Facebook will double its staff of content reviewers, systems engineers and security experts from 10,000 to 20,000 in 2018, Samidh Chakrabarti, product manager, said Thursday as part of several statements issued by the company. Guy Rosen, vice president of product management said Facebook’s restructuring will involve four election security priorities: combating foreign interference, fake account removal, ad transparency and reducing the spread of “false news.” “None of us can turn back the clock, but we are all responsible for making sure” the U.S. avoids foreign election interference in the future, he said: “We are taking our role in that effort very, very seriously.” Instead of reacting to reports from users about illicit content, Facebook is “proactively” monitoring for harmful election-related activity, Chakrabarti said.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) could greatly improve human life and economic competitiveness, but it also has the potential to widen socioeconomic inequality by displacing workers, said a GAO report delivered Wednesday to the House Technology Committee by U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. The report summary to Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and ranking member Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, details findings from a July AI forum in Washington. Participants included industry, government, academic and nonprofit officials. Among the challenges of AI are: corruption caused by hacking, inability of legislation to keep pace with technology, lack of computing and human resources and a lack of ethical framework for AI. The report said AI systems can benefit cybersecurity efforts, automated transportation, law enforcement and the financial sector.
The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica controversy highlights the marketing industry’s need to address consumer privacy and transparency issues, the Association of National Advertisers said Thursday. The scandal shows there's “enormous frustration” with organizations that “fall short on promises of protection and safeguards,” ANA said, which has led to “blunt responses” like the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR). The GDPR offers some degree of consumer protection, but it's detrimental to the free flow of information, the group said. Through increased privacy accountability and transparency efforts, online advertisers need to earn back the trust of consumers, ANA said.
President Donald Trump attacked Amazon in a Thursday Twitter post, fueling further speculation about reports he's looking to target the e-commerce firm on antitrust grounds. Trump tweeted he has been concerned about Amazon since “long before” the 2016 presidential election, saying the company is “putting many thousands of retailers out of business.” Amazon also pays “little to no taxes to state & local governments” and uses the U.S. Postal Service “as their Delivery Boy,” which causes “tremendous loss to the U.S.,” he said. Trump “made it clear” he has concerns about Amazon's practices, a White House spokeswoman said. Trump “has said many times before he’s always looking to create a level playing field for all businesses and this is no different,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a Wednesday news briefing. Amazon didn't comment. There has been rising Hill scrutiny of top edge providers, including multiple planned hearings on Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica controversy (see 1803210019, 1803190056, 1803200047, 1803220052, 1803260041 and 1803270043).
Policymakers should avoid data-protection regulations that inadvertently limit artificial intelligence (AI), ITIF President Rob Atkinson said Tuesday, delivering a report during a G7 ministerial meeting in Montreal. Laws and other regulations that “apply restrictive standards to automated decisions that would not apply to human decisions would raise costs and limit AI innovation, as well as force a trade-off with the accuracy and sophistication of AI systems,” said the report.
“The FBI’s leadership went straight to the nuclear option -- attempting to force Apple to circumvent its encryption,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in response to a DOJ Inspector General report that the FBI failed to explore all in-house options before forcing Apple to help the agency access a terrorist’s iPhone following a 2015 San Bernardino, California, attack. The FBI’s Remote Operations Unit wasn't consulted before then-FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in February 2016 that encryption was hindering the investigation, said the report. About a month later, DOJ prosecutors said the FBI had found a way to bypass an iPhone security feature and no longer needed help from Apple, as directed by a court order (see 1603280054). Encryption back doors would have “catastrophic effects on cybersecurity,” making data access easier for hackers, Wyden said.
The G7 should focus on modern job development and the deployment of artificial intelligence when it has a ministerial meeting this week in Montreal, tech industry groups said Tuesday. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, CTA, the Information Technology Industry Council, Engine and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce were among the organizations seeking a “Jobs of the Future” theme at the G7 Meeting of Innovation and Employment Ministers. The G7 should build on progress made in Italy in 2017, “where members made a commitment to allow people and firms from all sectors to take full advantage of the benefits of innovation that will increase both the quantity and quality of jobs,” the group wrote. Companies and policymakers need to work together to ensure workforces have the proper training and flexibility needed to succeed alongside emerging technology like AI, CCIA CEO Ed Black said.
Consumers should be able to sue online platforms that abuse access to personal data, said Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Allie Bohm Friday in response to the ongoing Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal (see 1803220052). Consumers should “own their data,” and platforms should be required to give notice and obtain affirmative consent from users before retaining or sharing consumer information, the public interest group argued. “It’s time for Congress to return control of personal data to the people providing it,” Bohm said, drawing attention to the group’s blog post, which outlines specific recommendations for Congress.
The FTC has opened a nonpublic investigation into potential privacy practice violations at Facebook, following allegations that Cambridge Analytica misused personal data of 50 million Americans for political purposes (see 1803200047), acting Director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Tom Pahl said Monday. Pahl said the FTC enforces against failures to comply with the Privacy Shield, the FTC Act and data security requirements, among other areas of consumer privacy concern. “The FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook,” Pahl said. The National Association of Attorneys General on Monday sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking for answers about the company’s user privacy policies and practices. The group of 37 state and territory AGs also asked Zuckerberg how the company is making it easier for users to control their privacy. “These revelations raise many serious questions concerning Facebook’s policies and practices, and the processes in place to ensure they are followed,” the group wrote.
With interest and awareness of artificial intelligence at a “fever pitch,” worldwide spending on cognitive and AI spending will grow to $52.2 billion by 2021, from $19.1 billion this year, IDC said Thursday.