"Rutgers University's new program also uses a "behavior observation tool," which monitors student browser activity throughout an active session. While this feature is intended to prevent students from using the Internet to cheat on exams, the power that this grants instructors is extremely invasive. If a student accidentally leaves a personal or embarrassing website in their browser during an online course, a ProctorTrack instructor might stumble upon their activity."
""The idea that we can have counter-speech when [Facebook] groups become brigade mobs is ludicrous," said Renee DiResta, an expert in online misinformation and co-founder of Vaccinate California. "It makes just participating as an everyday citizen a high-stakes ordeal.""
"Microsoft has pulled its latest Windows 10 update offline after some users complained of missing files. It's the latest in a string of incidents with regular patches and Microsoft's larger Windows 10 updates that have been causing issues for some PC users this year. While Microsoft tests Windows 10 with millions of beta testers, there are signs that this public feedback loop isn't always working. Earlier this year Microsoft delayed its April 2018 Windows 10 update due to last minute Blue Screen of Death issues, and then had to fix desktop and Chrome freezing issues after it was shipped to more than 600 million machines. "
"So they trained a deep-learning neural net on tons of examples of deepfaked videos, and produced a model that's better than any previous automated technique at spotting hoaxery. (Their paper documenting the work is here.)"
"However, there's a new breed of video and audio manipulation tools, made possible by advances in artificial intelligence and computer graphics, that will allow for the creation of realistic looking footage of public figures appearing to say, well, anything. Trump declaring his proclivity for water sports. Hillary Clinton describing the stolen children she keeps locked in her wine cellar. Tom Cruise finally admitting what we suspected all along … that he's a Brony."
"As LGBTQ Egyptians flock to apps like Grindr, Hornet, and Growlr, they face an unprecedented threat from police and blackmailers who use the same apps to find targets."
""But we live in a world where it's becoming harder to trust the digital information we consume, and I look forward to further exploring this area of research.""
"Raji says her investigation into the data has made her gravely concerned about deep-learning-based facial recognition.
"It's so much more dangerous," she says. "The data requirement forces you to collect incredibly sensitive information about, at minimum, tens of thousands of people. It forces you to violate their privacy. That in itself is a basis of harm. And then we're hoarding all this information that you can't control to build something that likely will function in ways you can't even predict. That's really the nature of where we're at.""
Users will have 15 minutes, when the app pings them, to prove they are at their homes by showing the app their faces and giving it access to geo-location data. Should they fail to do so, the local police department will be sent to follow up in person.
“Location and biometric data is extremely valuable. Any government initiative that wishes to collect these types of personal information should have robust safeguards in place before it is rolled out, to ensure that information is not later used or disclosed for other purposes,”
According to its privacy statement, Home Quarantine SA will encrypt data “immediately upon submission” before sending it to an Australian server “under control of the Government of South Australia”.
Thailand’s Transport Ministry wants to roll out its biometric-enabled smart airport initiative across five top airports to improve passenger experience, reduce waiting times, and boost airport security
“Currently, travelers may be required to show their ID cards or passports up to three times in one trip through an airport,”
“They can have their faces scanned just once at check-in counters and then board a plane without the need to show their ID cards, passports or boarding passes.”
"Lawyers for the former president have claimed fair use, saying the ad was satire, exempt from copyright law, and used footage reposted without knowing its origin. They have also said Trump cannot be sued because of "presidential absolute immunity"."
"The camera never lies. Except, of course, it does - and seemingly more often with each passing day.
In the age of the smartphone, digital edits on the fly to improve photos have become commonplace, from boosting colours to tweaking light levels.
Now, a new breed of smartphone tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are adding to the debate about what it means to photograph reality.
Google's latest smartphones released last week, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, go a step further than devices from other companies. They are using AI to help alter people's expressions in photographs.
It's an experience we've all had: one person in a group shot looks away from the camera or fails to smile. Google's phones can now look through your photos to mix and match from past expressions, using machine learning to put a smile from a different photo of them into the picture. Google calls it Best Take. "
“Many of the challenges we face today – from conflicts to climate chaos and the cost-of-living crisis – are the result of what is a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture, taking the key decisions that guide our world,”
“Policymakers must create - and in some circumstances must reinforce to create - transformative change by promoting women and girls’ equal rights and opportunities to learn; by dismantling barriers and smashing glass ceilings,” he said.
The digital divide and the "glass ceiling" both exacerbate gender inequality and prevent women from achieving their full potential. A diversified strategy may be needed to address these problems, including policy changes to advance gender equality, financial support for education and training, and initiatives (transformative change) to overcome prejudice and stereotypes that support gender inequality.