China's spy balloon; EU Warns Musk on hate speech -- Tech Law & Policy This Week
Release Date: 02/04/2023
Tech Policy Leaders
Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. Alfred Ng over at Politico reports that the police can obtain Ring camera footage without your permission. All they need is a warrant. But don’t worry – they will be nice. They will call you instead of knocking on your door. If you don’t give them the footage, Ring will also contact you. If you still don’t give them the footage, well, I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to find out what happens after that! And getting a warrant is the least...
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The internet can be a minefield of financial scams, but you don't have to navigate it alone. Arm yourself with knowledge and stay protected from online fraud. Bio Sean Davis is a privacy lawyer based in Washington, D.C. and Senior Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Previously, he was with Engine.org, the small business advocate, where he served as Policy Manager. Prior to that Sean was with Wikimedia Foundation and Public Knowledge. He earned his JD from George Washington University School of Law and his Bachelor’s in English from Mount...
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Characterizing the popular TikTok app as a modern-day “Trojan Horse” because its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Michal McCaul, aa Texas Republican, introduced the “Deterring America's Foreign Adversaries Act, which would ban TikTok in the United States. Democrats oppose the bill, saying it would go too far in abridging the Freedom of Speech. The American Civil Liberties Union is also pushing back against the bill. Federal courts have previously held that blocking TikTok would violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act,...
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In this episode of the Tech Policy Leaders podcast, discusses her new book ‘,’ which takes a critical look at algorithms and the people who create them. Bio Data journalist is an associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, research director at the Alliance for Public Interest Technology, and the author of several books, including “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World” and “More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech.” Her academic research focuses on artificial...
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Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. Somehow, a U.S. government server running on Microsoft’s Azure government cloud was unsecured, exposing U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) data, including sensitive personnel information. Security researcher Anurag Sen discovered the breach last week, and the Department of Defense patched it up after spilling data for 2 weeks. USSOCOM told TechCrunch that no data breach occurred. Thirty-eight months – that’s all Garret Miller got for assaulting officers and...
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ChatGPT is an (AI) chatbot written in natural language processing (NLP) technology that can interact with its users on and respond in meaningful ways. AI-driven tools are emerging as powerful new tools in the legal industry, especially when it comes to streamlining mundane tasks, assisting with research and enhancing customer service functions. In this episode, I interviewed ChatGPT and input its responses into a text to speech generator. We took a dive into the , the limitations of its capabilities, and some of the philosophical questions about the nature of how it “thinks,”...
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Folks, kids are having a really hard time, and a lot of it has to do with what’s happening on the internet. Some lawmakers appear to be trying to do the right thing, but it seems like all they’re really capable of doing is introducing legislation – legislation that doesn’t get anywhere. The CDC released a report Monday finding teens, especially girls, are in a bad place right now with some 57% of the 17,000 high school girls surveyed persistently feeling bad or hopeless. Some twenty percent of these girls report experiencing sexual violence. And a third of boys also report...
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Ahmad Thomas: A Glimpse Into a Shifting World - Examining the Purpose of Corporate Social Responsibility in a Turbulent Environment (CSR) has become an increasingly important part of business practices. Companies are ostensibly thinking more proactively and creatively about how they can contribute to the world around them and make a positive impact on society. But what does this mean for in a tumultuous world? In this episode of , you’ll learn from Ahmad Thomas, CEO of the . After listening to this episode, you’ll understand more about: 1. The current state of corporate social...
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<p>Hey everybody, I’m Joe Miller and here’s what’s going on in the world of tech law & policy this week. </p> <p> </p> <p><br>So the White House confirmed earlier this afternoon that it had shot down another object floating 40,000 ft. above Alaska. No word yet on whether it’s part of China’s balloon festival, but this one was much smaller than the one they shot down last week. Feds are investigating.</p> <p> </p> <p>Americans want privacy legislation...
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[Encore Episode -- originally recorded 1/17/2017] Bio Having spent significant time working in newsrooms, covering Capitol Hill, managing in-house corporate public affairs, working on campaigns, and navigating communities of color, she brings a unique set of skills that casts a wide net of influence. Understanding the intersection of press, partnerships, politics, and policy, Tiffany has a proven record of excellent relationships in the private and public sectors, media, the entertainment industry, and civic and social justice organizations. Most recently, Tiffany served as a Senior...
info_outline<p>China was caught floating a spy balloon over Montana. Like no one was going to see it. What else is there to do in Montana except look up at the sky? According to the Washington Post, a defense official said, “It loitered overhead for an extended period of time.” Come on guys, when are we going to get serious?</p>
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<p>What other shenanigans do we have here … Oh! The European Union is warning Elon Musk that they’re going to hit him with a can of you-know-what if he doesn’t comply with their Digital Services Act. The Act prohibits <a href="https://www.techpolicypodcast.org/dc-ag-lawsuit-amazon-stole-flex-drivers-tips-white-nationalists-are-back-on-twitter-tech-law-policy-this-week/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hate speech</a>. We don’t have a hate speech ban in the U.S. But EU’s law influences Twitter content in the U.S., since managing U.S. policy and EU policy would be more expensive.</p>
<p>And the Republican-controlled House is going to grill former Twitter staff at a hearing next week. They want to know more about why the company suppressed stories about Hunter Biden.</p>
<p>What else? Oh – Harvard’s Kennedy School is shutting down its Technology & Social Change project after just 5 years. Prominent scholar Joan Donovan led the institute focused on <a href="https://www.techpolicypodcast.org/ap-majority-americans-think-misinfo-is-harmful-latino-leaders-warn-about-misinformation-and-disinformation-targeting-latinos-communities-tech-law-policy-this-week/">misinformation</a>. Harvard says the landscape has changed drastically and that the mission is no longer relevant. That’s the public version of the story. Donovan didn’t comment to the Washington Post. And the other piece to this is that Elon has now blocked access to Twitter's API, so researchets can no longer access it.</p>
<p>Tech Policy Press & <a href="https://www.techpolicypodcast.org/justin-hendrix-what-you-need-to-know-about-terrorism-in-dc-ep-250/">Justin Hendrix</a> released a podcast episode last week giving the <a href="https://www.techpolicypodcast.org/brian-howard-american-indians-and-the-digital-divide-ep-126/">Indigenous perspective</a> on Generative AI and the need to publish more work by Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>New York Attorney General Letitia James wants answers from Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall about reports the venues used facial recognition technology to ban the lawyers opposing them from entering the venues. Thousands of lawyers were affected. James is investigating whether this practice violated New York’s Civil Rights laws.</p>
<p>Finally, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is promising new chat features to compete with <a href="https://www.techpolicypodcast.org/joe-miller-predictions-for-2023/">ChatGPT</a>. Meanwhile, the company just laid off 12,000 people.</p>
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