18 April 2021
Airbnb decides who can book, EU plans revealed to ban surveillance, Disney and Twitter become more responsible and a(nother) busy week for Facebook.
Headlines.
It has not been a good week for Facebook who are threatened with legal action over last week’s data leak, been challenged on plans for Instagram for children and mistakenly pulled down the page for Bitche in France.
Positive changes for privacy were made by Disney, who agreed to changes with its’ children apps and Twitter’s plan for Responsible Machine Learning by analysing the harmful impacts of its’ algorithms. Potential plans for the EU to ban AI for mass surveillance and social credit systems (a direct contrast to China’s social scoring system) were also revealed ahead of official announcements - the EU sees this as a ‘violation of basic human rights’.
Finally, Airbnb launches the ‘Summer of Responsible Travel’ - where new bookers with no review history will have a harder time booking a one-night stay. In addition, noise detection devices will be used to manage guest behaviour (hosts will need to declare if they intend to use these devices). Creepy or About Time?
Sources:
BBC: Facebook faces mass legal action over data leak
NY Times: Mark Zuckerberg is urged to scrap plans for an Instagram for Children, Disney and ad-tech firms agree to privacy changes for children’s apps
The Verge: Facebook pulled the page for Bitche, France because it was not Nice, Airbnb is trying to preemptively cancel post pandemic bacchanals
Forbes: Twitter To Study Whether Its Algorithm Causes Unintentional Harms
Techspot: EU planning to ban AI used in mass surveillance and social credit systems
Perspective.
I’m actually tired of talking about Facebook. Every week, on a Sunday morning I sit down and look at what’s happening in the world of data, for you wonderful folks, and sadly Facebook dominates. This week however, it’s somewhat a good news story. A legal challenge because they should have taken better care of our data (as reported by me last week) and a protest on an Instagram for our vulnerable young (as reported by me almost one month ago). Happily our nation will not stay quiet. Take note however, there is a precedent quietly being set here for payment to those affected by data leaks - businesses of all size should follow this one closely, as many could feel the impact of this.
Whilst I laughed at the error made by the Facebook algorithm in removing the page for “Ville de Bitche” in France (I’m guessing due to supposed profanity’) it does highlight the need for algorithms to have human intervention, especially to manage cultural differences - where no matter the AI training, slippages will always occur. Bitche today, Wicked the Musical tomorrow.
Once again, the EU takes a global lead on Privacy legislation - this time on mass surveillance and ensuring that AI/data cannot be used to socially manipulate the behaviour of its’ citizens. This is a bold move - with wide implications on State Security, and a direct challenge to China’s social score - where reportedly citizens cannot get insurance or book flights if they have been ‘marked’ as behaving badly. I wonder, could a company’s ‘score’ of consumers and resultant marketing be also seen as a form of behaviour manipulation? Does selective incentivisation based on data also come under question? Hmmm…The Netflix Black Mirror episode Nosedive comes to mind (if you have not seen it, do - I highly recommend).
Whilst I applaud Disney and Twitter for their responsibility on data, one wonders why it was not done before… though always better late than never. Disney for me is like the Guardian of Childhood, so I am somewhat disturbed by knowledge that they were not already at maximum protection. Both Disney and Twitter have been criticised in the past on these fronts, so I wish I could say they made these moves willingly. Sadly, no.
Finally, I thought it worthwhile to bring the Airbnb move towards ‘Responsible Travel’ to your attention. In the past, hosts could choose whether to accept guest bookings based on their Ratings & Reviews. Rules on who can book what, where, and for how long raises more questions than answers. Who will own and set these rules? Can hosts opt-out if they disagree? What will happen to opt-outs if there is a liability issue? And as per the noise management - a crying baby is pretty loud to me and my partner’s laugh is pretty loud too (thankfully, I only have the latter to enjoy today). This one is a tad creepy to me.