs declared that in people's lifetimes, the computer would become the predominant medium of communication, even though few in the audience owned or had experience with computers at the time. He...
read Jul 25, 2024AI Surveillance at Paris Olympics Sparks Privacy Concerns and Fears of Overreach
A controversial new AI surveillance system is being deployed at the Paris Olympics, raising concerns about privacy and fundamental rights. The system, which uses algorithms to analyze CCTV footage in real-time, is part of the extensive security measures put in place for the Games. Key details of the AI surveillance system: The algorithms, developed by French companies, will be used at 46 train and metro stations during the Olympics to detect potential security threats: The system can identify and alert operators to events such as crowd surges, abnormally large groups, abandoned objects, weapons, or people falling to the ground. Developers...
read Jul 23, 2024FTC Probes 8 Companies for AI Surveillance Pricing Practices
The FTC is investigating the use of AI-powered surveillance pricing, which could exploit consumers' personal data to charge them higher prices. Key aspects of surveillance pricing: Surveillance pricing, also known as dynamic, personalized, or optimized pricing, involves offering individual consumers different prices for the same products based on factors like: The device they're shopping on, location, demographic information, credit history, and browsing/shopping history Companies across various sectors are considering implementing or have already implemented surveillance pricing models FTC's inquiry into surveillance pricing practices: The Federal Trade Commission has ordered eight companies that offer AI surveillance pricing products and services to...
read Jul 18, 2024Proton Mail Launches Privacy-Focused AI Writing Assistant, Proton Scribe, for Business Customers
Proton Mail introduces Proton Scribe, an AI-powered writing assistant that operates locally on users' devices to ensure privacy and security. Key features of Proton Scribe: The new AI writing tool offers a range of capabilities to enhance productivity and communication for Proton Mail business customers: Composes emails based on user prompts, helping users save time and effort in drafting messages Redrafts existing content to improve clarity and better convey the intended message Proofreads emails to identify and correct errors, ensuring polished and professional communication Privacy-focused approach: Proton emphasizes its commitment to user privacy and data security in the development and...
read Jul 15, 2024Google’s Gemini Caught Scanning Private Documents
Google's Gemini AI caught scanning private Google Drive documents without user consent, raising privacy concerns amid the tech industry's AI push. User discovers Gemini AI scanning private files: Kevin Bankston, a Senior Advisor on AI Governance, took to Twitter to share his experience of Google's Gemini AI automatically summarizing his tax return stored in Google Drive without his permission: Bankston was surprised to find that Gemini had ingested and summarized his private document, despite not explicitly asking for this feature. The incident raises serious questions about the extent of control users have over their sensitive information and Google's handling of...
read Jul 12, 2024Firefox Tests AI Chatbot Integration, Prioritizing User Choice and Privacy
Firefox is testing AI chatbot integration, allowing users to interact with AI models directly within the browser, while prioritizing user choice, agency, and privacy: Key developments: Firefox's nightly build now includes an experimental, opt-in AI chatbot feature that aims to enhance productivity by minimizing the need to switch between tabs or applications: Users can enable the feature through the settings menu and choose from various chatbot options, including ChatGPT, HuggingChat, Google Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral. The AI chatbot integration is not built into Firefox's core elements, emphasizing the principles of user choice and optional usage. Functionality and limitations: While...
read Jul 9, 2024Senate Hearing Explores AI’s Impact on Privacy, Highlighting Need for Federal Legislation
The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Thursday focused on privacy concerns related to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). The key details are: Examining AI's impact on the need for federal privacy legislation: The hearing will explore how AI has accelerated the need for a comprehensive federal privacy law in the U.S. The country currently lacks an overarching federal privacy law, while states and other countries are implementing new standards to regulate largely U.S.-based tech giants. The American Privacy Rights Act, a bipartisan data privacy bill, was scheduled for markup in the House last month but was pulled...
read Jul 6, 2024ChatGPT Mac App’s Security Flaw Exposes User Data, Prompting Update
Serious security flaw discovered in ChatGPT's Mac app: OpenAI's recently launched desktop app for Mac was found to be storing user conversations in plain text, potentially exposing sensitive data to unauthorized access. Lack of sandboxing and encryption: The app's security vulnerabilities were highlighted by a user on the social media platform Threads: The app was not sandboxed, meaning it could access private user data without explicit permission, bypassing macOS's built-in defenses that have been in place since version 10.14 (Mojave). User conversations with ChatGPT were stored in plain text in an unprotected location, making them accessible to any running app,...
read Jul 5, 2024Amazon’s 30th Birthday: A Dystopian Legacy of Eroded Privacy?
The tech behemoth Amazon turns 30, prompting reflections on its impact on privacy: The op-ed marks Amazon's 30th anniversary by highlighting how the once-beloved bookseller has become a data-hungry behemoth that, along with Google and Facebook, has eroded personal privacy and helped create an economy built on harvesting and monetizing users' personal data. Amazon's vast data collection and inference capabilities: Amazon's extensive data collection spans from consumer preferences and behaviors to biometric data like voice recordings, enabling the company to infer sensitive information about individuals, such as their sexual orientation, political affiliation, health issues, and more. According to the author,...
read Jul 5, 2024YouTube Cracks Down on Deepfakes, Allows Takedowns of Unauthorized AI-Generated Content
YouTube steps up efforts to combat AI deepfakes with new removal policy, allowing individuals to request takedowns of unauthorized AI-generated content depicting them. Key details of the updated policy: YouTube has implemented a new policy to address the rise of AI-generated content that mimics individuals without their consent: Affected individuals can now request the removal of AI-generated content that realistically depicts them through YouTube's privacy request process. To qualify for removal, the content must depict a realistic altered or synthetic version of the individual's likeness. Content creators have two days to remove the likeness or the entire video after a...
read Jul 4, 2024Apple’s AI Privacy Strategy and How It Stacks Up Against Android
Apple's AI privacy approach sets a new standard, while Android offers a "hybrid" model: Apple Intelligence introduces a unique AI architecture focused on on-device processing and a new Private Cloud Compute (PCC) system, aiming to protect user data even when leveraging cloud capabilities. In contrast, Android devices like Samsung's Galaxy range employ a "hybrid AI" approach, handling some processes locally but relying on the cloud for advanced features, potentially exposing data to more risks. Key differences between Apple's and Android's AI privacy strategies: Apple's PCC is designed to mask data origins and prevent access by anyone, including Apple, which the...
read Jul 3, 2024Proton Launches Encrypted Docs, Pledging Privacy Over AI as Conversion Issues Linger
Proton Launches Encrypted Docs with Commitment to User Privacy, But Conversion Issues Persist Key features of Proton Docs: Proton, a privacy-focused Swiss tech firm, has launched Proton Docs, an encrypted document editing and sharing feature within its Proton Drive product: Documents are end-to-end encrypted, preventing their use in training generative AI models unless users actively choose to feed their content to an AI. Users can share documents with others by adding their email addresses and revoking permissions later if needed. The new feature aims to make Proton Drive a more viable competitor to Google Drive by enabling real-time editing and...
read Jun 27, 2024AI Pioneer Seeks to Democratize Technology, Prioritizing User Privacy and Sovereignty
Artificial intelligence pioneer seeks to democratize AI: Illia Polosukhin, one of the "Transformer 8" who invented the transformer neural network architecture at Google, left the company in 2017 to start his own AI venture, Near, with the goal of making AI more accessible and user-centric. Polosukhin co-wrote the seminal 2017 paper "Attention Is All You Need" with seven Google colleagues, laying the groundwork for modern generative AI systems like ChatGPT. While at Google, Polosukhin advocated for open-sourcing the transformer architecture, believing it was crucial for widespread adoption and innovation in the field. Google began using transformers in its translation services...
read Jun 21, 2024Facebook & Instagram Memories Fuel AI: Meta’s Controversial Training Data Plans Spark Privacy Debate
Meta is repurposing personal Facebook and Instagram posts as AI training data, raising concerns about the privacy implications of transforming digital memories into fodder for machine learning algorithms. Key points about Meta's AI training plans: Meta recently announced that public posts, photos and even names from Facebook and Instagram will be used to train AI models starting June 26th, effectively treating users' online histories as a time capsule of humanity: Private messages, posts shared only with friends, and Instagram Stories are excluded, but all other public content is fair game for Meta's AI. Europeans have been given a temporary reprieve...
read Jun 11, 2024Apple AI Privacy
Today Apple introduced Apple Intelligence which uses OpenAI's ChatGPT. The big question is privacy of your Apple devices data: photos, notes, emails, etc. Apple shared a detailed security document that we have breakdown. Apple has introduced a new technology called Private Cloud Compute (PCC) that brings the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to the cloud while ensuring your data remains private and secure. This innovative system is designed to provide advanced AI capabilities for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users without compromising their personal information. Why Private Cloud Compute MattersTraditional cloud-based AI services often face challenges in protecting user privacy and...
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