Tag: disclose
Meta agrees to change VIP ‘cross-check’ program but won’t disclose who is in it
Meta has responded to the dozens of recommendations from the Oversight Board regarding its controversial cross-check program, which shields high-profile users from the company’s automated content moderation systems. In its response, Meta agreed to adopt many of the board’s suggestions, but declined to implement changes that would have increased transparency around who is in the program.
Meta’s response comes after the board had criticized the program for prioritizing “business concerns” over human rights. While the company had characterized the program as a “second layer of review” to help it avoid mistakes, the Oversight Board noted that cross-check cases are often so backlogged that harmful content is left up far longer than it otherwise would be.
In total, Meta agreed to adopt 26 of the 32 recommendations at least partially. These include changes around how cross-check cases are handled internally at the company, as well as promises to disclose more information to the Oversight Board about the program. The company also pledged to reduce the backlog of cases.
But, notably, Meta declined to take the Oversight Board up on its recommendation that it publicly disclose politicians, state actors, businesses and other public figures who benefit from the protections of cross-check. The company said publicly disclosing details about the program “could lead to myriad unintended consequences making it both unfeasible and unsustainable” and said that it would open cross-check to being “game(d)” by bad actors.
Likewise, the company declined, or didn’t commit, to recommendations that may alert people that they are subject to cross-check. Meta declined a recommendation that it require users who are part of cross-check make “an additional, explicit, commitment” to follow the company’s rules. And Meta said it was “assessing the feasibility” of a recommendation that it allow people to opt out of cross-check (which would also, naturally, notify them that they are part of the program). “We will collaborate with our Human Rights and Civil Rights teams to assess options to address this issue, in an effort to enhance user autonomy regarding cross-check,” the company wrote.
While Meta’s response shows that the company is willing to make changes to one of its most controversial programs, it also underscores the company’s reluctance to make key details about cross-check public. That also aligns with the Oversight Board’s previous criticism, which last year accused the company of not being “fully forthcoming” about cross-check.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-agrees-to-change-vip-cross-check-program-but-wont-disclose-who-is-in-it-181140075.html?src=rss
The FCC Wants to Make Telecom Carriers Disclose Hacks Sooner
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The days of finding out about a data breach impacting your personal data months after the fact may soon become a thing of the past—at least when it comes to hacks affecting telecom carriers. The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new rule, requiring phone and internet providers to notify customers of…
SEC asks companies to disclose exposure to struggling crypto firms
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking publicly-traded companies to tell investors about their involvement with struggling cryptocurrency firms (via CNBC). In a notice posted on Thursday, the SEC says companies may have an obligation under federal law to disclose whether their operations or finances have been impacted by the turbulence that’s rocking the crypto market.
The move comes after FTX’s collapse sent ripples across the entire crypto industry and revealed a network of creditors to which FTX owes billions. While the lending arm of Genesis, a major crypto brokerage, suspended withdrawals in the aftermath of FTX’s fall, the crypto trading platform BlockFi filed for bankruptcy and lists FTX as one of its largest…
Israel Englander and his Millennium fund disclose 5.2% passive stake in MacroGenics
Court Orders Telegram To Disclose Personal Details of Pirating Users
The case in question was filed by Ms. Neetu Singh and KD Campus. The former is the author of various books, courses, and lectures, for which the latter runs coaching centers. Both rightsholders have repeatedly complained to Telegram about channels that shared pirated content. In most cases, Telegram took these down, but the service refused to identify the infringers. As such, the rightsholders asked the court to intervene. The legal battle culminated in the Delhi High Court this week via an order compelling Telegram to identify several copyright-infringing users. This includes handing over phone numbers, IP addresses, and email addresses.
The order was issued despite fierce opposition. One of Telegram’s main defenses was that the user data is stored in Singapore, which prohibits the decryption of personal information under local privacy law. The Court disagrees with this argument, as the ongoing infringing activity is related to Indian works and will likely be tied to Indian users. And even if the data is stored elsewhere, it could be accessed from India. Disclosing the personal information would not be a violation of Singapore’s privacy law either, the High Court adds, pointing out that there is an exception if personal details are needed for investigation or proceedings.
Telegram also brought up the Indian constitution, which protects people’s privacy, as well as the right to freedom of speech and expression. However, that defense was unsuccessful too. Finally, Telegram argued that it is not required to disclose the details of its users because the service merely acts as an intermediary. Again, the Court disagrees. Simply taking infringing channels offline isn’t good enough in this situation, since infringers can simply launch new ones, as if nothing had happened.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
New Pentagon Budget Could Force the Military to Disclose When it Buys Americans’ Location Data
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The House of Representatives approved changes to next year’s military budget requiring the Department of Defense to start disclosing any purchases of smartphone or web browsing data for which a warrant would ordinarily be required last month.