^CategorySurveillance

The Atomic Bomb Dome Panorama in Hiroshima and the surounding garden in autumn at sunset on the side of Motoyasu River in Japan, with the Peace Memorial Park

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post

Author
Denise Simon
Date
August 4, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

Tagged
Arab Spring, Donald Trump, FBI, Geofeedia, Kodak, Law enforcement, Political activism}

Does Government Watch Us on Social Media? Yes… So Does Business

_{They may all be getting to know you way better than you feel comfortable with} _{Denise Simon

August 4, 2020

5

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance}

Discerning public opinion on political and national security issues via social media platforms showed its worth during the Arab Spring of 2010. The protests, which began in Tunisia, spread throughout the Middle East, where social media were the key platform for expressing anger about corruption, poverty, human rights violations, unemployment, and authoritarianism. These protests resulted in changes to leadership and policy in Libya, Egypt, and Yemen. They also resulted in immigration issues and sadly, even terror attacks, military conflicts, and civil war. Social media not only enables coordinated action such as rallies, strikes, resistance, riots, and other methods of activism but also provides status reports and communicates outcomes. One research team has developed an AI metric for predicting such events: Read More ›

Binary code with China flag, data protection concept

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Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 30, 2020

Categorized
Surveillance

Tagged
China, Christopher Wray, COVID-19, Cybercrime, Cyberespionage, David Bowdich, Featured, Gilead Sciences, hacking, Iran, Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, Made in China 2025, Russia}

Charges Reveal Extent of China-Sponsored Hacking in the West

_{Targets have included COVID-19 labs, dissidents, and religious groups} _{Heather Zeiger

July 30, 2020

7

Surveillance}

What’s new about the most recent indictment is the acknowledgment that China is working with known cybercriminals. Read More ›

3D rendering of a futuristic mech soldier with dog.

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post

Author
News
Date
July 19, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
2084 (book), China, Featured, John Lennox, Max Tegmark, Revelation 13, Robert J. Marks, Social Credit (China)}

Do Some Passages in the Book of Revelation Seem to Talk About AI?

_{Revelation is notoriously obscure but a passage about a future “total control” state gives pause for thought} _{News

July 19, 2020

5

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Surveillance, Technocracy}

John Lennox, author of 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (2020), is not only an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University but also pastoral advisor to Green Templeton College at Oxford. In a podcast, “Does Revelation Talk About Artificial Intelligence?” with Robert J. Marks, director of the Walter Bradley Institute, he addresses the title question, “Do some passages in the Book of Revelation seem to talk about AI?”: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-091-John-Lennox.mp3 Selections from the transcript are provided below: (The complete downloadable transcript may be found following the Show Notes and Resources. “Can AI Replace the Need for Belief in God?” provides an account of the earlier portion of this lively discussion.) Robert J. Marks (right): Last question I want Read More ›

iron chain and castle on the silk national flag of Hong Kong with beautiful folds, the concept of a ban on tourism, political repression, crime, violation of the rights and freedoms of citizens

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 9, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, Apple (company), China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Facebook, Featured, Google, Great Firewall, Hong Kong, Hong Kong National Security Law, Instagram, Microsoft, Telegram, Tik Tok, Twitter, WhatsApp, Zoom}

Hong Kong: Tech Companies Face Serious Ethical Decisions

_{As Hong Kong is transformed into a police state, Western companies, faced with demands for snitching on users, are rethinking cozy relationships with China} _{Heather Zeiger

July 9, 2020

7

Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

The semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong is no longer semi-autonomous, at least in practice. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), circumventing Hong Kong’s parliament and courts, passed the Hong Kong National Security Law on June 30 that effectively abolishes the “one country, two systems” regime outlined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The law was passed one day before the anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China (July 1, 1997), in time to quash any pro-democracy candidates who would likely win in the September elections. Although the CCP justifies its moves from the Hong Kong Basic Law and claims that Hong Kong will maintain autonomy, in practice, it has already arrested dissidents and formed a secretive agency called the Office Read More ›

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post

Author
News
Date
July 3, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
2084 (book), Featured, John Lennox, Robert J. Marks, Shoshana Zuboff}

2084 vs 1984: The Difference AI Could Make to Big Brother

_{News

July 3, 2020

4

Artificial Intelligence, Surveillance, Technocracy}

In a recent podcast, Oxford mathematician John Lennox answered some questions raised about his new book, 2084 by Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks, including questions as to how the loss of privacy could wind up really harming us: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-089-John-Lennox.mp3 From the transcript: Robert J. Marks: It’s been said that AI is the new electricity. It’s neither good nor bad. You have addressed some of the potential negative uses of artificial intelligence or the negative impacts of artificial intelligence, but expanding on that, what are some of the big threats that you see in the use of AI technology in the near future? John Lennox: Well, the threats are best explained by comparing them with the advantages. Let’s take Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 3, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Surveillance

Tagged
Andre Fuetsch, COSM, Featured, Geofencing, Privacy, Smartphone}

AT&T CTO Says, Yes, You Can Live Without Your Smart Phone

_{News

July 3, 2020

2

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Surveillance}

At COSM 2019, Jay Richards interviewed AT&T CTO Andre Fuetsch (the guy who says your smart phone will disappear). Is that true? And how will we live? From the interview: Andre Fuetsch: We are now on the brink of being able to connect many, many more things than we’ve ever seen before. And just by the fact of being able to connect more things … look at the more traditional wireless networks that we’ve had in the preceding generations. It frankly was just about connecting phones, right? “Some were sort of dumb phones, some were more feature phones. Some are now obviously more smartphones. And these were really more of kind of a one to one relationship with people. 5G, Read More ›

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 2, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
___longform, Alipay, China, COVID-19, Health Code (China)}

China’s Health Code App: One More Way to Track Citizens

_{Heather Zeiger

July 2, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

For the Chinese Communist Party, SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus) has provided an opportunity to expand its massive surveillance system. The current extensive network of facial recognition cameras has left some gaps. People could avoid recognition, for example, by wearing a face covering to curb the spread of a respiratory illness. Now, China is looking to fill those gaps by keeping the Alipay Health Code app, launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a mainstay for its citizens: Compared to omnipresent facial recognition software and other surveillance systems in China, the health code mechanism covers more people and collects a broader range of personal information. The state can also impose stricter control as people now have to use health codes Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 30, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
2084 (book), China, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Featured, John Lennox, Martin Rees, Mellichamp, Nick Bostrom}

Exclusive!: John Lennox Answers Our Questions About AI in 2084

_{News

June 30, 2020

5

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Global Technology, Surveillance}

In his new book, 2084, the Oxford mathematician doubts that AI, now or then, will out-think humans. Our real worry is how they will be used. Read More ›

Abstract Chinese flag painted on digital sphere. Futuristic network cyberspace illustration background. View from space. Selective focus used.

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post

Author
Denise Simon
Date
June 16, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
China, Confucius Institutes, Corporate ethics, cyber theft, Double First Class Initiative, Featured, Global AI dominance, Social policy, Thousand Talents Program}

China Aims at Global AI Dominance by 2030

_{China’s systematic use of AI for social surveillance and control should cause us to think carefully about what that means} _{Denise Simon

June 16, 2020

5

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

A 2017 central government document laid out the country’s plan for global dominance in AI by 2030, asking all “people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, all State Council ministries, and all directly controlled institutions” to ”please carefully implement.“ (translation) To achieve that timeline, China has employed several operations against the United States including the Confucius Institutes (fronts for Chinese propaganda according to the FBI, 2020), the Thousand Talents Program (spying and intellectual-property theft, Bloomberg, 2019) and cyber theft. While many Confucius Institutes have been exposed by key members of the Senate and many are being terminated domestically as a result, Chinese-driven cyber theft is costing the U.S. economy more than $100 billion per Read More ›

Smart technologies in your smartphone, collection and analysis of big data

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post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
June 1, 2020

Categorized
Data Privacy, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
Bill Gates, Birds Aren't Real, China, Conspiracy theories, COVID-19, Dwight Eisenhower, Edward Snowden, Featured, Self-censorship, Tim Cook, Uyghurs}

The Birds Aren’t Real. But Maybe the Spying Is.

_{A defense of our fundamental right to privacy} _{Gary Smith

June 1, 2020

7

Data Privacy, Surveillance, Technocracy}

Technology frees us from drudgery but also enable surveillance that enslaves us. Then, far from computers becoming more like humans, we may become more like computers.

cybercrime, hacking and technology concept - male hacker with headphones and coding on laptop computer screen wiretapping or using computer virus program for cyber attack in dark room

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
May 20, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
China, COVID-19, Cyber espionage, Economic espionage, espionage, hacking, Industrial espionage, Intellectual Property, United Nations, United States, World Health Organization (WHO)}

The New Cyber Cold War with China

_{Cybersecurity strategist Peter Singer told Wired that there has never been a better time than the COVID-19 pandemic to be a government hacker} _{Heather Zeiger

May 20, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance}

The United States has formally accused China of both funding and operating cells of hackers who infiltrate research labs working on responses to COVID-19.

Great bundle of various colored cables with various connectors

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post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
May 12, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Eugenics, IBM, Michael S. Malone, Nazis, Scientific American, Soviet Union, William Davidow}

No, Scientific American, Don’t Starve AI!

_{Don't unplug AI; just make sure everyone shares in both the creation and the benefits} _{Eric Holloway

May 12, 2020

4

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy}

While many are concerned about all the jobs that AI will eliminate, no one is talking about the fact that AI needs humans. Information is the fuel that powers AI, and only humans can create this information. So, the real revolution that AI will bring is not data exploitation, but the empowering of people all around the world to power our economy through creation of information. What’s bad news for authoritarian groups like the Chinese Communist party is good news for everyone else.

CCTV camera or surveillance operating in glass building

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post

Author
News
Date
May 5, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
Jonathan Bartlett, Michael S. Malone, William Davidow}

At Scientific American: Starve artificial intelligence!

_{Silicon Valley authors seek to limit AI's power. Jonathan Bartlett doesn't think it really has the power they are worried about} _{News

May 5, 2020

5

Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Surveillance, Technocracy}

Jonathan Bartlett agrees with Valley pioneers Davidow and Malone, authors of The Autonomous Revolution (2020) that there are real problems with the misuse of AI. But, he says, that’s because we treat it as powerful. It is a servant but we make it a master.

Young woman using smart phone,Social media concept.

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post

Author
News
Date
May 1, 2020

Categorized
Data Privacy, Medicine and Health, Surveillance

Tagged
Anonymity, China, Contact tracing, COVID-19, Deanonymizing data, Google}

Is Contact Tracing a Simple Answer to COVID Lockdowns?

_{An engineering professor at the University of Austin asks us to look at the costs and benefits} _{News

May 1, 2020

5

Data Privacy, Medicine and Health, Surveillance}

The conventional science fiction fear of a superintelligent AI taking over the planet and ridding it of pesky humans distracts our attention from a much more realistic threat: Artificial intelligence (AI) makes both government and corporate surveillance much easier, cheaper, and more useful—whether it is in average citizens’ interests or not. If we are lucky, this will be the decade when we address the implications of that fact.

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post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
April 25, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Surveillance, Work

Tagged
Cybercrime, Internet trolls, Zoom}

Post-COVID: Five Ways Your Job Could Change

_{This is a good time to be a creative thinker and innovator.} _{Denyse O'Leary

April 25, 2020

7

Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Surveillance, Work}

Many COVID-driven innovations will likely endure, whether it’s vets doing telehealth, trolls harassing Zoom users, or cybercriminals targeting remote workers, the new opportunities and risks will stay with us.

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
March 16, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Surveillance, Work

Tagged
China, DingTalk, Employees, Productivity, Slack, Students}

DingTalk: Where the “Teacher” Really Is Always Watching You

_{The COVID-19 quarantine has spiked both virtual workplaces and classrooms in China, highlighting anger at the surveillance} _{Heather Zeiger

March 16, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Education, Surveillance, Work}

Every human being, whether office worker or high school student, bucks against digital harnesses.

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post

Author
Analysis
Date
March 12, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance

Tagged
AI Global Surveillance Index (AIGS), China, Global Expansion of AI Surveillance (2019), Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence (book)}

The Real Threat AI Poses Is the “I” That Controls It

_{As AI becomes a part of everyday life, the science fiction glow fades; the constant high-tech surveillance intensifies} _{Analysis

March 12, 2020

10

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Surveillance}

Pundits like Nick Bostrom and Ray Kurzweil worry that smart AI will rule us. But, as the Carnegie Index shows, conventional dictators using conventional AI for mass surveillance are a growing real-world problem while smart AI remains science fiction.

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post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
February 26, 2020

Categorized
Surveillance, Technocracy

Tagged
China, Karakax List, Uyghurs, Xinjiang}

China: Sophisticated Surveillance Decides Who Gets Sent to Uyghur Camps

_{The leak of documents from police in Karakax County in Xinjiang reveal the details of everyday life that can send a Uyghur to the camps} _{Heather Zeiger

February 26, 2020

8

Surveillance, Technocracy}

The tracking app used by the police aggregates all of the data of people living in Xinjiang. Based on the parameters, or “micro-clues” that police put in the app, prompts the user to collect additional details or determines whether that person should be detained. This could include “not socializing with neighbors, often avoiding using the front door,” or using more electricity than others.