China Isn't The AI Juggernaut The West Fears
(Washignton Post, Oct 13, 2021)
The opening scene of a brief online documentary by Chinese state-run media channel CGTN shows jaywalkers in Shenzhen getting captured on video, identified and then shamed publicly in real time. The report is supposed to highlight the country’s prowess in artificial intelligence, yet it reveals a lesser-known truth: China’s AI isn’t so much a tool of world domination as a narrowly deployed means of domestic control. On paper, the U.S. and China appear neck and neck in artificial intelligence. China leads in the share of journal citations — helped by the fact that it also publishes more — while the U.S. is far ahead in the more qualitative metric of cited conference papers, according to a recent report compiled by Stanford University. So while the world’s most populous country is an AI superpower, investors and China watchers shouldn’t put too much stock in the notion that its position is unassailable or that the U.S. is weaker. By miscalculating the others’ abilities, both superpowers risk overestimating their adversary’s strengths and overcompensating in a way that could lead to a Cold War-style AI arms race.
How State Laws Drive The Future Of National Privacy Legislation
(Open Access Government, Oct 13, 2021)
Outlined in legal commentaries such as The Right to Privacy as far back as 1890, a “right to be left alone” has long been a characteristic part of the American experience. Unfortunately, over the last 20 years or so, this right has been severely undermined and gone increasingly undefended. With legislation lagging behind technological capability, it is often much easier for social media giants or data brokers to collect and abuse an individual’s personal information than for that same person to prevent them from doing so.
Home Quarantine Apps Spark Privacy Fears Over Facial Recognition And Geolocation Technology
(The Guardian , Oct 13, 2021)
Apps used to ensure overseas arrivals are complying with home quarantine requirements as part of Australia’s opening up need stronger privacy protections, technology and human rights groups have told state and federal health ministers. As Australia starts opening up to the rest of the world again, states are moving to adopt home quarantine as a less expensive alternative to the hotel quarantine system. As Australia starts opening up to the rest of the world again, states are moving to adopt home quarantine as a less expensive alternative to the hotel quarantine system. South Australia is the only jurisdiction actively trialling home quarantining technology using a government-built app called Home Quarantine SA. The app randomly alerts users to verify their location and send a selfie back to authorities within 15 minutes to prove they are at the home they have registered to quarantine at.
New Biometric Privacy Laws in NYC to Impact All Commercial Establishments
(Total Food, Oct 13, 2021)
NYC’s new “Biometric Identified Information” law (“BII Law”) requires commercial establishments that collect “biometric identifier information” to display signs that such information is being collected. The BII Law further restricts commercial establishments from sharing or selling such biometric identifier information with anyone else. Biometric identifier information includes fingerprints, retina scans, hand print scans, facial recognition, voice identification, or any other physical or biological trait that would serve to identify an individual.
Uber Drivers Say A 'Racist' Algorithm Is Putting Them Out Of Work
(Time, Oct 13, 2021)
Abiodun Ogunyemi has been an Uber Eats delivery driver since February 2020. But since March he has been unable to work due to what a union supporting drivers claims is a racially-biased algorithm. Ogunyemi, who is Black, had submitted a photograph of himself to confirm his identity on the app, but when the software failed to recognize him, he was blocked from accessing his account for “improper use of the Uber application.”
Another Federal Court Allows BIPA Claims to Proceed, Finding State of Mind Allegations Not Necessary for Plaintiff’s Claim
(National Law Review, Oct 13, 2021)
In Bradenberg v. Meridian Senior Living, LLC, No. 20-cv-03198 (C.D. Ill. Sept. 30, 2021), another BIPA complaint this year proceeded past the complaint stage, as the Court found that Plaintiff’s allegations were sufficient to state a claim. While open ended questions remain regarding the statute’s scope and damages provisions (some of which may be shortly addressed by the Seventh Circuit), this trend underscores ongoing litigation risk for entities regulated under the statute.
