Technology Pill Privacy International

This week we have a think about generative AI. After a concerning Guardian article about deep fake scams, we ask the question: did we really understand the risks when we started a podcast?

The audio clips featured in this podcast episode are the intellectual property of Smart Energy GB (Clip 1), Kim Kardashian (Clip 2), the Hollywood Reporter (Clip 3) and Lucasfilm Ltd (Clip 4). All rights are reserved to their copyright owners.

Other links:
- Experience: scammers used AI to fake my daughter’s kidnap:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/aug/04/experience-scammers-used-ai-to-fake-my-daughters-kidnap
- 23 and Me hack:
https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/23andme-investigating-apparent-credential-stuffing-hack-a-23267
- Deepfakes Can Help Families Mourn—or Exploit Their Grief:
https://www.wired.com/story/deepfake-death-grief-hologram-photography-film/

This week we speak to competition expert Dr Deni Mantzari about competition, monopoly, and regulation. Are big tech companies monopolies? And if they are is that a problem?


Since we recorded this podcast there has been an update on the Microsoft Activision merger: https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/13/23796552/microsoft-activision-blizzard-cma-approval-uk

Links


PI competition page (our "very influential work"): https://privacyinternational.org/learn/competition-and-data
More about Dr Deni Mantzari: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/24171
Ecosystems and competition law in theory and practice - a research paper about ecosystems: https://academic.oup.com/icc/article/30/5/1199/6428760
Power Imbalances in Online Marketplaces: At the Crossroads of Competition Law and Regulation - one of Dr Deni's papers looking at peconomic dependence in online marketplaces: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cles/sites/cles/files/cles_4_2021.pdf


Google Android European court case on abuse of dominance: https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=265421&doclang=en
and more info here: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2022-09/cp220147en.pdf


The Stigler Report: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/research/stigler/news-and-media/committee-on-digital-platforms-final-report
The Furman Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c88150ee5274a230219c35f/unlocking_digital_competition_furman_review_web.pdf
German Facebook case: https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2019/07_02_2019_Facebook.html;jsessionid=202D25E3738EF7AB3AC859AD9C78C43C.2_cid371?nn=3591568
Meta Data Protection fine: https://edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2023/12-billion-euro-fine-facebook-result-edpb-binding-decision_en
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Roomba decision: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/amazon-slash-irobot-merger-inquiry and PI's submission to the inquiry: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5071/submissions-uk-and-eu-competition-authorities-amazonirobot-merger
The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA): https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en
The EU Data Act: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0069_EN.pdf

This month we speak to Dr Leonie Tanczer about her work looking at tech abuse: the use of “everyday” digital systems (computers, smartphones, apps) to coerce, control, and harm a person or groups of individuals. This is increasingly prevalent in the context of domestic abuse - around 85% of victims and survivors in the UK have been subjected to some form of tech abuse.



Links


Refuge's Tech Safety resources: https://refugetechsafety.org/
Refuge's Tech Safety smart home devices tool: https://refugetechsafety.org/hometech/
Read more about Dr Tanczer and her work: https://www.leonietanczer.net/about.html
Find out more about the Gender and Tech at UCL and sign up to the newsletter: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/computer-science/research/research-groups/gender-and-tech
PI's guides to improve your own device security: https://privacyinternational.org/act
UK MPs discuss smart tech and abuse: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/07/uk-mps-warn-use-smart-tech-domestic-abuse
Connected technology: MPs call on Government to tackle growing problem of tech-enabled domestic abuse: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6686/connected-tech-smart-or-sinister/news/196867/connected-technology-mps-call-on-government-to-tackle-growing-problem-of-techenabled-domestic-abuse/

In this episode we chat with Ben Wizner - Edward Snowden's lawyer, and the director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project - and Caroline Wilson Palow - PI's Legal Director about what it was like to be knee deep in the legal and policy responses to Snowden's revelations, holding British and US intelligence agencies to account for secret powers.

Additional audio from The Guardian and from Channel 4 News via the Guardian



Links

What is Tempora? ⁠https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa⁠

Taking angle grinders to the Guardian's hard drives: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/31/footage-released-guardian-editors-snowden-hard-drives-gchq

PI's legal cases: https://privacyinternational.org/legal-action/our-cases

The ACLU's case challenging upsteam surveillance: https://www.aclu.org/cases/wikimedia-v-nsa-challenge-upstream-surveillance

The White House review of the NSA post Snowden: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2013-12-12_rg_final_report.pdf

Hear from Ed Snowden directly: https://privacyinternational.org/video/4518/fight-back-edward-snowden

This week we're discussing the UK Home Office's practice of forcing migrants to wear GPS ankle tags or carry GPS fingerprint scanners. Find out more about the policy, its impact on people, how the trackers work and why we think its wrong for a company to profit from all of this.



Links


Send Capita an email at: pvcy.org/GPSaction




Find out more on our website about the campaign: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/capital-surveillance




Watch the full video testimonies - video 1: https://media.privacyinternational.org/w/cB1gjT7FA4L77NUA2PF7Jd video 2: https://media.privacyinternational.org/w/bMY219Rmd2tXSpmSH4HL9F

This week we’re joined by Lucy and Laura to discuss the use of technology in elections, and their time monitoring the Kenyan Presidential Election in 2022.

Links


Human rights abuses including unlawful killings by police, violence at Kenya's 2017 election: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/27/kenya-post-election-killings-abuse
Claims of fraud from Kenya's last election: https://www.cartercenter.org/countries/kenya.html
PI and the Carter Center's joint election report: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5053/our-final-report-kenyas-2022-election-collaboration-carter-center-election-expert
Challenge to the 2022 election result and Supreme Court decision: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-62768439
More about the use of data in elections: https://privacyinternational.org/taxonomy/term/848
Our data and elections checklist: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/3093/technology-data-and-elections-checklist-election-cycle