AI Ethics Weekly – Sept 14: Is it still unethical, if you are never caught?

AI Ethics Weekly – Sept 14: Is it still unethical, if you are never caught?
September 13, 2021 LH3_Admin

Investigations are revealing unethical behaviors by Big Tech at an unprecedented scale. Just because no one knows about it, does it make it okay?

Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All. Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That’s Exempt.
h/t Jeff Horwitz @JeffHorwitz
A program known as XCheck has given millions of celebrities, politicians and other high-profile users special treatment, a privilege many abuse.” Read more.

Facebook admits it bungled data it shared with social scientists
h/t Antonio Vieira Santos #IAA21 @AkwyZ
“Facebook provided a data set to a consortium of social scientists last year that had serious errors, affecting the findings in an unknown number of academic papers, the company acknowledged Friday.”

How Facebook Undermines Privacy Protections for Its 2 Billion WhatsApp Users
h/t @carissaveliz
WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors.

Google says geofence warrants make up one-quarter of all US demands
h/t Anti-Fascist Abolitionist AWK @AWKWORDrap

For the first time, Google has published the number of geofence warrants it’s historically received from U.S. authorities, providing a rare glimpse into how frequently these controversial warrants are issued.

How the N.Y.P.D. Is Using Post-9/11 Tools on Everyday New Yorkers
h/t EFF @EFF
NYPD used face surveillance to identify a speaker at a protest for Black lives, then sent dozens of armed officers to arrest him at his home.

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