Better @better@mastodon.ind.ie

A slightly delayed update:

💙 New blocking rules! On 12th December 2018, Laura fixed two broken sites, blocked anti-tracking adtech on two sites, and blocked six new trackers.

To get the new rules, choose ‘Update rules’ from Better’s menu.

https://better.fyi/news

‘This early GDPR adtech strike puts the spotlight on consent’

https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/13/this-early-gdpr-adtech-strike-puts-the-spotlight-on-consent/

“In Fidzup’s case, complying with GDPR has had a major impact on its business because offering a genuine choice means it’s not always able to obtain consent.”

Fascinating to see what is a genuinely GDPR-compliant consent flow. Hopefully the complexity of which will make businesses see the collection of people’s data as risky and expensive.

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/this-early-gdpr-adtech-strike-puts-the-spotlight-on-consent/2529

What happens when you watch my BBC Ideas video on Surveillance Capitalism or if you embed it on your own site?

That’s right… you get tracked! And you expose your visitors to third-party tracking.

Isn’t #SurveillanceCapitalism fun?

https://ar.al/2018/12/10/surveillance-capitalism-at-the-bbc/

‘Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret’

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/10/business/location-data-privacy-apps.html

“At least 75 companies receive anonymous, precise location data from apps whose users enable location services to get local news and weather or other information, The Times found. Several of those businesses claim to track up to 200 million mobile devices in the United States”

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/your-apps-know-where-you-were-last-night-and-they-re-not-keeping-it-secret/2525

‘Seized cache of Facebook docs raise competition and consent questions’

https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/05/seized-cache-of-facebook-docs-raise-competition-and-consent-questions/?guccounter=1

“The files also spotlight several issues of concern relating to privacy and data protection law, with internal documents raising fresh questions over how or even whether (in the case of Facebook’s whitelisting agreements with certain developers) it obtained consent from users to process their personal data.”

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/seized-cache-of-facebook-docs-raise-competition-and-consent-questions/2521

‘Google faces GDPR complaint over ‘deceptive’ location tracking’

https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/27/google-faces-gdpr-complaint-over-deceptive-location-tracking

‘“Google is processing incredibly detailed and extensive personal data without proper legal grounds, and the data has been acquired through manipulation techniques,” said Gro Mette Moen, acting head of the Norwegian Consumer Council’s digital services unit in a statement.’

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/google-faces-gdpr-complaint-over-deceptive-location-tracking/2517

‘Can Facebook be forced to comply with privacy laws?’

“Facebook is accused of undermining democratic institutions, but its CEO fails to face up to MPs at a hearing in London.”

Al Jazeera Inside Story featuring @aral.

https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2018/11/facebook-forced-comply-privacy-laws-181128171228326.html

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/can-facebook-be-forced-to-comply-with-privacy-laws/2514

GDMR: this one simple regulation could end surveillance capitalism in the EU

https://ar.al/2018/11/29/gdmr-this-one-simple-regulation-could-end-surveillance-capitalism-in-the-eu/

#SurveillanceCapitalism #EU #Freedom #HumanRights #Democracy #Ethics #Technology #Regulation

I’ll be on Inside Story on Aljazeera today to discuss how we can regulate the abuses of surveillance capitalists like Facebook/Google and how we can create an alternative to surveillance capitalism where we fund ethical technology owned and controlled by individuals from the commons for the common good.

We will be recording at 13:30 GMT and it will air at 17:30 GMT.

https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/

You can watch it on the live stream at: https://www.aljazeera.com/live/

‘The City of the Future Is a Data-Collection Machine’

“[Cavoukian is] worried about Sidewalk using all these cameras and sensors to track people on an individual level, to create real-life versions of the personal profiles Google already uses to track people online.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/google-sidewalk-labs/575551/

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/the-city-of-the-future-is-a-data-collection-machine/2513

‘Wanted: The ‘perfect babysitter.’ Must pass AI scan for respect and attitude.’

“The systems depend on black-box algorithms that give little detail about how they reduced the complexities of a person’s inner life into a calculation of virtue or harm. And even as Predictim’s technology influences parents’ thinking, it remains entirely unproven, largely unexplained and vulnerable to quiet biases over how an appropriate babysitter should share, look and speak.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/16/wanted-perfect-babysitter-must-pass-ai-scan-respect-attitude/

‘The Next Data Mine Is Your Bedroom’

“The language of these patents makes it clear that Google is acutely aware of the powers of inference it has already, even without cameras, by augmenting speakers to recognize the noises you make as you move around the house.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/google-patent-bedroom-privacy-smart-home/576022/

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/the-next-data-mine-is-your-bedroom/2508

‘How a small French privacy ruling could remake adtech for good’

https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/20/how-a-small-french-privacy-ruling-could-remake-adtech-for-good/

“this is being interpreted by data experts as the regulator stating that consent to processing personal data cannot be gained through a framework arrangement which bundles a number of uses behind a single “I agree” button that, when clicked, passes consent to partners via a contractual relationship.”

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/how-a-small-french-privacy-ruling-could-remake-adtech-for-good/2502

‘Students protest Zuckerberg-backed digital learning program and ask him: ‘What gives you this right?’’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/11/17/students-protest-zuckerberg-backed-digital-learning-program-ask-him-what-gives-you-this-right

“What gives you this right, and why weren’t we asked about this before you and Summit invaded our privacy in this way?”

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/students-protest-zuckerberg-backed-digital-learning-program-and-ask-him-what-gives-you-this-right/2500

‘Privacy Activists Take On Oracle and Equifax Over Shadowy Profiling’

http://fortune.com/2018/11/08/privacy-international-oracle-acxiom/

“‘The world is being rebuilt by companies and governments so that they can exploit data. Without urgent and continuous action, data will be used in ways that people cannot now even imagine, to define and manipulate our lives without us beginning to understand why or being able to effectively fight back,’ said Frederike Kaltheuner, who heads up Privacy International’s data exploitation program.”

‘Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis’

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html

“As evidence accumulated that Facebook’s power could also be exploited to disrupt elections, broadcast viral propaganda and inspire deadly campaigns of hate around the globe, Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg stumbled. Bent on growth, the pair ignored warning signs and then sought to conceal them from public view.”

Also on our forum: https://forum.ind.ie/t/delay-deny-and-deflect-how-facebook-s-leaders-fought-through-crisis/2496