November 2016 Archives

News digest | Open Society Information Program | Week ending 25 November 2016
====================================================

The Information Program NEWS DIGEST, published the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, aims to update colleagues in the Open Society Foundations and friends further afield about the news, opinions and events the Program team have been watching this fortnight. The views expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of the Information Program or the OSF. Prepared by Wendy M. Grossman.

Our staff, advisers and major grantees tweet at http://bit.ly/13j5fjq. Current and former grantees featured in this issue: EFF, Open Rights Group.


NEWS
=====
For breaking news stories, visit: http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:news/

US confirms end of Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Guardian reports that the White House has confirmed the end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as Congressional leaders have indicated they will not pass the trade deal before President Obama leaves office; president-elect Donald Trump repeatedly attacked the deal during the election campaign. EFF assesses the damage in other countries: New Zealand has now passed the implementing legislation required to ratify TPP, including an extension to copyright to author's life plus 70 years. In Japan, the ratifying bill has passed the lower house. Finally, the remaining countries, led by Mexico and Japan, may decide to conclude the agreement without the US.
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2fIVfHV
EFF: http://bit.ly/2gjLVtV

UK: Parliament passes the Investigatory Powers bill
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ZDNet reports that the Investigatory Powers bill - also knows as the "Snooper's Charter" - has passed both houses of Parliament and now merely awaits Royal Assent to become law. The law will require internet service providers to store every customer's real-time top-level web history for up to a year; force companies to decrypt data on demand; and allow intelligence agencies to hack into all computer hardware ("bulk equipment interference"). Open Rights Group executive director Jim Killock has called the bill "the most extreme surveillance law ever passed in a democracy". At its blog, ORG cites chapter five of its 2015 report to remind readers that Donald Trump's incoming US administration is likely to have access to all this data, given the close relationship between the NSA and GCHQ. However, the Guardian reports that Germany fears Britain's EU departure plans may cause it to pull out of an EU intelligence-sharing program intended to combat terrorism and promote security. Computer Weekly notes that opposing organizations include the National Union of Journalists and that the legal challenge mounted by the MPs Tom Watson and David Davis (now withdrawn) against the bill's predecessor, the Data Protection and Investigatory Powers Act, is still pending in the European Court of Justice.
ZDNet: http://zd.net/2fse15p
ORG: http://bit.ly/2fVyByW
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2g7TpAU
CW: http://bit.ly/2fIYQp9

Cameroon: Government launches campaign against social media
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Global Voices reports that the government of Cameroon has launched a campaign against social media; the government-controlled Cameroon Tribune has called social media "a threat to peace and a secret instrument of manipulation". After a recent train derailment, pictures and videos of the accident were being posted on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms while the government was still denying the accident had taken place.
Global Voices: http://bit.ly/2fVpTRf

Russian hackers target US political NGOs and think tanks
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Security journalist Brian Krebs reports that according to a report from the DC-based cyber incident response firm Volexity, shortly after Donald Trump became the presumptive US president-elect, the Russian "The Dukes" hacker gang launched a series of targeted phishing campaigns against American political think tanks and NGOs. The Dukes is best known for hacking into computer networks at the US Democratic National Committee. Volexity provides the details of the five waves of attacks so far but notes they are ongoing; the firm believes the hackers are working to gain long-term access to the networks of the groups they're targeting.
Krebs: http://bit.ly/2gEbLgj
Volexity: http://bit.ly/2fVBBLC

Facebook gears up to fight fake news
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Guardian reports that a week after denying that fake news could influence voters - and a few days after the German Justice Minister indicates that he believes Facebook should be regulated like a media company - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced initiatives to tackle the dissemination of misinformation on his company's platform. A Buzzfeed analysis found that fake election news stories outperformed real news on Facebook. Buzzfeed also reports that teens in the Balkans are duping Trump supporters with fake news. At Medium, ethnographer Christine Xu compares the state of fake news and propaganda in the US and China, where the media are so distrusted that misinformation is easily spread via family and friends. Monday Note editor Frederic Filloux analyses the way the mainstream media's changed business model helped drive Donald Trump to the presidency. The New York Times reports that meanwhile Facebook has been developing software to enable a third party to suppress posts in individuals' news feeds in specific geographic areas; the initiative is believed to be intended to give the company access to the Chinese market. The Verge reports that Facebook has acquired Crowdtangle, a software company whose products were being used by journalists to track the spread of fake news, and also that a list of "fake news sites" compiled by Massachusetts journalism professor Melissa Zimdar, rapidly publicized by major news organizations, included many satire and parody websites, as well as Private Eye's own site and, reports IB Times, Breitbart.
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2fsmxkO
Reuters: http://reut.rs/2gpWOLM
Buzzfeed (outperformance): http://bzfd.it/2fbrBi4
Buzzfeed (Macedonia): http://bzfd.it/2gjUPaI
Monday Note: http://bit.ly/2fJcyIH
NY Times: http://nyti.ms/2fsp5zb
Verge: http://bit.ly/2gjRrwv
IBTimes: http://bit.ly/2fVCaoV

Regulating smart cars
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting at the Center for Democracy and Technology, Joseph Jerome discusses how smart cars should be regulated. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is charged with regulating motor vehicle safety, but privacy and cyber security lie outside its realm of experience and expertise, and it has sent mixed signals about whether it reviews these as safety issues. Also potentially involved are the Federal Trade Commission, whose consumer protection mandate includes privacy, and the Federal Communications Commission, which has the power to regulate technologies, such as broadband, that it designates as telecommunications services. Jerome hopes the three will collaborate effectively.
CDT: http://bit.ly/2gpSXi9

FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
====================
For more features and analysis selected by the Program team, visit:
http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:oped/

Code programmers are ashamed of writing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this Medium, Bill Sourour discusses code he remains ashamed of having written and urges other programmers to think about the effects of their code before they write it. The post has set off myriad confessions from programmers about the unethical and illegal things they've been asked to do, which Business Insider summarizes. Many argue that ethics should be included in computer science and programming courses. Sourour was originally inspired to write his post by the video of Bob Martin's talk "The Future of Programming".
Medium: http://bit.ly/2gpW89a
BusinessInsider: http://read.bi/2fbqKOp
YouTube (Martin): http://bit.ly/2fVHI2L

Internet freedom under pressure
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this report, Freedom House studies the state of app and social media crackdowns worldwide. In the interests of blocking access, 15 governments worldwide have shut down the entire internet or mobile network. Among the key findings for 2016: for the sixth consecutive year internet freedom has declined; 67% of internet users live in countries which censor criticism of the government, military, or ruling family; 38 countries (27%) have made arrests based on social media postings; secure, speedy apps like WhatsApp are increasingly the target of government action. The worst-scoring countries for internet freedom are China, Iran, Syria, and Ethiopia. Online Censorship's report covering April to November 2016 finds increasing numbers of complaints about politically-motivated censorship, much of it pertaining to the US election.
Freedom House: http://bit.ly/2fvarKW
Online Censorship (PDF): http://bit.ly/2fVDSXl

Liberia: Lessons from the attack that may not have happened
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting, Access Now discusses the recent reports that the entire country of Liberia was taken offline by a botnet attack. Security researchers, officials, and Access Now's local partners all have reported no effective decline in connectivity. However, given that connectivity to Liberia and many other countries on the West coast of Africa is primarily supplied by a single submarine cable, Access Now argues that much greater attention needs to be paid to resilience and that we need to make it harder to shut down the internet. Steve Song discusses the costs of data connections in Africa, noting that it costs more to get data from Africa's interior countries to the coast than it does the rest of the way to Europe.
Access Now: http://bit.ly/2fVDtUx
Song: http://bit.ly/2gl4iCt

Ethics all the way down
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In this TED talk video, Zeynep Tufecki argues that machine intelligence can fail in ways that humans won't predict and that therefore we can't outsource our decisions to machines: "It's ethics all the way down." In a podcast discussion at O'Reilly Radar, data scientist Hilary Mason makes similar points while discussing current research projects at her company Fast Forward Labs and the barriers to adopting AI.
TED: http://bit.ly/2fvaZjP
O'Reilly: http://oreil.ly/2fbBlJc

Children's rights and data protection
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting at the LSE Media Policy Project, Ghent professor Eva Lievens discusses the impact of the new General Data Protection Regulation on children's rights. Among her concerns are the provisions requiring parental consent for children under 16; treating children over that age as adults with respect to data processing; and the omission of age-related concerns from the many other articles in the regulation. Ghent will begin a four-year research project to evaluate this law critically and monitor its implementation on children, and Lievens urges other researchers to help provide an in-depth, evidence-based understanding of how children's right to privacy and data protection should be protected.
LSE: http://bit.ly/2gEhGSt


***

DIARY
==============
To see more events recommended by the Information Program team, visit:
https://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:events/. If you would like your event listed in this mail, email info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.

Digital Democracy workshop
November 27, 2016
London, England
The Digital Democracy afternoon workshop, a collaboration of Cybersalon and the Digital Liberties Register, will explore digital deliberation and how to design online participatory processes that work for and empower everyone.
http://bit.ly/2gl7z4w

Latin America in a Glimpse
----------------------------------------
December 5, 2016
Guadalajara, Mexico
Derechos Digitales, IFEX-ALC, and Coding Rights (Brazil) will present a summary of the most important trends of the past year in digital rights in Latin America. The roundtable discussions are intended to help the international community to connect and better understand the reality of human rights on the internet in Latin America. Main topics will be digital surveillance and the right to be forgotten.
http://bit.ly/2g83opK

Internet Governance Forum
----------------------------------------
December 6-9, 2016 (TBC)
Guadalajara, Mexico
With the UN's renewal in December 2015, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) consolidates itself as a platform to bring people together from various stakeholder groups as equals, in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. While there is no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors. At their annual meeting delegates discuss, exchange information and share good practices with each other.
http://bit.ly/28YwZPX

Open Government Partnership Summit
----------------------------------------
December 7-9, 2016
Paris, France
Representatives from governments, academia, civil society and international organizations will gather to share their experiences and best practices and push forward the open government global agenda in light of the great challenges of the modern world. As a forum for sharing best practices, OGP provides a unique platform that brings together, stimulates and expands the community of state reformers worldwide.
http://bit.ly/2b1IY0Q

Privacy Camp
----------------------------------------
January 24, 2017
Brussels, Belgium
Co-organised by EDRi, Privacy Salon, USL-B, and VUB-LSTS, the fifth annual Privacy Camp brings together civil society, policy makers, and academia to discuss existing and looming problems for human rights in the digital environment.
http://bit.ly/2evfpa9

Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection
----------------------------------------
January 25-27, 2017
Brussels, Belgium
The tenth CPDP's main theme is artificial intelligence. The conference is accepting proposals for panels in April (from academic consortia, research projects, think tanks, and other research organisations) and May (from individuals wishing to present academic research papers).
http://bit.ly/1OrQSv6

Internet Freedom Festival
----------------------------------------
March 6-10, 2017
Valencia, Spain
The Internet Freedom Festival gathers the community keeping the Internet open and uncensored for a week of free-form multidisciplinary collaboration intended to help groups achieve their goals. Attendance is free and open to the public.
http://bit.ly/2dI8EV1

Rightscon 2017
----------------------------------------
March 29-31, 2017
Brussels, Belgium
RightsCon will tackle the most pressing issues at the intersection of technology and human rights. Session proposals are being accepted until November 25, 2016.
http://bit.ly/I2ZAUZ

We Robot
----------------------------------------
March 31-April 1, 2017
New Haven, Connecticut
The sixth annual We Robot will be held at Yale Law School and will focus on the coming legal and policy conflicts as robots and AI become part of daily life.
http://bit.ly/2fVF2SI

TICTeC 2017
----------------------------------------
April 25-26, 2017
Florence, Italy
This will be the third mySociety conference on the impacts of civic technology.
http://bit.ly/2e5NifJ

Creative Commons Global Summit
----------------------------------------
April 28-30, 2017
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
This event will gather a global community of technologists, academics, activists, creatives, and legal experts to work together on the expansion and growth of the commons, open knowledge, and free culture for all.
http://bit.ly/2cO3x0P

IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy
----------------------------------------
May 22-24, 2017
San Jose, California
The 38th annual meeting will present developments in computer security and electronic privacy, and for bringing together researchers and practitioners in the field.
http://www.ieee-security.org/TC/SP2017/index.html

Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection
----------------------------------------
May 22-24, 2017
San Jose, California
Co-hosted with the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, ConPro will explore computer science topics with an impact on consumers. This workshop has a strong security and privacy slant, with an overall focus on ways in which computer science can prevent, detect, or address the potential for technology to deceive or unfairly harm consumers.
http://bit.ly/2fJ6ShN

Open Repositories 2017
----------------------------------------
June 26-30, 2017
Brisbane, Australia
The annual Open Repositories Conference brings together users and developers of open digital repository platforms from higher education, government, galleries, libraries, archives and museums. The Conference provides an interactive forum for delegates from around the world to come together and explore the global challenges and opportunities facing libraries and the broader scholarly information landscape.
http://bit.ly/2aOCiGp

IFLA World Libraries and Information Congress
----------------------------------------
August 19-25, 2017
Wroclaw, Poland
The theme of the 83rd annual IFLA congress will be "Achieving a healthy future together: diverse and emerging roles for health information professionals".
http://bit.ly/2gErkVa

***

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News digest | Open Society Information Program | Week ending 11 November 2016
====================================================

The Information Program NEWS DIGEST, published the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, aims to update colleagues in the Open Society Foundations and friends further afield about the news, opinions and events the Program team have been watching this fortnight. The views expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of the Information Program or the OSF. Prepared by Wendy M. Grossman.

Our staff, advisers and major grantees tweet at http://bit.ly/13j5fjq. Current and former grantees featured in this issue: EFF, Privacy International.


NEWS
=====
For breaking news stories, visit: http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:news/

US elects Donald Trump as 45th president
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the wake of Donald Trump's election as US president, the Guardian reports that Facebook is being accused of spreading misinformation and "fake news". Two weeks ago, the New York Times critiqued the methods used by the USC/LA Times poll to explain why two unusual weightings made it the only outlier that consistently predicted Trump's victory. CS Monitor summarises what's known about the president-elect's likely cyber security policies. EFF blogs that Trump's victory ends all chance of passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, but warns that other countries are still passing the necessary supporting legislation, and therefore the impact of the copyright provisions will remain. At The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald writes angrily about the failure of Western institutions and elites to take seriously the suffering of those left out of their comfort zone.
Guardian: http://bit.ly/2fH8XhL
NY Times: http://nyti.ms/2eJdb3V
CS Monitor: http://bit.ly/2fHFHUb
EFF: http://bit.ly/2fHIP40
Intercept: http://bit.ly/2eYyxuZ

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg under investigation in Germany
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters reports that Munich prosecutors are investigating Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives over a complaint that Facebook has failed to remove 438 hate speech and seditious postings that are contrary to German law. Similar charges have already been dismissed by the Hamburg court, but Bavaria may take a different view.
Reuters: http://reut.rs/2fCMkbG

UAE surveillance contractor recruits hackers
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BoingBoing reports that the UAE-based company DarkMatter, which describes itself as a major state security contractor, has been bombarding sophisticated security experts with recruitment emails. Near-hires say the job is weaponising zero-day vulnerabilities so the UAE can carry out fine-grained surveillance against its citizens. DarkMatter, which has poached staff from companies like Google, Qualcomm, McAfee, and encrypted messaging service Wickr, denies the claims. BoingBoing notes that DarkMatter is believed to have hired the team that carried out the Stealth Falcon attack on journalists.
BoingBoing: http://bit.ly/2fWBZLt

UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal challenged in European Court of Justice
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Human Rights Watch reports that it and six individuals have taken a challenge to the European Court of Justice to demand that the UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal confirm whether or not the individuals were subject to surveillance by GCHQ, as well as whether the surveillance was lawful. The case is based on claims filed with the tribunal in 2015; in that case, the tribunal dismissed the claims of individuals not resident in the UK and issued a "no determination" ruling for the rest. Meanwhile, The Register reports that the Investigatory Powers Bill has completed its passage through Parliament but Royal Assent is being delayed for a week. At issue is an amendment that would force press to join the government-approved regulator created after the phone hacking scandals.
HRW: http://bit.ly/2fH9Fvb
Register: http://bit.ly/2fH3DLk

Iceland: Pirate Party wins ten parliamentary seats
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The New York Times reports that Iceland's Pirate Party came in second in the country's October 30 general election, giving it ten parliamentary seats out of 63. The Register adds that the Pirate Party has, however, rejected the offer of a seat in the coalition government the conservative Independent Party will now form, saying it is "looking to make a change, not to gain power".
NY Times: http://nyti.ms/2eYCS16
Register: http://bit.ly/2fq2lRD

CJEU rules that IP addresses can be personal data
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ars Technica reports that the European Court of Justice has ruled that dynamic IP addresses - that is, Internet Protocol addresses assigned temporarily, for example by a mobile network operator - can be personal data. German Pirate Party politician Patrick Breyer had brought an action asking the courts to issue an injunction preventing websites from collecting and storing his dynamic IP address so that German authorities could not build up a picture of his interests. CJEU ruled that such IP addresses could be personal data if the website in question had additional information that allowed it to identify individuals. In its blog, the Bird & Bird legal firm discusses the judgment in detail, and says the ruling may have substantial impact on analytics and other standard industry practices.
Ars Technica: http://bit.ly/2ePdwFv


FEATURES AND ANALYSIS
====================
For more features and analysis selected by the Program team, visit:
http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:oped/

Brazil: The battle for encryption
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this posting, Privacy International discusses the situation regarding encryption in Brazil, where WhatsApp has been asked to disable its encryption to aid criminal investigations even though no law limits the use of encryption. The core of the investigations is being kept secret; however, draft bills legalising blocking applications such as frequent target WhatsApp are under debate in the National Congress.
PI: http://bit.ly/2g2p226

The internet is loosening our grip on the truth
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this New York Times article, Farhad Manjoo argues that the internet is loosening our grip on the truth, using the just-concluded "fact-free" US presidential election as Exhibit A. Manjoo weighs studies of the internet's echo chamber effect, and finds that even documentary proof is losing its power to persuade, while lies have become institutionalised despite the rise of a mass of fact-checking sites. Manjoo does not consider the wider influence of partisan mass media.
NY Times: http://nyti.ms/2fpX5xv

Principles for countering violent extremism online
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting, Access Now introduces a policy guide for proposals to prevent or counter violent extremism online. Such proposals are "a minefield for human rights", and risk blocking satire, political protest, journalism, and community activism; they also risk undermining existing law protecting freedom of expression and privacy. The guide offers principles and recommendations.
Access Now: http://bit.ly/2eJbIun

The future of open education
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this blog posting at the E-Learn blog, Willem van Valkenburg discusses the future of open education, comparing and contrasting US and European strategies. The US has converged on Open Textbooks, while Europe has diverged in the direction of open science, which van Valkenburg describes as a much broader process of opening up universities. He suggests that the US strategy will have the bigger short-term impact but that over the longer term Open Science will have a much broader impact on society.
E-Learn: http://bit.ly/2fWzOHX

How open data won the Leave campaign
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this BBC news report, Laura Kuenssberg looks back at Britain's Leave campaign and discovers that Vote Leave hired physicists, data experts, and digital specialists to build its own tools in order to mine publicly available data in new and sophisticated ways. The resulting Voter Information Collection System was able to pinpoint exactly which doors to knock on, tightly focussing the online Leave campaign and "win the data war" that most in Westminster had no idea was underway.
BBC: http://bbc.in/2fH3OpY

How the web became unreadable
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In this posting at Medium, MicroFormats co-founder Kevin Marks analyses the rise across the web of skinny, grey, low-contrast type that is unreadable to most people. Marks explains contrast ratios and traces the fad to the Typography Handbook and other design advice which promote the view that too much contrast induces eyestrain. In a new large-scale usability study, Nielsen-Norman Group finds that the usability errors they first identified in 1996 continue in 2016 to frustrate users.
Medium: http://bit.ly/2eJdVpo
NNGroup: http://bit.ly/2fWCsgM


***

DIARY
==============
To see more events recommended by the Information Program team, visit:
https://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:events/. If you would like your event listed in this mail, email info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.

OpenCon
----------------------------------------
November 12-14, 2016
Washington, DC
At this event, the next generation can learn about Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data, develop critical skills, and catalyse action toward a more open system of research and education. OpenCon will convene students and early career academic professionals, both in person and through satellite events around the world and serve as a powerful catalyst for projects led by the next generation to advance OpenCon's three focus areas.
http://bit.ly/1OocSMD

WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights
----------------------------------------
November 14-16, 2016
Geneva, Switzerland
Topics at the 33rd meeting of SCCR will include the protection of broadcasting organisations, exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and for persons with disabilities, and proposals for analysing copyright with respect to the digital environment and to include the resale right in future work.
http://bit.ly/2bi2lF9

Data Transparency Lab
----------------------------------------
November 16-19, 2016
New York, NY
This conference incorporates three colocated events. DTL will explore topics such as transparency, the ad blocking arms race, and privacy metrics. Fairness and Accountability in Machine Learning will bring together a growing community of researchers and practitioners. Finally, The Workshop on Data and Algorithmic Transparency will convene an emerging interdisciplinary community that seeks transparency and oversight of data-driven algorithmic systems through empirical research.
http://bit.ly/2eGJMb2

Internet Governance Forum
----------------------------------------
December 6-9, 2016 (TBC)
Guadalajara, Mexico
With the UN's renewal in December 2015, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) consolidates itself as a platform to bring people together from various stakeholder groups as equals, in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. While there is no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors. At their annual meeting delegates discuss, exchange information and share good practices with each other.
http://bit.ly/28YwZPX

Open Government Partnership Summit
----------------------------------------
December 7-9, 2016
Paris, France
Representatives from governments, academia, civil society and international organizations will gather to share their experiences and best practices and push forward the open government global agenda in light of the great challenges of the modern world. As a forum for sharing best practices, OGP provides a unique platform that brings together, stimulates and expands the community of state reformers worldwide.
http://bit.ly/2b1IY0Q

Privacy Camp
----------------------------------------
January 24, 2017
Brussels, Belgium
Co-organised by EDRi, Privacy Salon, USL-B, and VUB-LSTS, the fifth annual Privacy Camp brings together civil society, policy makers, and academia to discuss existing and looming problems for human rights in the digital environment.
http://bit.ly/2evfpa9

Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection
----------------------------------------
January 25-27, 2017
Brussels, Belgium
The tenth CPDP's main theme is artificial intelligence. The conference is accepting proposals for panels in April (from academic consortia, research projects, think tanks, and other research organisations) and May (from individuals wishing to present academic research papers).
http://bit.ly/1OrQSv6

Internet Freedom Festival
----------------------------------------
March 6-10, 2017
Valencia, Spain
The Internet Freedom Festival gathers the community keeping the Internet open and uncensored for a week of free-form multidisciplinary collaboration intended to help groups achieve their goals. Attendance is free and open to the public.
http://bit.ly/2dI8EV1

Rightscon 2017
----------------------------------------
March 29-31, 2017
Brussels, Belgium
RightsCon will tackle the most pressing issues at the intersection of technology and human rights. Session proposals are being accepted until November 25, 2016.
http://bit.ly/I2ZAUZ

TICTeC 2017
----------------------------------------
April 25-26, 2017
Florence, Italy
This will be the third mySociety conference on the impacts of civic technology.
http://bit.ly/2e5NifJ

Creative Commons Global Summit
----------------------------------------
April 28-30, 2017
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
This event will gather a global community of technologists, academics, activists, creatives, and legal experts to work together on the expansion and growth of the commons, open knowledge, and free culture for all.
http://bit.ly/2cO3x0P

Open Repositories 2017
----------------------------------------
June 26-30, 2017
Brisbane, Australia
The annual Open Repositories Conference brings together users and developers of open digital repository platforms from higher education, government, galleries, libraries, archives and museums. The Conference provides an interactive forum for delegates from around the world to come together and explore the global challenges and opportunities facing libraries and the broader scholarly information landscape.
http://bit.ly/2aOCiGp


***

Hear more from the Information Program!
================================
If you want to hear more from the Information Program team each week, consider subscribing to our shared bookmarks on delicious using this RSS feed:
http://feeds.pinboard.in/rss/secret:95194ab804ccccac713b/u:osi_info_program/

You can also read more about our work on the Open Society Foundations website: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/programs/information-program

Hear less from the Information Program!
================================
If you wish to unsubscribe from this weekly digest, please send an email with the subject line "Unsubscribe" to info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.

This digest operates under the OSF privacy policy: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/policies/privacy

Additionally, it uses the bit.ly URL shortening service, which operates under the following privacy policy: http://bit.ly/pages/privacy/

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/


News digest | Open Society
Information Program | Week ending 28 October 2016


====================================================



The Information Program NEWS DIGEST, published the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, aims to update colleagues in the Open Society Foundations and friends further afield about the news, opinions and events the Program team have been watching this fortnight. The views expressed in these stories do not necessarily reflect those of the Information Program or the OSF. Prepared by Wendy M. Grossman.


Our staff, advisers and major grantees tweet at http://bit.ly/13j5fjq. Current and former grantees featured in this issue: Bits of Freedom, Digitale Gesellschaft, EDRi, Open Rights Group.

NEWS

=====

For breaking news stories, visit: http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:news/


Canada-EU Trade Agreement negotiations break down

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On October 27, following weeks of dispute, the Belgian region of Wallonia accepted amendments and withdrew its opposition to the Canada-EU Trade Agreement. The previous week, the Guardian had reported that the Canadian international trade minister, Chrystia Freeland, had walked out of talks intended to salvage the agreement, which Wallonia opposed fearing the impact on its agricultural sector. Freeland told CBC that the EU is incapable now of concluding an international treaty, while Canadian copyright scholar Michael Geist has been predicting the collapse of CETA for some months. Paul Magnette, Wallonia's minister-president, was also concerned about Investor-State Dispute Settlement, and has won the concession that Belgium will be able to go to the European Court of Justice to determine whether ISDS is compatible with EU law. Maclean's offers more background on Wallonia's opposition to the treaty.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/27/belgium-reaches-deal-with-wallonia-over-eu-canada-trade-agreement

CBC: http://bit.ly/2e8tNq6

Geist: http://bit.ly/2fKZqGL

Maclean's: http://bit.ly/2e8rzXJ


Internet of Things botnet cripples the internet

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Security journalist Brian Krebs, whose own site was attacked just weeks ago by a botnet running the Mirai malware on devices such as DVRs, cameras, and baby monitors, reports that a massive and sustained internet attack on the domain name system service provider Dyn resulted in widespread outages and network congestion, disabling access to sites such as Twitter, Amazon, Tumblr, Reddit, Spotify, and Netflix. Krebs also reports that the Chinese manufacturer of many of the devices used in the attack is issuing both a recall and a libel suit. Techcrunch reports that the security company Flashpoint, which has analysed the attacks, believes the attack was carried out by copycat "script kiddies" rather than sophisticated state-sponsored actors.

Krebs (attack): http://bit.ly/2eGFbWA

Krebs (recall): http://bit.ly/2eGIQUe

Techcrunch: http://tcrn.ch/2fCci2I


UK: Digital Economy bill endangers privacy, freedom of speech

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The Open Rights Group reports three main areas of concern with the Digital Economy bill, currently at the committee stage in the House of Commons: the bill proposes to introduce ten-year prison sentences for file-sharers; it will require age verification for all commercial websites offering pornography to UK internet users; and it increases data sharing between government departments without sufficient safeguards or transparency. In addition, Computing reports that a group of MPs are seeking to amend the bill to add the power to issue regulations compelling search engines to delist sites linked to piracy and remove other content.

ORG: http://bit.ly/2ev7pWD

Computing: http://bit.ly/2eGHnNM


Digital Rights Ireland challenges EU-US Privacy Shield

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Reuters reports that Digital Rights has filed a legal challenge asking the General Court to annull the EU-US Privacy Shield data transfer agreement. To date, more than 500 companies have signed up to Privacy Shield, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. The court, which is the lower court of the European Court of Justice, is expected to take at least a year to rule on the case (Case T-670/16).

Reuters: http://reut.rs/2f1ofwQ


Google drops ban on personally identifiable web tracking

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Pro Publica's Julia Angwin reports that Google has quietly dropped the ban on personally identifiable web tracking it adopted in 2007 when it acquired the advertising network DoubleClick. Users may opt out via their privacy settings, but by default Google now uses what it knows about them from Gmail and other services to customise the DoubleClick ads that follow them around the web. In this move, Google follows similar moves by other companies such as Facebook, erasing the industry's longstanding claim that web tracking is mostly anonymous. In a blog posting, Doc Searls issues a call to action to blow up the surveillance economy.

Pro Publica: http://bit.ly/2fCgZcX

Searls: http://bit.ly/2eGHfxC


Facebook caught allowing advertisers to discriminate by race

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Pro Publica's Julia Angwin and Terry Parris Jr report that a shopping exercise showed that Facebook's system allows advertisers to exclude black, Hispanic and other "ethnic affinities" from seeing their ads, a practice that is prohibited by federal US law in the areas of housing and employment. Facebook explained that "ethnic affinity" is not the same as race; it is assigned to members based on the pages and posts they have engaged with or liked.

Pro Publica: http://bit.ly/2fm8Xl4



FEATURES AND ANALYSIS

====================

For more features and analysis selected by the Program team, visit:

http://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:oped/


Privacy for kids

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In this booklet, which may be freely re-distributed, EDRi offers kids advice on protecting their privacy online. Written by an international group of NGOs that included Bits of Freedom, Open Rights Group, Digitale Gesellschaft, ApTI Romania, Mediamocracy, and many others, the booklet includes tips on safer messaging, smart phone and social media use, passwords, photo and video sharing, a list of privacy apps, and a brief guide to using the encrypted messaging service Signal. The booklet is written in English but the group is coordinating an effort to translate it into as many languages as possible.

EDRi: http://bit.ly/2eGKFR3


The costs to nations of internet shutdowns

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This report commissioned by the Global Network Initiative, prepared by Deloitte, and sponsored by Facebook, estimates the economic cost of government-mandated internet shutdowns at .4% to 1.9% of the country's GDP for each day on which all internet services are shut down depending on how connected the country is. The Brookings Institute has documented 81 such shutdowns in the year between July 2015 and June 2016. GNI estimates that the ongoing shutdown in Ethiopia is costing the country a little under US$500,000 a day in lost GDP.

GNI: http://bit.ly/2foEMrT


Nepal: The state of open access

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In this interview posted at the Open Knowledge Foundation, three leading advocates of open access in Nepal discuss their work. Jagadish Aryal outlines his work with libraries; Kshitiz Khanal talks about open science and research; and Roshan Kumar Karn explains the situation with respect to open access, open education, open data, and open repositories. Khanal notes that much of the potential of Nepalese students and academics is wasted because so few conduct research and publish papers.

OKFN: http://bit.ly/2fjhaWP


US: Privacy protection for foreigners still limited

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EFF examines Presidential Policy Directive 28, a document US President Barack Obama has used to claim that new rules extend to foreigners privacy protections previously reserved solely for American citizens. EFF concludes that the safeguards provided are inadequate, and that the directive has made no significant change to the actual surveillance the US conducts. The reality, EFF concludes, is that, "the US government's surveillance powers against foreigners is nearly absolute."

EFF: http://bit.ly/2fjzykx


Using open data to change existing power dynamics

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In this blog posting reviewing the recent International Open Data Conference, The Engine Room acting executive director Julia Keseru asks whether the community is doing its best to change existing power dynamics. To overcome the current disillusionment with the power of open data, she suggests that the focus needs to shift from opening data as an end in itself to open data as a tool for change. Projects need clear problem statements, accountability, and context.

Engine Room: http://bit.ly/2fCg4cl


Understanding lone-actor terrorism

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In this video of the third of the lunchtime briefings presented by the VOX-Pol project, "Understanding Lone-Actor Terrorism", UCL lecturer Paul Gill explores online radicalisation and its causes. Terrorist attacks are not always purely ideological in motivation and may take years to plan, which gives intelligence time to prevent them. Gill's extensive research finds underlying individual and organisational motivations that must be taken into account in devising policy. Extremist organisations have long advised lone actors that they will be most successful with small-scale attacks as these are more difficult to detect but individuals have been hard to motivate. This situation has changed with ISIS because the direct feed from social media to TV provides that missing motivation.

VOX-Pol: http://bit.ly/2ev9ZM5



***


DIARY

==============

To see more events recommended by the Information Program team, visit:

https://pinboard.in/u:osi_info_program/t:events/. If you would like your event listed in this mail, email info.digest@opensocietyfoundations.org.


ODI Summit

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November 1, 2016

London, UK

The annual Open Data Institute Summit will feature inspiring stories from around the world on how people are innovating with the web of data, and presentations from diverse innovators, from current startup founders to experienced, high-profile speakers such as World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, AI expert Nigel Shadbolt and Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox.

http://bit.ly/2ar2aXf


ICANN 57

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November 3-9, 2016

Hyderabad, India

ICANN meetings provide a venue for progressing policy work, conducting outreach, exchanging best practices, conducting business deals, interacting among members of the ICANN Community, including board and staff, and learning about ICANN.

http://bit.ly/29CmNg9


Mozilla Festival

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November 6-8, 2016

London, UK

MozFest is an annual celebration of the open Web. Participants are diverse, including engineers, artists, activists, and educators, but share the common belief that the Web can make lives better, unlocks opportunity, spurs creativity, teaches valuable skills, and connects far-flung people and ideas. The Festival seeks to improve the Web with new ideas and creations.

http://bit.ly/1WmxRQ0


OpenCon

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November 12-14, 2016

Washington, DC

At this event, the next generation can learn about Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data, develop critical skills, and catalyse action toward a more open system of research and education. OpenCon will convene students and early career academic professionals, both in person and through satellite events around the world and serve as a powerful catalyst for projects led by the next generation to advance OpenCon's three focus areas.

http://bit.ly/1OocSMD


WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights

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November 14-16, 2016

Geneva, Switzerland

Topics at the 33rd meeting of SCCR will include the protection of broadcasting organisations, exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, limitations and exceptions for educational and research institutions and for persons with disabilities, and proposals for analysing copyright with respect to the digital environment and to include the resale right in future work.

http://bit.ly/2bi2lF9


Data Transparency Lab

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November 16-19, 2016

New York, NY

This conference incorporates three colocated events. DTL will explore topics such as transparency, the ad blocking arms race, and privacy metrics. Fairness and Accountability in Machine Learning will bring together a growing community of researchers and practitioners. Finally, The Workshop on Data and Algorithmic Transparency will convene an emerging interdisciplinary community that seeks transparency and oversight of data-driven algorithmic systems through empirical research.

http://bit.ly/2eGJMb2


Internet Governance Forum

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December 6-9, 2016 (TBC)

Guadalajara, Mexico

With the UN's renewal in December 2015, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) consolidates itself as a platform to bring people together from various stakeholder groups as equals, in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. While there is no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors. At their annual meeting delegates discuss, exchange information and share good practices with each other.

http://bit.ly/28YwZPX


Open Government Partnership Summit

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December 7-9, 2016

Paris, France

Representatives from governments, academia, civil society and international organizations will gather to share their experiences and best practices and push forward the open government global agenda in light of the great challenges of the modern world. As a forum for sharing best practices, OGP provides a unique platform that brings together, stimulates and expands the community of state reformers worldwide.

http://bit.ly/2b1IY0Q


Privacy Camp

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January 24, 2017

Brussels, Belgium

Co-organised by EDRi, Privacy Salon, USL-B, and VUB-LSTS, the fifth annual Privacy Camp brings together civil society, policy makers, and academia to discuss existing and looming problems for human rights in the digital environment.

http://bit.ly/2evfpa9


Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection

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January 25-27, 2017

Brussels, Belgium

The tenth CPDP's main theme is artificial intelligence. The conference is accepting proposals for panels in April (from academic consortia, research projects, think tanks, and other research organisations) and May (from individuals wishing to present academic research papers).

http://bit.ly/1OrQSv6


Internet Freedom Festival

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March 6-10, 2017

Valencia, Spain

The Internet Freedom Festival gathers the community keeping the Internet open and uncensored for a week of free-form multidisciplinary collaboration intended to help groups achieve their goals. Attendance is free and open to the public.

http://bit.ly/2dI8EV1


Rightscon 2017

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March 29-31, 2017

Brussels, Belgium

RightsCon will tackle the most pressing issues at the intersection of technology and human rights. Session proposals are being accepted until November 25, 2016.

http://bit.ly/I2ZAUZ


TICTeC 2017

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April 25-26, 2017

Florence, Italy

This will be the third mySociety conference on the impacts of civic technology.

http://bit.ly/2e5NifJ


Creative Commons Global Summit

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April 28-30, 2017

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

This event will gather a global community of technologists, academics, activists, creatives, and legal experts to work together on the expansion and growth of the commons, open knowledge, and free culture for all.

http://bit.ly/2cO3x0P


Open Repositories 2017

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June 26-30, 2017

Brisbane, Australia

The annual Open Repositories Conference brings together users and developers of open digital repository platforms from higher education, government, galleries, libraries, archives and museums. The Conference provides an interactive forum for delegates from around the world to come together and explore the global challenges and opportunities facing libraries and the broader scholarly information landscape.

http://bit.ly/2aOCiGp



***


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