Privacy

We asked our 2020 intake of Technology Pioneers for their views on how technology will change the world in the next five years. From quantum computers and 5G in action to managing cancer chronically, here are their predictions for our near-term future. Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto 1. AI-optimized manufacturing Paper and…

By Jennifer Stoddart Quebec appears poised to adopt a strong new digital privacy law, a move that should be applauded. Bill 64, as the draft legislation is known, brings many commendable privacy protections for consumers. But several key provisions — notably its “equivalency requirement” — will be hard to implement…

A courier arrived at my apartment door, handed me a heavy cardboard envelope and asked me to sign for it. This was serious business, and Toronto-Dominion Bank was not messing around. Weeks earlier, I’d sent a formal request to see all my personal information held by my bank. It’s the…

Canadians may now request they not appear in Clearview AI’s facial recognition search results, days after the controversial U.S.-based firm announced it was pulling out of this country. Sometime this week, Clearview quietly posted a link on its website allowing Canadian residents to “opt out.” The company doesn’t ask for…

As a security and privacy professional, it is hard not to have heard of the controversial facial recognition app Clearview AI. It made the news last year when the story about it broke in the New York Times. It was just a matter of time before someone combined Internet/social media…

Facebook has failed on civil rights. On Wednesday, after two years of work, the social media giant finally released the results of its independent audit, a wide-ranging report on the state of civil rights on Facebook, from hate speech to advertising to algorithmic bias. The auditors found that the company…

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook is considering banning political advertising across its network before the November general election, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions, after facing intense pressure for allowing hate speech and misinformation to flourish across its site. The decision has not been finalized, said the people,…

Canada’s highest court has issued a ruling today upholding a federal law preventing third parties, such as employers and insurance companies, from demanding genetic information from individuals. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has decided the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act is a constitutional exercise of federal powers. In a curious twist, the federal government…

“Brother! You doubting Thomases get in the way of more scientific advances with your stupid ethical questions! This is a brilliant idea! Hit the button, will ya?” Calvin addressing Hobbes regarding the ‘Duplicator‘ (Waterson, 1990) While talk about a post-COVID-19 world is ripe, reflecting more the desire for an economic relaunch than…

Do you trust companies like Facebook to accurately and completely tell you how, and to what extent, their apps monitor and track you both on your phone and across the entire internet? The question is not a rhetorical one, as Apple’s latest privacy push relies on the answer to that…