====================================================
The Information Program NEWS DIGEST, published the second and fourth
Thursdays of each month, aims to update colleagues in the Open Society
Foundations and friends further afield about the news, opinions and
events the Program team have been watching this fortnight.
The views expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those
of the Information Program or the OSF. Prepared by Wendy M. Grossman.
Our staff, advisers and major grantees tweet at http://bit.ly/13j5fjq. Current and former grantees featured in this issue: EDRi, EFF, Open Rights Group, Privacy International.
NEWS
=====
For breaking news stories, visit:
http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:news/
Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At the Guardian, Olivia Solon and Oliver Laughland report that Cambridge
Analytica is closing and has filed for insolvency proceedings, along
with its UK affiliate, SCL Elections. However, also at the Guardian,
Wendy Siegelman reports that a web of at least
18 linked companies created by the company's executives is already in
place to continue the same work. Based in the US and UK, these companies
include Emerdata Limited, incorporated in August 2017 and expanded with
new directors and funding in January 2018.
Cambridge Analytica's business structure is highly complex; at Medium,
Siegelman and Ann Marlowe have graphed its corporate relationships.
Guardian (insolvency): http://bit.ly/2G0bhct
Guardian (Emerdata): http://bit.ly/2FYMGVM
Medium: http://bit.ly/2KNhRqB
Amazon blocks "domain fronting"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At Ars Technica, Sean Gallegher reports that Amazon has joined Google in
blocking "domain fronting" that exploits content delivery networks to
bypass national censorship. Amazon sent a message to the developers of
the encrypted phone and messaging service Signal
warning that their account would be closed if they continued to use
Amazon's CloudFront service in this way. Signal head Moxie Marlinspike
posted the warning email to Github.
Ars Technica: http://bit.ly/2wpNZgJ
UK: High Court strikes down portions of the Investigatory Powers Act
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Open Rights Group reports that the UK High Court has ruled against
the mass surveillance powers enshrined in the 2016 Investigatory Powers
Act. There were two key elements to the ruling: first, that the purpose
of access to retained data was not limited
to combating serious crime, and second, that access to retained data
was not subject to prior review by a court or administrative body. The
case was brought by Liberty following the European Court of Justice
(CJEU) ruling against the 2014 Data Retention and
Investigatory Powers Act; the CJEU held that the bulk and non-targeted
surveillance powers in DRIPA were not compatible with EU law. The
British court has given the UK government until November 1, 2018 to
ensure that the IPA's surveillance provisions are brought
into line with EU law.
ORG: http://bit.ly/2I5IZzj
A predictive policing pioneer aims to automate identifying gang-related crime
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At The Verge, Ali Winston and Ingrid Burrington report that UCLA
anthropology professor Jeff Brantingham, a pioneer in predictive
policing, is using military research funding to use machine learning to
automate the classification of "gang-related" crimes. The
system will rely on the Los Angeles Police Department's criminal data
and a gang territory map that Winston and Burrington call "outdated". In
LA, being classified as gang-related can result in additional
sanctions: restrictions on movement and association
with others, heavier prison sentences, or extra criminal charges. In
his paper, presented at the first Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and
Society conference, Brantingham and his co-authors explain a "novel"
partially generative neural network that they claim
can accurately classify gang-related crimes whether full or only
partial information is available.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/26/17285058/predictive-policing-predpol-pentagon-ai-racial-bias
http://www.aies-conference.com/wp-content/papers/main/AIES_2018_paper_93.pdf
US: "Golden State killer" identified via public genealogy databases
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At the LA Times, Benjamin Oreskes, Joseph Serna, and Richard Winton
report that detectives in California identified "Golden State killer"
suspect 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo by matching an exceptionally
well-preserved DNA sample from a crime scene against
samples submitted to GEDmatch, a public genealogy database. The elusive
Golden State killer was linked to more than 50 rapes and 12 murders
between 1976 and 1986. Many commentators have expressed relief that he
was caught, but remain disturbed at law enforcement's
use of highly personal data that people have provided in order to find
relatives. The pending Supreme Court Carpenter v. US case, which focuses
on police use of cell tower data, may set the stage for legal
challenges to the use of other types of data, including
DNA samples.
LA Times: https://lat.ms/2I1xX21
International intelligence sharing arrangements lack oversight
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy International reports that an international collaborative
investigation by 40 NGOs in 42 countries has found weaknesses in the
oversight arrangement that are supposed to govern the sharing of
information between state intelligence agencies. PI argues
that legal safeguards and oversight mechanisms are essential. However,
most countries lack domestic legislation to regulate intelligence
sharing; only one has introduced specific legislation. In addition,
oversight bodies in nine of 21 responding countries
said the agencies have no clear legal obligation to inform them of the
intelligence sharing arrangements they make. None of the oversight
bodies said they have powers to authorize decisions to share
intelligence.
PI: http://bit.ly/2wuTpY0
FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
====================
For more features and analysis selected by the Program team, visit:
http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:oped/
EU, Brazil: Disinformation initiatives and their threat to free expression
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting at the Center for Democracy and Technology,
Jens-Henrik Jeppesen discusses the report issued by the European
Commission's High-Level Group on fake news and worries that the speed
and poorly defined scope with which the EC wants to proceed
will pose a threat to free expression, political debate, and access to
information. In a blog posting, Access Now discusses several South
American countries' proposed approaches to eliminating fake news, which
are of concern to civil society because of the
threat of censorship.
CDT: http://bit.ly/2rxwrd3
Access Now: http://bit.ly/2wr4fhL
How bookies use AI to keep gamblers hooked
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at the Guardian, Mattha Busby discovers the gambling
industry's use of artificial intelligence in order to get and keep
gamblers hooked on their services. Industry insiders tell Busby that the
result, based on analyzing every click and transaction,
is highly accurate targeting designed to keep people betting. In an
earlier article, Busby examined gambling companies' use of third-party
data to help them target people on low incomes and those who have
stopped gambling.
Guardian (AI): http://bit.ly/2I3TiYE
Guardian (third party): http://bit.ly/2jHTMF8
Future proofing civil society and our institutions
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this transcribed talk at Access Now, European policy manager Fanny
Hidvegi discusses the background that led her to her advocacy work and
the importance of self-care to avoid burn-out for the resilience and
future-proofing for both activists and our democratic
institutions. Access Now operates a helpline to support journalists,
activists, and users at risk. At the New York Times, Yale professor of
law and history Samuel Moyn argues that the human rights movement has
failed because it did not embrace the value of
economic fairness. Changing course to advocate distributional fairness
is, Moyn says, essential to combat the rise of populism.
Access Now: http://bit.ly/2InznDo
NY Times: https://nyti.ms/2rvXo0y
The challenge of humanitarian biometrics
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting at IRIN, Paul Currion discusses how to use
biometrics in the humanitarian context. In a 2006 report issued by the
UN's Malaysian refugee agency, UNHCR, Currion finds evidence for his
contention that biometric registration is typically driven
by the interests of national governments, technology companies, and aid
agencies. Originally funded by the EU and the US, building UNHCR's
biometric system has involved a number of companies including PA
Consulting, which also worked on the UK's biometric
border control system. Currion goes on to raise two concerns about
these systems: security, and the privacy risks to vulnerable communities
and individuals. At the EDRI blog, Statewatch analyses new EU proposals
for mandatory biometrics in national ID cards,
which are issued to 370 million citizens in 26 EU member states.
Introducing such a measure will require fingerprinting the majority of
EU citizens, complementing the fingerprinting of non-EU citizens who
require visas in order to enter the bloc.
IRIN: http://bit.ly/2K4Vls6
EDRi: http://bit.ly/2IoZcTv
Text and data mining in the European copyright overhaul
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting at EFF, Jeremy Malcolm analyzes the text and data
mining provisions taking shape as part of the EU's copyright
negotiations, which are expected to become complete over the next few
weeks. Because the EU lacks a US-style fair use law, there
is little consistency between member states on user rights; the EU also
has separate intellectual property protection for databases. As a
result, the legality of text and data mining in Europe is questionable.
With this - and with the needs of scientists -
in mind, the EU proposed to clarify the situation. Malcolm goes on to
discuss the limitations the EU is considering and the issues they
create.
EFF: http://bit.ly/2G0037Y
We Robot 2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On its agenda page, the 2018 We Robot conference hosts the draft papers
and abstracts from this year's conference. Of particular interest are
two papers on robots in urban settings, Jesse Woo's paper on Urban
Robotics and Kristen Thomasen's paper on Robots
in the Public Square, as well as Karen Levy's short talk on the double
threat of AI for low-wage work. Adrian Mannes's paper on Explaining
Autonomy focuses on the importance of risk communication in building
public trust in the companies making the robots
that are beginning to populate our world.
We Robot: https://stanford.io/2wtj4A8
***
DIARY
==============
To see more events recommended by the Information Program team, visit:
https://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:events/. If you would like your event listed in this mail, email
info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.
RightsCon
----------------------------------------
May 16-18, 2018
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
RightsCon has become one of the world's largest gatherings on human
rights and technology, and it's people like you that make it an engine
for change. The 2018 event is staged in Canada for a conversation built
on the principles of diversity, inclusion, and
respect.
http://bit.ly/2rR0IX3
Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection
----------------------------------------
May 24, 2018
San Francisco, CA, USA
ConPro #18 will explore computer science topics with an impact on
consumers. This workshop has a strong security and privacy emphasis,
with an overall focus on ways in which computer science can prevent,
detect, or address the potential for technology to deceive
or unfairly harm consumers. Participants will consist heavily of
academic and industry researchers but are also expected to include
researchers from the Federal Trade Commission - the U.S. government's
primary consumer protection body - and other government
agencies with a consumer protection mission.
http://bit.ly/2iCUt5r
Foundation for Information Policy Research 20th anniversary
----------------------------------------
May 29, 2018
Cambridge, UK
For its 20th anniversary, the UK's Foundation for Information Policy
Research, founded to campaign against 1990s proposals for surveillance
laws, will host a debate in Cambridge featuring representatives of NGOs
and GCHQ, academia and DeepMind, the press and
the Cabinet Office. Should governments be able to break the encryption
on our phones? Are we entitled to any privacy for our health and social
care records? And what can be done about fake news? If the Internet's
going to be censored, who do we trust to do
it?
http://bit.ly/2I65WT2
Privacy Law Scholars
----------------------------------------
May 30-31
Washington, DC, USA
PLSC is a paper workshop with the goal of improving and providing
support for in-progress scholarship. To achieve this, PLSC assembles a
wide array of privacy law scholars and practitioners from around the
world to discuss the papers. Scholars from many disciplines
(psychology/economics, sociology, philosophy, political science,
computer science, and even math) also participate.
http://bit.ly/2zgypRQ
Internet Shutdowns in Africa Workshop
----------------------------------------
June 7-8, 2018
Johannesburg, South Africa
Internet shutdowns in Africa doubled between 2015 and 2016, affecting
citizens in 11 countries on the continent. While the number declined
slightly in 2017, governments that resorted to disrupting the internet
did so more frequently and for longer periods.
The justifications are diverse, from anti-government protests to
Cameroon, to exam cheating in Ethiopia, concerns about election-related
violence in Uganda, and quelling social unrest in Zimbabwe. This two-day
conference is aimed at sparking in-depth and productive
conversations about this issue. It is organized by the ERC-funded
ConflictNet programme at the University of Oxford's Programme in
Comparative Media Law and Policy, the CSLS, the Bonavero Institute for
Human Rights, and the Department of Journalism, Film and
Television at the University of Johannesburg's School of Communication.
http://bit.ly/2HkVpSX
Personal Democracy Forum
----------------------------------------
June 7-8, 2018
New York, NY, USA
Since 2004, Personal Democracy Forum ("PDF") has been the go-to place to
tap into a community that believes in the power of technology to change
politics and governance for the better. This year's PDF, the 15th, will
focus on meaningful collaboration, action,
and participatory learning. Our number one goal is to plug attendees
into the process of change-making. This year's theme, How We Make Good,
will focus on how we turn our commitments - to democracy and ensuring
that tech works for the public good - into concrete
action.
http://bit.ly/2FjLAbD
22nd International Conference on Electronic Publishing
----------------------------------------
June 22-24, 2018
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The theme of ELPUB 2018 is Connecting the Knowledge Commons: From
Projects to Sustainable Infrastructure. The question of sustainability
in the open access movement has been widely debated, yet satisfactory
answers have yet to be generated. In the past, ELPUB
has featured research results in various aspects of digital publishing,
involving a diverse international community of librarians, developers,
publishers, entrepreneurs, administrators and researchers across the
disciplines in the sciences and the humanities.
It is unique as a platform for both researchers, professionals and the
broader community. The conference contains a multi-track presentation of
refereed papers as well as invited keynotes, special sessions,
demonstrations, and poster presentations.
http://bit.ly/2rB60Ef
LIBER Annual Conference
----------------------------------------
July 4-6, 2018
Lille, France
The 47th annual conference of the Association of European Research
Libraries (LIBER) will include plenary sessions with top international
speakers, presentations on current research, posters, and an exhibition
of products and services for the library sector,
as well as a comprehensive social programme.
http://bit.ly/2zFcbbU
The Circle of HOPE
----------------------------------------
July 20-22, 2018
New York, NY, USA
Organized by 2600 Magazine, the 12th biennial Hackers on Planet Earth
conference celebrates the hacker spirit. Talks typically feature new
ways of examining and dissecting technology to reveal inconvenient
truths.
http://bit.ly/2BbzJpM
Defcon
----------------------------------------
August 9-12, 2018
Las Vegas, NV, USA
The heart of the DEF CON 26 theme is the concept of the counterfuture.
The counterfuture is the open-source alternative to totalitarian
dystopia; a world where we use tech and ingenuity for empowerment and
connection rather than isolation and control.
http://bit.ly/2A2ojUE
VOX-Pol Third Biennial Conference
----------------------------------------
August 20-21, 2018
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The VOX-Pol Network of Excellence (NoE) is a European Union Framework
Programme 7 (FP7)-funded academic research network focused on
researching the prevalence, contours, functions, and impacts of Violent
Online Political Extremism and responses to it.c
http://bit.ly/2Hhzj3Q
World Library and Information Congress
----------------------------------------
August 24-30, 2018
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The 84th edition of the World Library and Information Congress has the
theme, "Transform Libraries, Transform Societies" with the additional
tagline, "Reaching out to the hard to reach", which was chosen in
recognition of the critical role played by libraries
in the development of a nation, particularly in their ability to
transform societies.
http://bit.ly/2qSXIta
SciELO 20 Years Conference
----------------------------------------
September 26-28, 2018
São Paulo, Brazil
In 2018, the SciELO Program will celebrate 20 years of operation, in
full alignment with the advances of open science. The conference will
address and debate the main political, methodological, and technological
issues and trends that define today's state of
the art in scholarly communication. These issues will also be shaping
the future of the universal openness of scholarly publishing and its
relationship with today's Open Access journals, in particular those of
the SciELO Network.
http://bit.ly/2FlpVzU
Amsterdam Privacy Conference
----------------------------------------
October 5-9, 2018
Amsterdam, Netherlands
APC 2018 brings together researchers, practitioners, policy makers and
professionals in the field of privacy to share insights, exchange ideas
and formulate, discuss and answer the challenging privacy questions that
lie ahead of us. The goal of the conference
is to bring together academics, policy makers, journalists, and
practitioners to promote active discussion on timely topics, and foster
debate on privacy issues between participants from various backgrounds
and perspectives.
http://bit.ly/2ucbFEu
International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners
----------------------------------------
October 22-26, 2018
Brussels, Belgium
The 40th version of this event will be hosted by the European Data
Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli and the chair of the
Commission for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Bulgaria,
Ventsislav Karadjov. The conference is expected to
focus on the recently launched international debate on the ethical
dimension of data protection in the digital era. Accompanying conference
events will also take place in Bulgaria.
http://bit.ly/2B1bX38
***
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News digest | Open Society Information Program | Week ending 27 April 2018
====================================================
The Information Program NEWS DIGEST, published the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, aims to update colleagues in the Open Society Foundations and friends further afield about the news, opinions and events the Program team have been watching this fortnight. The views expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of the Information Program or the OSF. Prepared by Wendy M. Grossman.
Our staff, advisers and major grantees tweet at http://bit.ly/13j5fjq. Current and former grantees featured in this issue: Privacy International, SPARC.
Digital Freedom Fund seeks program officer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The ideal candidate will have four to five years of professional experience in the non-profit sector, preferably in a grant-making capacity, and has a demonstrable commitment to human rights. Prior experience with digital rights is not required, but an interest in human rights in the digital sphere is of course important for the role. http://bit.ly/2Fjtphh
NEWS
=====
For breaking news stories, visit: http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:news/
Facebook moves 1.5 billion users outside the reach of EU data protection law
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At the Guardian, Alex Hern reports that Facebook will shift legal responsibility for its 1.5 billion users outside the US, Canada, and the EU from its international headquarters in Ireland to its main offices in California, thereby removing them from the reach of the incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Those users will be covered by US law, although for tax purposes Facebook will continue to book their revenue through its Irish office. LinkedIn will follow suit on May 8. At CNN, Bruce Schneier discusses the likely impact of GDPR on the thousands of companies that are spying on us. At Medium, Privacy International argues that Facebook has avoided acknowledging the importance of data about individuals that is inferred, derived, or predicted from information automatically collected from others' postings. PI also details how social media profiling works and why it's both dangerous and illegal under GDPR. In an interview at New York Magazine, Richard Stallman argues that rather than controlling how companies and governments collect and use data we should stop them from doing it. At Medium, Linet Kwamboka discusses the impact of Facebook's data scandal in Africa, where only 17 countries have data protection laws; she especially looks at Kenyans' reduced Facebook usage.
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2HwWYOc
CNN: https://cnn.it/2HwMjXV
Medium (PI): http://bit.ly/2r0mlkH
NY Magazine: https://slct.al/2Khxp5G
Medium (Africa): http://bit.ly/2r1l1yR
Google closes network bug that enabled bypass of state censorship
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At The Verge, Russell Brandom reports that Google's App Engine is discontinuing a practice known as "domain-fronting", which enabled services such as Signal, GreatFire.org, and Psiphon's virtual private networking to bypass state-level internet censorship. First noticed by developers on April 13, the change to Google's network architecture stops these services from using Google's network as a proxy to forward traffic to their own servers. Google says domain fronting was never an intended network feature. Along with other groups, Access Now is asking Google to reconsider.
Verge: http://bit.ly/2vMwIho
Russia blocks millions of IP addresses to enforce Telegram ban
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At the Guardian, Andrew Roth reports that Russia's internet watchdog, Roskomnadzor, is blocking an estimated 16 million IP addresses, including subnets used by Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, as part of efforts to enforce its ban on the Telegram messaging app. Telegram is used by more than 13 million people in Russia, including Kremlin officials. The ban is supported by a court decision and the FSB. Also at the Guardian, Roth and Saeed Kamali Dehghan report that Iran seems ready to follow suit, as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced he is leaving the service "to safeguard the national interest". An estimated 40 million Iranians, or about half the country's population, use Telegram for its broadcast functions as well as one-to-one messaging.
Guardian (Russia): http://bit.ly/2JsWoSc
Guardian (Iran): http://bit.ly/2vMx47I
Sri Lanka: False rumors on social media spark violence
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At the New York Times, Amanda Taub and Max Fisher report on riots and lynchings in Sri Lanka, where false rumors, which are spread primarily on Facebook, have led people to believe that the small town of Ampara is the epicenter of a Muslim plot to sterilize and destroy the country's Sinhalese majority. Taub and Fisher argue that in countries with weak or undeveloped institutions, posts that tap into anger and fear have greater impact because Facebook is seen as synonymous with the internet and other reputable information sources are scarce. Similar situations have arisen in rural Indonesia, India, and Mexico. At the Guardian, Michael McGowan reports that Ian MacKay, a high-ranking Australian official with the National Union of Workers, helped set up and run a fake Black Lives Matter Facebook page. MacKay has been suspended; the page, which had nearly 700,000 followers, was removed after CNN began investigating.
NY Times: https://nyti.ms/2Hzoueg
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2I1CYnZ
France develops homebrew encryption system
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At TechDirt, Mike Masnick reports that France is testing a homegrown encrypted messaging system for its government officials while continuing to push for backdoors for other encrypted communications. Masick questions the logic of this decision, both for the inequitable "Let them eat insecure messages" attitude toward the general public and for the technical risks of using a system that has not been repeatedly tested by cryptanalysts.
TechDirt: http://bit.ly/2HsUXXv
Study finds Android apps track children
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At Tom's Guide, Henry T. Casey reports that a new study by the Berkeley-based International Computer Science Institute finds that 57% of the 5,855 apps it studied appear to be in potential violation of the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The apps are all popular, free, and targeted at children. Many plug into Facebook's application programming interface (API). Others collect identifiers or personally identifiable information despite terms of service barring use for children's apps; 40% do not encrypt data for transmission. At Slate, Justin Peters asks why Google won't admit that YouTube is for children. Consumer protection advocates have complained to the Federal Trade Commission that the platform violates COPPA.
Tom's Guide: http://bit.ly/2HZ5eHO
Slate: https://slate.me/2HYsGF7
Fingerprint scanning technology moves forward
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At Undark, Rod McCullom reports that new techniques developed by researchers at the University of Surrey can analyze biochemical traces in the sweat in fingerprints to reveal whether the subject has taken drugs. The article goes on to discuss the privacy and ethical implications of turning fingerprints from biometric identifiers into revealing sources of forensic information. At its blog, the South Wales Police reports that an enhanced phone image of a hand enabled fingerprint experts to secure drugs convictions against 11 people.
Undark: http://bit.ly/2HyHE3B
South Wales Police: http://bit.ly/2HxnKWQ
FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
====================
For more features and analysis selected by the Program team, visit:
http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:oped/
Palantir knows everything about you
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at Bloomberg, Peter Waldman, Lizette Chapman, and Jordan Robertson examine the life, times, and inner workings of the secretive data-crunching company Palantir. Founded in 2004 by PayPal founder Peter Thiel, Palantir's intelligence platform was designed for the War on Terror and has been turned to surveilling ordinary Americans by government departments such as Health and Human Services (to detect Medicare fraud), the FBI (criminal investigations), and the Department of Homeland Security (screening travelers and immigrants). The article studies Palantir's platform in detail, considers why courts have not ruled on its legality, and finds that at twice the age at which most start-ups either go public or sell out, the company is courting corporate customers to build its revenues.
Bloomberg: https://bloom.bg/2HzppLK
Battle over college course material shows technological change
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this feature at the Washington Post, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel discusses textbook pricing, the rise of open textbooks, and inclusive-access programs that deliver all course materials on the first day of class at a discounted rate. The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) hopes for an open education marketplace with options that allow both reduced costs and expanded access. One benefit is enabling students to hold onto digital courseware for years rather than reselling their textbooks in order to afford those they need for the next semester. Concerns persist that publishers remain in control and can raise prices in this captive market.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/battle-over-college-course-material-is-a-textbook-example-of-technological-change/2018/04/14/fb3d0394-0db5-11e8-95a5-c396801049ef_story.html
Ridesharing versus public transit
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at American Prospect, Steven Hill considers Uber's and Lyft's contribution to social divisions in urban transportation systems. Ridership on many public transport systems is down, which researchers at the University of California Transportation Center link to the rise of ride-hailing services. In the US, where public transport is already weak, Hill argues that Uber is mounting a venture capital-subsidized predatory price war to drive off all competition. Meanwhile, car use, pollution, and congestion are all increasing. At the Washington Post, Faiz Siddiqui reports that the city's ride-hailing tax receipts show that ride-hailing has quadrupled since 2015 while taxi and Metro ridership has steadily fallen. Uber shares some data with transport regulators on vehicle travel time and demand, and is piloting sharing data on curb use, but does not disclose the number of rides or average fares.
Prospect: http://bit.ly/2JtoFZ2
Washington Post: https://wapo.st/2HyRhiZ
Blockchain might have a role to play in digital archiving
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting, the Open Data Institute (ODI) asks if blockchains - distributed ledger technologies - can help guarantee the integrity of digital archives. The ODI is partnering with the University of Surrey and the UK's National Archives on the ARCHANGEL research project to investigate how blockchains might be used to verify that historical documents have not been altered or adapted while stored in archives. This is a particular problem for documents that are too personally sensitive to release now but that will be of value to future historians. At Quartz, Bright Simons argues that for blockchains to be useful in Africa they must lose their Western cultural baggage and adapt to Africa's different understanding of trust, which may rely on the kinds of third parties blockchain's inventors wanted to eliminate.
ODI: http://bit.ly/2HskMai
Quartz: http://bit.ly/2FmfO9a
India: The consequences of linking women's medical records to their Aadhaar
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at the Indian Express, Ramya Chandrasekhar opposes India's decision to link women's medical records to their Aadhaar numbers, which she argues is female-targeted surveillance that removes women's and girls' autonomy. The proposals date to 2016, when Women and Child Development minister Maneka Gandhi proposed that it should be made mandatory to disclose the sex of the fetus to pregnant women and for pregnancies to be tracked in order to deter the practice of female feticide. In February 2018, two doctors argued in an editorial that every abortion should be recorded against the women's Aadhaar along with records of the doctors who performed it.
Indian Express: http://bit.ly/2r3MLSi
Single identifier could wreck the internet
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at New Scientist, Sally Adee and Carl Miller discuss a next-generation internet plan intended to solve cybersecurity problems including ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, and even trolling. The plan, a "handle system" based on one conceived by TCP/IP co-inventor Robert Kahn in the 1990s, is recognized by the UN as an international standard and is based on giving every piece of material on the internet a unique identifier. The downside is that the system could become an authoritarian internet power grab that could lead to real-time surveillance and tracking of every device and individual connected to the web. Western countries typically oppose the handle system on these grounds, but Russia, China, and some Arab states want to start rolling it out.
New Scientist: http://bit.ly/2JpJ3di
***
DIARY
==============
To see more events recommended by the Information Program team, visit:
https://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:events/. If you would like your event listed in this mail, email info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.
Personal Democracy Forum Central-Eastern Europe
----------------------------------------
April 26-17
Gdansk, Poland
The sixth edition of the Personal Democracy Forum Central-Eastern Europe will include two days of keynote speeches, practical workshops, networking sessions, and many satellite events. Personal Democracy Forum CEE is a platform for exchanging ideas and experience for those working for civic participation and transparency in public life with the help of new technologies in Central and Eastern Europe. Launched in Poland in 2013, it is a regional branch of New York City PDF organized by Civic Hall (earlier Personal Democracy Media) since 2004.
http://bit.ly/2Dc0Dhx
Open Knowledge Summit 2018
----------------------------------------
May 3-6, 2018
Thessaloniki, Greece
For 2018, the Open Knowledge Foundation has replaced the OKFestival with a summit intended to gather the Open Knowledge network to collaboratively build the future of the Open Knowledge Network. The format and programming will be developed as a collaboration between Open Knowledge International, Open Knowledge Greece, and all other groups in the network.
http://bit.ly/2iISyJb
RightsCon
----------------------------------------
May 16-18, 2018
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
RightsCon has become one of the world's largest gatherings on human rights and technology, and it's people like you that make it an engine for change. The 2018 event is staged in Canada for a conversation built on the principles of diversity, inclusion, and respect.
http://bit.ly/2rR0IX3
Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection
----------------------------------------
May 24, 2018
San Francisco, CA, USA
ConPro #18 will explore computer science topics with an impact on consumers. This workshop has a strong security and privacy emphasis, with an overall focus on ways in which computer science can prevent, detect, or address the potential for technology to deceive or unfairly harm consumers. Participants will consist heavily of academic and industry researchers but are also expected to include researchers from the Federal Trade Commission - the U.S. government's primary consumer protection body - and other government agencies with a consumer protection mission.
http://bit.ly/2iCUt5r
Privacy Law Scholars
----------------------------------------
May 30-31
Washington, DC, USA
PLSC is a paper workshop with the goal of improving and providing support for in-progress scholarship. To achieve this, PLSC assembles a wide array of privacy law scholars and practitioners from around the world to discuss the papers. Scholars from many disciplines (psychology/economics, sociology, philosophy, political science, computer science, and even math) also participate.
http://bit.ly/2zgypRQ
Internet Shutdowns in Africa Workshop
----------------------------------------
June 7-8, 2018
Johannesburg, South Africa
Internet shutdowns in Africa doubled between 2015 and 2016, affecting citizens in 11 countries on the continent. While the number declined slightly in 2017, governments that resorted to disrupting the internet did so more frequently and for longer periods. The justifications are diverse, from anti-government protests to Cameroon, to exam cheating in Ethiopia, concerns about election-related violence in Uganda, and quelling social unrest in Zimbabwe. This two-day conference is aimed at sparking in-depth and productive conversations about this issue. It is organized by the ERC-funded ConflictNet programme at the University of Oxford's Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, the CSLS, the Bonavero Institute for Human Rights, and the Department of Journalism, Film and Television at the University of Johannesburg's School of Communication.
http://bit.ly/2HkVpSX
Personal Democracy Forum
----------------------------------------
June 7-8, 2018
New York, NY, USA
Since 2004, Personal Democracy Forum ("PDF") has been the go-to place to tap into a community that believes in the power of technology to change politics and governance for the better. This year's PDF, the 15th, will focus on meaningful collaboration, action, and participatory learning. Our number one goal is to plug attendees into the process of change-making. This year's theme, How We Make Good, will focus on how we turn our commitments - to democracy and ensuring that tech works for the public good - into concrete action.
http://bit.ly/2FjLAbD
LIBER Annual Conference
----------------------------------------
July 4-6, 2018
Lille, France
The 47th annual conference of the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) will include plenary sessions with top international speakers, presentations on current research, posters, and an exhibition of products and services for the library sector, as well as a comprehensive social programme.
http://bit.ly/2zFcbbU
The Circle of HOPE
----------------------------------------
July 20-22, 2018
New York, NY, USA
Organized by 2600 Magazine, the 12th biennial Hackers on Planet Earth conference celebrates the hacker spirit. Talks typically feature new ways of examining and dissecting technology to reveal inconvenient truths.
http://bit.ly/2BbzJpM
Defcon
----------------------------------------
August 9-12, 2018
Las Vegas, NV, USA
The heart of the DEF CON 26 theme is the concept of the counterfuture. The counterfuture is the open-source alternative to totalitarian dystopia; a world where we use tech and ingenuity for empowerment and connection rather than isolation and control.
http://bit.ly/2A2ojUE
VOX-Pol Third Biennial Conference
----------------------------------------
August 20-21, 2018
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The VOX-Pol Network of Excellence (NoE) is a European Union Framework Programme 7 (FP7)-funded academic research network focused on researching the prevalence, contours, functions, and impacts of Violent Online Political Extremism and responses to it.c
http://bit.ly/2Hhzj3Q
World Library and Information Congress
----------------------------------------
August 24-30, 2018
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The 84th edition of the World Library and Information Congress has the theme, "Transform Libraries, Transform Societies" with the additional tagline, "Reaching out to the hard to reach", which was chosen in recognition of the critical role played by libraries in the development of a nation, particularly in their ability to transform societies.
http://bit.ly/2qSXIta
SciELO 20 Years Conference
----------------------------------------
September 26-28, 2018
São Paulo, Brazil
In 2018, the SciELO Program will celebrate 20 years of operation, in full alignment with the advances of open science. The conference will address and debate the main political, methodological, and technological issues and trends that define today's state of the art in scholarly communication. These issues will also be shaping the future of the universal openness of scholarly publishing and its relationship with today's Open Access journals, in particular those of the SciELO Network.
http://bit.ly/2FlpVzU
Amsterdam Privacy Conference
----------------------------------------
October 5-9, 2018
Amsterdam, Netherlands
APC 2018 brings together researchers, practitioners, policy makers and professionals in the field of privacy to share insights, exchange ideas and formulate, discuss and answer the challenging privacy questions that lie ahead of us. The goal of the conference is to bring together academics, policy makers, journalists, and practitioners to promote active discussion on timely topics, and foster debate on privacy issues between participants from various backgrounds and perspectives.
http://bit.ly/2ucbFEu
International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners
----------------------------------------
October 22-26, 2018
Brussels, Belgium
The 40th version of this event will be hosted by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli and the chair of the Commission for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ventsislav Karadjov. The conference is expected to focus on the recently launched international debate on the ethical dimension of data protection in the digital era. Accompanying conference events will also take place in Bulgaria.
http://bit.ly/2B1bX38
***
Hear more from the Information Program!
================================
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Hear less from the Information Program!
================================
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Additionally, it uses the bit.ly URL shortening service, which operates under the following privacy policy: http://bit.ly/pages/privacy/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
Open Society Foundation, part of the Open Society Foundations, is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 4571628) and a registered charity (charity number 1105069). Its registered office address is 7th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
News digest | Open Society Information Program | Week ending 13 April 2018
====================================================
The Information Program NEWS DIGEST, published the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, aims to update colleagues in the Open Society Foundations and friends further afield about the news, opinions and events the Program team have been watching this fortnight. The views expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of the Information Program or the OSF. Prepared by Wendy M. Grossman.
Our staff, advisers and major grantees tweet at http://bit.ly/13j5fjq. Current and former grantees featured in this issue: Digitale Gesellschaft, EDRi, EFF, SHARE Foundation, SPARC.
Applications for Mozilla Fellowships are now open for open web activists, scientists and researchers, and technology policy professionals. Applications close on April 20. https://mzl.la/2HtQwbw *** Applications for Civil Society Scholarships are now open for the International Copyright Law Summer Course and the Privacy Law and Policy Summer Course organised by the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The course will take place from 2-6 July 2018 in Amsterdam. The scholarships are supported by the Open Society Foundations. https://www.ivir.nl/nl/courses/icl/ https://www.ivir.nl/nl/courses/plp/
NEWS
=====
For breaking news stories, visit: http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:news/
EU: Copyright reforms draw fire from scientists
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At Nature, Quirin Schiermeier reports that open science advocates are opposing proposals for the upcoming directive on copyright in the digital single market on the basis that these conflict with Europe's principles of open science and freedom of expression. Among those who offered objections are SPARC and the Association of European Research Libraries. The most significant change: instead of allowing non-profit repositories and research data services to take down material when notified of infringements, they would have to operate an upload filter to scan submissions for infringements. The proposals are due for a vote in the European Parliament's legal committee on April 23-24.
Nature: https://go.nature.com/2JEaxx5
Grindr sets off privacy firestorm after sharing users' HIV status data
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At The New York Times, Natasha Singer reports that the social network Grindr, aimed at gay, bisexual, and trans men, is facing a firestorm of criticism after European researchers reported on Buzzfeed that the site was sharing users' HIV status, sexual tastes, and other intimate details with third-party software vendors. Two US senators have written to Grindr's chief executive asking whether the app had asked users to opt in to this sharing. The Norwegian Consumer Council has filed a formal complaint with the Norwegian data protection regulator. Grindr has said it will stop sharing this information.
New York Times: https://nyti.ms/2GT0Vwi
NCC: http://bit.ly/2qoJMo2
India: State is using blockchain to collect DNA data of 50 million citizens
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At Quartz, Ananya Bhattacharya reports that the government of Andhra Pradesh, India's eighth-largest state, has announced a partnership with the German genomics and precision medicine company Shivom to build a blockchain-based DNA database of its 50 million citizens. A state government official says that testing for citizens will be optional. The goal is to improve diversity in the genomic data available to researchers.
Quartz: http://bit.ly/2JypaSt
Africa: Cambridge Analytica influenced elections in Nigeria and Kenya
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At Quartz, Linet Kwamboka reports that in Africa, where for millions of people Facebook effectively is the internet, the ongoing data scandal is fueling fierce political battles in West and East Africa, particularly Nigeria and Kenya, where Cambridge Analytica was a player in elections going back to 2007. For most in Africa, deleting Facebook is not an option; Quartz argues that what's needed is better laws and web literacy. At the Guardian, Rana Dasgupta links these developments to the waning of nation-states, which cannot individually extricate themselves from political and moral decay and which are seeing big data companies assume functions previously associated with them, such as cartography and surveillance. The South China Morning Post finds links between Cambridge Analytica head Alexander Nix and political campaigners who worked on Rodrigo Duterte's 2015 presidential campaign in the Philippines. Facebook has announced a new initiative, funded by a group of foundations, to help scholars assess social media's impact on elections. Facebook says it will have no right to review or approve the research findings prior to publication.
Quartz: http://bit.ly/2GRhngH
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2GQFGiV
SMCP: http://bit.ly/2qnl9YR
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2GTMeJJ
Secret Facebook tool deletes Zuckerberg's messages from users' inboxes
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At TechCrunch, Josh Constine reports that a previously secret tool allows Facebook to delete messages from the company's senior executives from the Facebook inboxes of those who received them. The resulting user pushback led the company to announced this "unsend" features will be made available to all users in the next several months. At the Guardian, Alex Hern and Julia Carrie Wong report that the company says it created the feature in order to protect executives' communications after the 2014 Sony hack. Simultaneously, a group of privacy and consumer groups have filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission arguing that Facebook's use of facial recognition software violates both users' privacy and the company's 2011 consent decree. In a "media apology tour", chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said that one day Facebook's users may be able to opt out of the company's data mining - but would have to pay for the privilege. At the New York Times, Matthew Rosenberg and Gabriel J.X. Dance profile a group of Facebook users who were among the first whose data was collected for Cambridge Analytica via a survey hosted by a company called Qualtrics.
TechCrunch: https://tcrn.ch/2GToXrg
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2GPK9hL
New York Times: https://nyti.ms/2JAro3E
EU: Top-level .eu domain will drop UK registrants at Brexit
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At The Register, Kieren McCarthy reports that the European Commission has announced it will cancel all 317,000 domains under the .eu top-level domain that have a UK registrant when the UK withdraws from the European Union. These represent approximately a tenth of the domains registered by EURid, the company that has run .eu since it was awarded the contract in 2005. EURid says it was not consulted or informed before the plan was made public. Traditionally, existing domains have been "grandfathered in" when rules change.
Register: http://bit.ly/2IJURqA
US Department of Justice and Microsoft seek dismissal of Supreme Court case
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At FindLaw, William Vogeler reports that immediately after the passage of the CLOUD Act, which creates new procedures for acquiring data stored in foreign countries, both the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Microsoft asked the Supreme Court to dismiss United States v. Microsoft. The case, which was argued before the Supreme Court on February 27, centers on whether the Stored Communications Act authorized US law enforcement warrants for data stored abroad by US companies. The DoJ has applied for a new warrant to compel Microsoft to turn over the data.
FindLaw: http://bit.ly/2v3VGZx
FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
====================
For more features and analysis selected by the Program team, visit:
http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:oped/
Facebook's Cambridge Analytica problems are nothing compared to what's coming for all of online publishing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting, Doc Searls writes that Facebook's Cambridge Analytica problem is the tip of an iceberg. All online publishers, he writes, "bring readers' bare digital necks to vampires ravenous for the blood of personal data". All these sites leak data in similar ways, and the EU's new General Data Protection Regulation will soon force publishers - as much as Facebook - to change their ways. It's time, he says, for publishers to drop adtech in favor of a return to the kind of high-value brand advertising that ruled the physical world. Searls went on to discuss this further in a video clip at TechCrunch's Gillmor Gang. At Pro Publica, Julia Angwin suggests four ways to fix Facebook: impose fines for data breaches; police political advertising; make technology companies liable for objectionable content; and install ethics review boards.
Searls: http://bit.ly/2qoe7Cs
Gillmor Gang: https://tcrn.ch/2GQjBRJ
Pro Publica: http://bit.ly/2Hi0LlW
US: How tech lost on the sex trafficking bill
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at Politico, Steven Overly and Ashley Gold analyze the passage of the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, which undermines Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. For the last 22 years, S230 has protected online platforms like Facebook, Reddit, Craigslist, and others from liability for user-generated content. Tech companies, they argue, failed to recognize that business-focused arguments were doomed to fail in a conversation about protecting children and that attitudes towards the technology sector are changing in Washington. EFF opposed the bill, and warns that further exceptions to S230 are being mooted. Within days of the law's passage and before it was signed into law, The Register reports that US authorities have seized and shut down Backpage.com, a website with a longstanding reputation for serving sex-related classified ads, many involving minors.
Politico: https://politi.co/2qozrbZ
EFF: http://bit.ly/2EDwhp4
Register: http://bit.ly/2GQ9H2i
Fifteen years of European digital rights
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this special issue of EDRi-gram, EDRi celebrates its 15th birthday by highlighting the achievements of the European digital rights movement. Among the highlights: Digitale Gesellschaft's efforts for digital rights in Germany; the Foundation for Information Policy Research work to support better government IT systems in the UK; Share Foundation's opposition to internet filters in Serbia; and many others.
EDRi: http://bit.ly/2JCJFNC
Signal Foundation
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting, Moxie Marlinspike and WhatsApp founder Brian Acton announce the creation of the Signal Foundation, a non-profit organization with the goal of developing open source privacy technology that protects free expression and enables secure global communications. Signal Messenger is a cryptographic system that enables secure messaging on phones and desktops. The goal is to make the foundation, which is initially funded with $50,000,000, self-sustaining. Acton will serve as the first executive chair, while Marlinspike will continue to serve as CEO of the newly created Signal Messenger non-profit organization.
Signal: http://bit.ly/2JCgDhj
Can an app track sexual predators in the theatre?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at The New Yorker, Rebecca Mead attends a demonstration of Callisto, an online non-profit start-up that enables victims of sexual assault to create a secure, time-stamped record of the incident and place it, protected by encryption, in "information escrow". If someone else reports an assault by the same person, a Callisto operative will discreetly offer to connect the victims with each other so they can decide how to proceed. The demonstration was held at a gathering of people involved in professional theater. Membership in Callisto costs $40 a year, which the start-up hopes will be paid by unions rather than individuals.
New Yorker: http://bit.ly/2Hi2bgg
The case for fairer algorithms
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this article at Medium, DeepMind research scientist Iason Gabriel discusses his company's efforts to create fairer algorithms. He suggests four principles: be transparent about the limitations of datasets; research and develop techniques to mitigate bias; deploy algorithms responsibly; and increase awareness of the problem. DeepMind has begun publishing research papers on this topic and is helping fund external efforts such as those of AI Now and sponsoring several new postdoctoral positions. In a new report, the AI Now Institute recommends how agencies should conduct algorithmic impact assessments to ensure there is a framework for accountability before such systems are used to make decisions about human beings in sensitive domains.
Medium: http://bit.ly/2ILyn8A
AI Now: http://bit.ly/2HcYTuy
***
DIARY
==============
To see more events recommended by the Information Program team, visit:
https://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:events/. If you would like your gevent listed in this mail, email info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.
TICTeC
----------------------------------------
April 18-19, 2018
Lisbon, Portugal
During two days of diverse presentations and workshops, attendees will examine what works - and what doesn't - in the fields of digital democracy, accountability, anti-corruption, and transparency tech. There's just one rule for those making a presentation at TICTeC: it's not enough to present a new digital initiative; you must also bring the research that examines its efficacy. Keynotes Martha Lane Fox and Jonathan Fox will set the tone for a full program, with speakers and delegates including representatives from Google, Facebook, and scores of cutting edge practitioners from many countries.
http://bit.ly/2IJW6pK
TRILCON18
----------------------------------------
April 25, 2018
Winchester, UK
The fifth interdisciplinary Winchester conference on Trust, Risk, Information and the Law has as its overall theme "Public Law, Politics and the Constitution: A new battleground between the Law and Technology?"
http://bit.ly/2A1DwrU
Internet Freedom Forum
----------------------------------------
April 24-26, 2018
Abuja, Nigeria
The sixth edition of the Internet Freedom Forum will present a unique platform for discussions and engagement around current trends and emerging issues affecting internet freedom in Africa. Participants at IFF include civil society organizations, policy actors/makers, legal/policy experts, academics, advocates, tech enthusiasts, industry representatives and active citizens among others.
http://bit.ly/2Aoj0Tr
Personal Democracy Forum Central-Eastern Europe
----------------------------------------
April 26-17
Gdansk, Poland
The sixth edition of the Personal Democracy Forum Central-Eastern Europe will include two days of keynote speeches, practical workshops, networking sessions, and many satellite events. Personal Democracy Forum CEE is a platform for exchanging ideas and experience for those working for civic participation and transparency in public life with the help of new technologies in Central and Eastern Europe. Launched in Poland in 2013, it is a regional branch of New York City PDF organized by Civic Hall (earlier Personal Democracy Media) since 2004.
http://bit.ly/2Dc0Dhx
Open Knowledge Summit 2018
----------------------------------------
May 3-6, 2018
Thessaloniki, Greece
For 2018, the Open Knowledge Foundation has replaced the OKFestival with a summit intended to gather the Open Knowledge network to collaboratively build the future of the Open Knowledge Network. The format and programming will be developed as a collaboration between Open Knowledge International, Open Knowledge Greece, and all other groups in the network.
http://bit.ly/2iISyJb
RightsCon
----------------------------------------
May 16-18, 2018
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
RightsCon has become one of the world's largest gatherings on human rights and technology, and it's people like you that make it an engine for change. The 2018 event is staged in Canada for a conversation built on the principles of diversity, inclusion, and respect.
http://bit.ly/2rR0IX3
Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection
----------------------------------------
May 24, 2018
San Francisco, CA, USA
ConPro #18 will explore computer science topics with an impact on consumers. This workshop has a strong security and privacy emphasis, with an overall focus on ways in which computer science can prevent, detect, or address the potential for technology to deceive or unfairly harm consumers. Participants will consist heavily of academic and industry researchers but are also expected to include researchers from the Federal Trade Commission - the U.S. government's primary consumer protection body - and other government agencies with a consumer protection mission.
http://bit.ly/2iCUt5r
Privacy Law Scholars
----------------------------------------
May 30-31
Washington, DC, USA
PLSC is a paper workshop with the goal of improving and providing support for in-progress scholarship. To achieve this, PLSC assembles a wide array of privacy law scholars and practitioners from around the world to discuss the papers. Scholars from many disciplines (psychology/economics, sociology, philosophy, political science, computer science, and even math) also participate.
http://bit.ly/2zgypRQ
Internet Shutdowns in Africa Workshop
----------------------------------------
June 7-8, 2018
Johannesburg, South Africa
Internet shutdowns in Africa doubled between 2015 and 2016, affecting citizens in 11 countries on the continent. While the number declined slightly in 2017, governments that resorted to disrupting the internet did so more frequently and for longer periods. The justifications are diverse, from anti-government protests to Cameroon, to exam cheating in Ethiopia, concerns about election-related violence in Uganda, and quelling social unrest in Zimbabwe. This two-day conference is aimed at sparking in-depth and productive conversations about this issue. It is organized by the ERC-funded ConflictNet programme at the University of Oxford's Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, the CSLS, the Bonavero Institute for Human Rights, and the Department of Journalism, Film and Television at the University of Johannesburg's School of Communication.
http://bit.ly/2HkVpSX
Personal Democracy Forum
----------------------------------------
June 7-8, 2018
New York, NY, USA
Since 2004, Personal Democracy Forum ("PDF") has been the go-to place to tap into a community that believes in the power of technology to change politics and governance for the better. This year's PDF, the 15th, will focus on meaningful collaboration, action, and participatory learning. Our number one goal is to plug attendees into the process of change-making. This year's theme, How We Make Good, will focus on how we turn our commitments - to democracy and ensuring that tech works for the public good - into concrete action.
http://bit.ly/2FjLAbD
LIBER Annual Conference
----------------------------------------
July 4-6, 2018
Lille, France
The 47th annual conference of the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) will include plenary sessions with top international speakers, presentations on current research, posters, and an exhibition of products and services for the library sector, as well as a comprehensive social programme.
http://bit.ly/2zFcbbU
The Circle of HOPE
----------------------------------------
July 20-22, 2018
New York, NY, USA
Organized by 2600 Magazine, the 12th biennial Hackers on Planet Earth conference celebrates the hacker spirit. Talks typically feature new ways of examining and dissecting technology to reveal inconvenient truths.
http://bit.ly/2BbzJpM
Defcon
----------------------------------------
August 9-12, 2018
Las Vegas, NV, USA
The heart of the DEF CON 26 theme is the concept of the counterfuture. The counterfuture is the open-source alternative to totalitarian dystopia; a world where we use tech and ingenuity for empowerment and connection rather than isolation and control.
http://bit.ly/2A2ojUE
VOX-Pol Third Biennial Conference
----------------------------------------
August 20-21, 2018
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The VOX-Pol Network of Excellence (NoE) is a European Union Framework Programme 7 (FP7)-funded academic research network focused on researching the prevalence, contours, functions, and impacts of Violent Online Political Extremism and responses to it.c
http://bit.ly/2Hhzj3Q
World Library and Information Congress
----------------------------------------
August 24-30, 2018
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The 84th edition of the World Library and Information Congress has the theme, "Transform Libraries, Transform Societies" with the additional tagline, "Reaching out to the hard to reach", which was chosen in recognition of the critical role played by libraries in the development of a nation, particularly in their ability to transform societies.
http://bit.ly/2qSXIta
SciELO 20 Years Conference
----------------------------------------
September 26-28, 2018
São Paulo, Brazil
In 2018, the SciELO Program will celebrate 20 years of operation, in full alignment with the advances of open science. The conference will address and debate the main political, methodological, and technological issues and trends that define today's state of the art in scholarly communication. These issues will also be shaping the future of the universal openness of scholarly publishing and its relationship with today's Open Access journals, in particular those of the SciELO Network.
http://bit.ly/2FlpVzU
Amsterdam Privacy Conference
----------------------------------------
October 5-9, 2018
Amsterdam, Netherlands
APC 2018 brings together researchers, practitioners, policy makers and professionals in the field of privacy to share insights, exchange ideas and formulate, discuss and answer the challenging privacy questions that lie ahead of us. The goal of the conference is to bring together academics, policy makers, journalists, and practitioners to promote active discussion on timely topics, and foster debate on privacy issues between participants from various backgrounds and perspectives.
http://bit.ly/2ucbFEu
International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners
----------------------------------------
October 22-26, 2018
Brussels, Belgium
The 40th version of this event will be hosted by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli and the chair of the Commission for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ventsislav Karadjov. The conference is expected to focus on the recently launched international debate on the ethical dimension of data protection in the digital era. Accompanying conference events will also take place in Bulgaria.
http://bit.ly/2B1bX38
***
Hear more from the Information Program!
================================
If you want to hear more from the Information Program team each week, consider subscribing to our shared bookmarks on delicious using this RSS feed:
http://feeds.pinboard.in/rss/secret:95194ab804ccccac713b/u:osi_info_program/
You can also read more about our work on the Open Society Foundations website: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/programs/information-program
Hear less from the Information Program!
================================
If you wish to subscribe to this fortnightly digest, please send an email with the subject line "Subscribe" to infonewsdigest@opensocietyfoundations.org.
If you wish to unsubscribe from this fortnightly digest, please send an email with the subject line "Unsubscribe" to info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.
This digest operates under the OSF privacy policy: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/policies/privacy
Additionally, it uses the bit.ly URL shortening service, which operates under the following privacy policy: http://bit.ly/pages/privacy/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
Open Society Foundation, part of the Open Society Foundations, is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 4571628) and a registered charity (charity number 1105069). Its registered office address is 7th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
