The Actuator – July 1st

I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s now July. I know it doesn’t feel like it should be July, but time continues to march forward. This year is a marathon, not a sprint. I hope wherever you’re reading this post, you’re healthy and well. We’ll get through these challenging times.

As always, here's a bunch of links I hope you find useful. Enjoy!

Google’s Promise to Delete Your Data Has a Major Loophole
It’s the same loophole every company faces—they cannot control the data retention for third parties. Google could, however, maybe not sell our privacy to everyone on Earth.

'The Computer Got It Wrong': How Facial Recognition Led To False Arrest Of Black Man
And so it begins: we have started letting computers decide who to arrest.

There Is No (Real World) Use Case for Face Super Resolution
Tell that to the police, please.

UK’s facial recognition technology ‘breaches privacy rights’
As I was just saying, someone needs to tell the police to avoid using this technology.

New data zooms in on air pollution mapped by Google Street View cars
This sounds like an interesting project. I’d like to see Google collect this data for a long period of time globally.

Hacker Group Stole $200 Million From Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Might be time to consider putting your money somewhere safe. Like a bank.

Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health
I freely admit this has been me at times, especially these past four months. But going forward I’m going to make an effort to read a book and go to sleep early.

I know a honeypot when I see one:

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Parents
  • Increasingly, I feel resigned to a future that may resemble George Orwell's 1984.  But particularly so after reading the story of "UK's facial recognition technology 'Breaches Privacy Rights'".

    Gathering the facial images of anyone attending a protest feels like a tool of oppression, enabling a bad group or government to search out and punish or threaten or imprison or "disappear" anyone who expresses dissent for current policy.

    Exactly the type of thing a bad government would do.

    Capturing this data seems like it should be illegal, despite the good things that can come from it.  I recently listened to a Public Radio story about an American interpreter who's lived in China for the last 30 years.  She was wryly reviewing the benefits of that country's extreme monitoring of its citizens, showing how the practice actually is being used beneficially to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    If only one could trust that information about who was where at what time could only be used beneficially.  But such is not human nature.

Comment
  • Increasingly, I feel resigned to a future that may resemble George Orwell's 1984.  But particularly so after reading the story of "UK's facial recognition technology 'Breaches Privacy Rights'".

    Gathering the facial images of anyone attending a protest feels like a tool of oppression, enabling a bad group or government to search out and punish or threaten or imprison or "disappear" anyone who expresses dissent for current policy.

    Exactly the type of thing a bad government would do.

    Capturing this data seems like it should be illegal, despite the good things that can come from it.  I recently listened to a Public Radio story about an American interpreter who's lived in China for the last 30 years.  She was wryly reviewing the benefits of that country's extreme monitoring of its citizens, showing how the practice actually is being used beneficially to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    If only one could trust that information about who was where at what time could only be used beneficially.  But such is not human nature.

Children
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