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Hungry for data: Inside Europol’s secretive AI programme | Computer Weekly The EU’s law enforcement agency has been quietly amassing data to feed an ambitious but secretive artificial intelligence development programme that could have far-reaching privacy implications for pe...

Btw 2020 and 2021 Europol landed enormous volumes of data as a part of three mega-hack operations that dismantled encrypted communication systems. This would become the starting point of the agency's AI ambitions. New investigation out with @giacomoza.bsky.social and @stavinoha.bsky.social

Hungry for data: Inside Europol’s secretive AI programme | Computer Weekly The EU’s law enforcement agency has been quietly amassing data to feed an ambitious but secretive artificial intelligence development programme that could have far-reaching privacy implications for pe...

Shall we care about Europol? The answer is... Read our latest investigation to catch a glimpse about what the agency is doing to accelerate the AI transformation of policing across the EU, with minimal safeguards. www.computerweekly.com/news/3666344...

Microsoft admonished for role in facilitating Gaza genocide | Computer Weekly Following credible allegations that Microsoft Azure was being used to facilitate mass surveillance and lethal force against Palestinians, which prompted the company to suspend services to the Israeli ...

Microsoft must immediately end any involvement with the “Israeli authorities’ systemic repression of Palestinians” and work to prevent its products or services being used to commit further “atrocity crimes”, civil society groups have urged www.computerweekly.com/news/3666328...

UK government to consult on police live facial recognition use | Computer Weekly The UK’s policing minister has confirmed the government will consult on the use of live facial recognition by law enforcement before expanding its use throughout England, but so far, the technology ha...

The UK’s policing minister has confirmed the government will consult on the use of live facial recognition by law enforcement before expanding its use throughout England, but so far, the technology has been deployed with minimal public debate or consultation www.computerweekly.com/news/3666323...

Internet shutdowns in Africa on upward trajectory | Computer Weekly A comparative analysis of internet shutdowns in African countries highlights how the tactic is increasingly used to repress dissent and political opposition, depriving millions of people and businesse...

More than 190 internet shutdowns have been recorded in 41 African countries since 2016, the African Digital Rights Network has found, as governments across the continent seek to normalise the use of digital blackouts to suppress dissent
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666318...

Microsoft hides key data flow information in plain sight | Computer Weekly Microsoft’s own documentation confirms that data hosted in its hyperscale cloud architecture routinely traverses the globe, but the tech giant is actively obfuscating this vital information from its U...

Policing data hosted in Microsoft’s hyperscale cloud infrastructure could be processed in more than 100 countries, but the tech giant is obfuscating this information from its customers, Computer Weekly can reveal.
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666320...

“MS is unable to specify what data originating from SPA will be processed outside the UK for support functions,” said the SPA in a detailed DPIA created for its use of O365. “To try and mitigate this risk, SPA asked to see … [the transfer risk assessments]. MS declined to provide the assessments.”

Without this information, the policing bodies are unable to satisfy the law enforcement-specific data protection rules laid out in Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18), which places strict limits on the transfer of policing data outside the UK.

Microsoft refuses to divulge data flows to Police Scotland | Computer Weekly Tech giant Microsoft is refusing to divulge key information to Police Scotland about where the sensitive data it uploads to Office 365 will be processed, leaving the force unable to comply with UK-wid...

Microsoft is refusing to tell Scottish policing bodies where and how the sensitive law enforcement data uploaded to its cloud services will be processed, citing “commercial confidentiality”
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666298...

European Commission ignores calls to reassess Israel data adequacy | Computer Weekly The European Commission is ignoring calls to reassess Israel’s data adequacy status in spite of concerns raised about its data protection framework and use of personal data in ‘repressive practices’.

The European Commission has been ignoring calls to reassess Israel’s data adequacy status for over a year, despite “urgent concerns” about the country’s data protection framework and conduct in Gaza
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666282...

European Commission ignores calls to reassess Israel data adequacy | Computer Weekly The European Commission is ignoring calls to reassess Israel’s data adequacy status in spite of concerns raised about its data protection framework and use of personal data in ‘repressive practices’.

The European Commission has been ignoring calls to reassess Israel’s data adequacy status for over a year, despite “urgent concerns” about the country’s data protection framework and conduct in Gaza
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666282...

“Entities that previously enabled and profited from Palestinian elimination and erasure within the economy of occupation, instead of disengaging are now involved in the economy of genocide.”

“After October 2023, long-standing systems of control, exploitation and dispossession metamorphosed into economic, technological and political infrastructures mobilised to inflict mass violence and immense destruction,” she said.

She said that if the companies supplying these technologies had conducted the proper human rights due diligence – including IBM, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Palantir – they would have divested “long ago” from involvement in Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

In an investigative report examining “the role of corporate entities in sustaining the illegal Israeli occupation and its ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza”, Francesca Albanese outlined the key role the technology sector plays in “sustaining the Israeli settler-colonial project"

Tech firms complicit in ‘economy of genocide’, says UN rapporteur | Computer Weekly A UN special rapporteur has called for technology firms operating in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to immediately halt their activities, in wider report about the role corporate enti...

Technology firms globally are actively “aiding and abetting” Israel’s “crimes of apartheid and genocide” against Palestinians, said United Nations special rapporteur in an urgent call for the companies to cease their business activities in the region
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666269...

A good overview of the thorny implications of the newly enlisted tech execs as reservists by @sklovig.bsky.social with commentary by the excellent @sophiagoodfriend.bsky.social and myself.

MPs propose ban on predictive policing | Computer Weekly MPs are attempting to amend the UK government’s forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill so that it prohibits the use of controversial predictive policing systems.

Predictive policing technologies infringe human rights “at their heart” and should be prohibited in the UK, argues Green MP Siân Berry, after tabling an amendment to the government’s forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill www.computerweekly.com/news/3666266...

I was glad to speak with @sklovig.bsky.social about the militarisation of the US’ AI industry

It’s an important look at how Silicon Valley is working with the Trump admin to turbocharge AI weapons development

Includes comment from @elkeschwarz.bsky.social and @sophiagoodfriend.bsky.social, who kindly took time out of their days to speak with me about the developments and share their insights

Silicon Valley execs sworn in to US Army reserves specialist unit | Computer Weekly Four technology executives have been brought into the military fold with an explicit remit to make the Armed Forces “more lethal,” reflecting the softening attitudes throughout the sector towards “the...

Four Silicon Valley executives have been recruited into a specialist tech-focused unit of the US Army Reserves in a bid to “bridge the commercial-military tech gap” and make the armed forces “more lethal.”
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666266...

refreshing to find out that some bombs are too unseemly to drop

v cool how everyone told the home office this would suck, and they did it anyway and scrapped the physical residency cards as a bonus

In one case that was reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the technical errors with data held by the Home Office were so severe that it found a breach of UK data protection law

Each also described how the “inordinate amount of stress” associated with not being able to reliably prove their immigration status has been made worse by a lack of responsiveness and help from the Home Office, which they accused of essentially leaving them in the lurch

Those affected by the eVisa system’s technical failings told Computer Weekly, on condition of anonymity, that the entire experience has been “anxiety-inducing” and described how their lives had been thrust into “uncertainty” by the transition

UK’s error-prone eVisa system is ‘anxiety-inducing’ | Computer Weekly People experiencing technical errors with the Home Office’s electronic visa system have spoken with Computer Weekly about the psychological toll of not being able to reliably prove their immigration s...

UK error-prone eVisa system is ‘anxiety-inducing’

People having technical errors with the Home Office eVisa system explain the psychological toll of not being able to reliably prove their immigration status in the face of a hostile and unresponsive bureaucracy
www.computerweekly.com/news/3666253...

UK biometric surveillance exists in ‘legal grey area’ | Computer Weekly The rapid proliferation of ‘biometric mass surveillance technologies’ throughout the UK’s public and private sectors is taking place without legal certainty or adequate safeguards for the public.

The rapid proliferation of ‘biometric mass surveillance technologies’ throughout the UK’s public and private sectors is taking place without legal certainty or adequate safeguards for the public www.computerweekly.com/news/3666248...

European Commission should rescind UK data adequacy | Computer Weekly Civil society organisations have urged the European Commissioner to not renew the UK’s data adequacy, given the country’s growing divergence from European data protection standards

Seven civil society organisations are calling on European Commissioner Michael McGrath to rescind the UK’s data adequacy status, citing major concerns around the country’s ongoing erosion of privacy and data rights www.computerweekly.com/news/3666253...

Essex Police discloses ‘incoherent’ facial recognition assessment | Computer Weekly An equality impact assessment of Essex Police live facial recognition deployments is plagued by inconsistencies and poor methodology, undermining the forces claim that its use of the tech will not be ...

Essex Police discloses ‘incoherent’ facial recognition assessment - an equality impact assessment of Essex Police LFR deployments is plagued by inconsistencies and poor methodology, undermining its claim that use of the tech will not be discriminatory www.computerweekly.com/news/3666244...