A dry spell of intro ideas has hit this issue of WIP, so let’s skip it and get right to the point:
- Fairdrop: Secure, private, unstoppable file transfer for the free world
- The dangers of emotion recognition
- NSA iced a disputed program, the world still stands
- Will the Dutch cookie walls crumble?
- The “creepy” privacy assignment
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Fairdrop: Secure, private, unstoppable file transfer for the free world
We would like to present to you the Fairdrop file transfer dapp. It’s the first blockchain dapp by Fair Data Society based entirely on the Fair Data Society principles. It doesn’t collect any personal data, while offering a smooth and easy user experience. It also comes with four distinct features and is open source so anyone can look at and use the code. It’s a dapp that really keeps your private and sensitive data private.
The dangers of emotion recognition
Recognising faces was the first step, and now recognising emotions is the next evolutionary step. This article by The Guardian looks at how this developing $20 billion industry is quickly becoming a marketer’s dream. But the scientific model that it builds upon is flawed. Critics argue that emotions are extremely complex and you can’t just always map them to somebody’s face. And since these systems are becoming widely used, they can cause real harm if their predictions are off.
NSA ended a disputed program, the world still stands
A congressional aide accidentally let it slip that NSA’s disputed phone records collection program has been on ice for the last six months, reports The Hill. Privacy activists didn’t waste any time and, emboldened by the revelation, they pressed Congress to not reauthorize sections of the USA Freedom Act that enable the program. As recently as 2017, the US government obtained 534 million records of phone calls and text messages from telecommunications providers.
Will the Dutch cookie walls crumble?
The Dutch data protection agency believes that cookie walls, which prevent access to websites unless cookies are accepted, are not compliant with GDPR, TechCrunch reports. Unless there’s a clearly expressed permission and the freedom to choose, websites are GDPR-incompatible. What this will mean for website owners remains unclear. Some already argue that websites are private property and that they have every right to impose access conditions of their choosing. This will be interesting.
The “creepy” privacy assignment
This opinion piece in The New York Times is a vivid example of how fragile privacy is. The writer, a privacy law professor, gave her students an easy enough assignment: listen and observe other people in public and try to determine their identity from publicly available information. The results? Well, they may or may not surprise you, but it is definitely worth your time reading the article.
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