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EU mulls ban on AI-assisted mass surveillance

By
Kyriacos Nicolaou
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EU mulls ban on AI-assisted mass surveillance

Artificial intelligence, as well as its as-of-yet more commonplace subsect of machine learning, has not been without its fair share of dissenting voices, with concerns being raised around three key ethical issues: the implications on bias and discrimination, mass surveillance and the privacy of citizens, as well as the somewhat more metaphysical issue of simulating the human-like ability to judge a complex situation and act on it.

Earlier this week, a report from political journalism site Politico reported on a leaked proposal suggesting that the European Union is mulling the potential implementation of a wide-ranging piece of legislation which would effectively ban the use of artificial intelligence in certain applications and types of usage.

The main areas artificial intelligence may affect include the controversial topic of credit scores, as well as mass surveillance. This would provide a substantial differentiation between the European Union and the United States and China, where such applications of artificial technology are either in development or already in use.

The mass surveillance system in China was recently the centre of attention of activists and political analysts due to its application in Xinjiang for the monitoring of the Uyghur population. “The Uyghurs have long been under constant high-tech surveillance that tracks, analyses and records their every move and scours their personal communications for evidence of dissent,” Michael Chertoff and N. MacDonnell Ulsch wrote in a Washington Post article earlier this month. “Compounding this culture of surveillance is the evolution of artificial intelligence from a novelty designed to win games of chess against humans into a science now capable of facial recognition and individual profiling,” the article added.

In relation to the EU, the leaked proposal would include a mandate that all member states set up specialised committees for the specific assessment and evaluation of artificial intelligence systems with a high risk factor (i.e. whose application would be in a sensitive business or social sector).

A draft copy of the proposal, which has been reported on by numerous media publications, says the legislation would explicitly prevent the use of artificial intelligence technology for “indiscriminate surveillance, which would include the automated monitoring and tracking of people; prohibit the use of artificial intelligence applications whose aim it is to create social credit scores using a number of factors to determine a perceived level of trust and financial means; and require authorisation by a committee or other dedicated body to use remote biometric identification systems such as facial recognition in public locations.

The proposal would also entail the formulation of a special agency to deal with these affairs. The agency is tentatively called the European Artificial Intelligence Board and would be comprised of special agents representing each member state. These representatives would also be able to help the European Commission decide on which artificial intelligence systems should be designated as ‘high-risk’ and may also be able to facilitate certain changes to the proposed bans and limitations of AI usage.

Early reactions from analysts suggest that though this is a step in the right direction for the protection of privacy and other human rights in the EU, the current language used in the leaked version of the draft is vague and indeterminate enough to allow companies and organisations to circumvent it entirely or work through it.

“In my opinion, it represents the typical Brussels approach to new technology and innovation. When in doubt, regulate. Replete with a new database for registration of high risk AI systems (Title VIII). Quite a throwback to the days of the 95/46 DPD. And a very 1970s approach to tech regulation,” said Omer Tene, vice president of nonprofit IAPP (The International Association of Privacy Professionals).

“Annex II [of the leaked document] defines “high risk AI systems”. These systems are subject to the full thrust of the regulation. It’s broad – and includes AI systems used for acceptance to educational institutions and educational testing, recruitment to work, credit scoring, the criminal justice system and more. The key provision of the regulation is Article 4, which defines “prohibited AI practices”. It will cause great consternation because it’s vague and potentially all encompassing,” added Tene.

United States, European Union Urge Georgian Lawmakers To End Crisis

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Newsdesk
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United States, European Union Urge Georgian Lawmakers To End Crisis

The United States and the European Union have launched a joint appeal … statement published on April 18, European Council President Charles Michel is to … million people.
Two rounds of EU-mediated talks in March between …

Both the local and national press could do better on religion coverage

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Newsdesk
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Both the local and national press could do better on religion coverage

The vital role played by local newspapers and radio in encouraging greater understanding of faith has been highlighted by a newly-published parliamentary report.

I say Amen to that.

‘Learning to Listen’, produced by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in the Media, highlights the positive role played by local and regional media in reporting religion in a “balanced, nuanced and informative way.” It forms part of a wide-ranging review of ‘religious literacy’ across the press and broadcasting.

The report contrasts this sensitive grassroots coverage with the way faith is often reported in the national press.

As someone who trained as a local newspaper reporter and has been involved in working with the media to cover faith issues for more than 45 years, I wholeheartedly agree with the report’s praise.

But from conversations with editors and faith leaders, I know there still exists a divide to be crossed. Often, local journalists are unaware of the rich source of news and feature stories that lie within local faith communities.

And the vicars, pastors, rabbis, imams and other faith leaders are either wary of their local media or are not aware that the local newspaper or radio station would welcome hearing from them.

Where churches and other faith groups have built links with their local media, positive, informed coverage is often achieved.

In the 98-page ‘Learning to Listen’ report, the group of MPs and members of the House of Lords said, “We heard compelling evidence that local media continues to represent religions in a more balanced, nuanced and informative way than national media.

“Reporting on local religious festivals, community events and local charities can represent the lively reality of religious practice and experience in a way that is very difficult for national journalism to achieve.

“Local and religious journalists are also more likely to develop the long-term relationships so important in accurately representing a given community.”

The parliamentarians also praised the role of BBC local radio in reporting faith, stating “regional broadcasting has an important role to play in representing everyday belief. It has the capacity to introduce new perspectives at the same time as creating a common narrative.

“It is an area where religious programming continues to be valued and prioritised.”

The report highlights the Sunday breakfast faith and ethics-based programmes broadcast by BBC local radio stations and comments “when prioritised, good local religious programming can be engaging, interrogative and enjoyable.” It commends especially the role played by the stations in covering faith issues during the pandemic.

One of the features of BBC local radio during lockdown has been a weekly Christian act of worship broadcast at 8am each Sunday. These are often innovative services, including one featuring a Championship football team.

But the parliamentary report also spells out the challenges to local reporting. Advertising has been sucked away from regional and local newspapers by the social media giants, and BBC local radio is under pressure as the Corporation’s licence-based funding comes under attack.

In response to these challenges the report concludes, “This loss of local, public interest reporting is deeply worrying. Not only does local journalism play an important social and democratic role, we received compelling evidence that it fulfils a valuable function in representing religion and belief in an accessible and balanced way.”

The report sets out a series of recommendations to build more informed coverage of religion across the media. These recommendations include:

  • Journalists and programme-makers should aim to explore the ‘lived experience’ of religion as well as its doctrinal, ritual and ceremonial elements.
  • Religious literacy training should be formally incorporated into professional media qualifications and journalists’ continuing professional development.
  • The current religious programming hours required of the BBC should be protected in future reviews.
  • The remit of public service broadcasters should be redrafted to include the purpose of promoting religious literacy and all public service broadcasters should explore how they can use the full width of their output to increase religious literacy.

Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England priest in St Albans, Herts, and a former Director of Communications with the CofE. He is the author of ‘Responding to Post-truth’ (Grove Books)

EIOPA issues Opinion on the supervision of use climate change risk scenarios in ORSA – Eiopa European Commission

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officialinstitutions
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EIOPA issues Opinion on the supervision of use climate change risk scenarios in ORSA – Eiopa European Commission

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) issued today an Opinion on the supervision of the use of climate change scenarios in the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) addressed to national supervisory authorities. In this Opinion EIOPA sets out expectations on the supervision of the integration of climate change risk scenarios by insurers in their ORSA. 

The (re)insurance industry will be impacted by climate change-related physical and transition risks. However, only a minority of insurers assess climate change risks in the ORSA using scenario analysis, usually limited to a short-term time horizon. Therefore, EIOPA considers it essential to foster a forward-looking management of these risks to ensure the long-term solvency and viability of the industry. 

National supervisory authorities should expect insurers to integrate climate change risks in their system of governance, risk-management system and ORSA, similar to all risks undertakings are or could be exposed to. In the ORSA, insurers should do an assessment to identify material climate change risk exposures and subject the material exposures to a risk assessment.

Climate change risks should be assessed not only in the short term but also in the long term using scenario analysis to inform the strategic planning and business strategy. Insurers should subject material climate change risks to at least two long-term climate scenarios, where appropriate:

  • a climate change risk scenario where the global temperature increase remains below 2°C, preferably no more than 1.5°C, in line with the EU commitments; and
  • a climate change risk scenario where the global temperature increase exceeds 2°C. 

The Opinion follows a risk-based and proportionate approach, recognising that methodologies are still developing and insurers need to gain experience. Insurers are expected to evolve the sophistication of the scenario analyses, taking into account the size, nature and complexity of their climate change risk exposures. The Opinion provides practical guidance on how to select and use climate change scenarios.

EIOPA expects national supervisors to collect qualitative and quantitative data to perform a supervisory review of the analysis of short and long-term climate change risks in the ORSA. Instruments for data collection should be the regular supervisory reporting, most notably the ORSA supervisory report. EIOPA will start monitoring the application of this Opinion by the national supervisory authorities two years after its publication.

Download the opinion

Background

EIOPA is mandated by Article 29(1)(a) of its Regulation to issue Opinions to national competent authorities to enhance supervisory convergence.  This Opinion is delivered on the basis of the Solvency II Directive, in particular in relation to Articles 41, 44, and 45, the Commission Delegated Regulation, in particular in relation to Articles 262 and 306 and EIOPA’s Guidelines on own risk and solvency assessment.

Can Europe still claim to be on the side of science?

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Newsdesk
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adult biology chemical chemist
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Agriculture is one of the key strategic pillars in the fight against climate change. In a world where average temperatures are set to reach levels that humanity has never experienced, we will have to be even more resourceful to feed an ever-growing population. Unfortunately, the “Farm to Fork” plan unveiled by the European Commission last May seems to be going in the opposite direction. Instead of relying on the latest innovations brought about by genetic engineering, the Commission prefers to bet on the democratisation of organic farming, whose ecological and health virtues are, after analysis, very limited. 

The Commission plans to reduce the European agricultural area by 10% while converting 25% of agricultural land to organic farming, representing only 7.5% of the land. These two objectives are incompatible. Indeed, given that the profitability per hectare of organic farming is on average 25% lower than that of conventional farming, an increase in the proportion of “organic” farming in Europe must necessarily be accompanied by an increase in the area cultivated – and potentially by a reduction in forests. For example, an article published in Nature in December 2018 showed that conversion to organic farming could lead to significant CO2 emissions by promoting deforestation. After studying the case of organic peas grown in Sweden, the authors conclude that they have “an impact on the climate about 50% greater than conventionally grown peas”.  READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

State aid: Commission adopts revised Regional Aid Guidelines

By
European Commission
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0
State aid: Commission adopts revised Regional Aid Guidelines

European Commission Press release Brussels, 19 Apr 2021 State aid: Commission adopts revised Regional Aid Guidelines

Factsheet – Conference Roll-out

By
European Commission
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0
Factsheet – Conference Roll-out

European Commission Factsheet Brussels, 19 Apr 2021 Factsheet – Conference Roll-out Factsheet – Conference Roll-out

Factsheet – Digital Platform

By
European Commission
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0
Factsheet – Digital Platform

European Commission Factsheet Brussels, 19 Apr 2021 Factsheet – Digital Platform Factsheet – Digital Platform

Gomes welcomes new OACPS/EU partnership agreement

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Newsdesk
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Gomes welcomes new OACPS/EU partnership agreement

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Former secretary general of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, Dr Patrick Gomes, says “very tough negotiations will be necessary depending on the priorities of countries and regions” as he welcomes Thursday’s signing of a new partnership agreement with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union (EU).

The accord signed in Brussels marks the formal conclusion of the negotiations of the post Cotonou Agreement, setting the political, economic and sectorial cooperation framework for the next 20 years.

The Cotonou Agreement was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city. It entered into force in 2003 and was subsequently revised in 2005 and 2010.

It had been regarded as the most comprehensive partnership agreement between developing countries and the EU. The fundamental principles of the Cotonou Agreement include equality of partners, global participation, dialogue and regionalisation. The agreement is re-examined every five years.

In a joint statement, the OACPS and the EU said that the new agreement will succeed the Cotonou Agreement once both sides complete their internal procedures for signature and conclusion, sets the scene for alliance-building and more coordinated actions on the world stage where the group’s impact can be significant to tackle some of the most acute global challenges.

Together, the EU and the members of the OACPS represent over 1.5 billion people and more than half of the seats at the United Nations.

PUBLIC DOCUMENT

Gomes, who stepped down as secretary general of the 79-member grouping in February this year, told the Caribbean Media Corporation that the initial text will now go to all the member states and can be treated as a public document to await a signing ceremony, possibly before the end of this year as the life of the Cotonou Agreement has been extended to December 31, 2021.

“After signing each country will follow their constitutional procedures to have the agreement ratified and after all EU members and 2/3 of ACP have ratified the Agreement will enter into force.”

Gomes said that in structure and focus on strategic priorities, the new agreement differs from the current Cotonou one that was signed in 2000.

“This structure has a general part – main body to which all signatories subscribe on the principles and provisions – but also three regional protocols – an African Regional Protocol, Caribbean and Pacific Regional Protocol,” he said, adding “it is meant to allow for common and also regional specificities in terms of priorities that that agreement will address”.

The former Guyanese-born diplomat said in the general part, there are six strategic priorities dealing with human rights, democracy and governance; peace and security; human and social development; inclusive sustainable economic growth and development, environmental sustainability and climate change; and migration and mobility.

“As you might say, priorities four and five are dealing with the knitty-gritty of “development as political economy processes and planning” which were sort of heart of previous “trade and development cooperation” by ACP and EU but now a more political emphasis is given to a partnership between the parties situated in the framework of the SDGs.

“Powerful attention is given to rule of law, governance, peace and security for people-centred and rights-based societies,” Gomes said.

He said climate change looms large and the basic thrust is for the joint force and common positions by this trans-regional grouping of countries from continents.

He noted that Africa, Americas (Caribbean), Asia-Pacific and Europe will wield influence in multilateral arenas, once common interests and mutual benefits can be derived.

“This also explains the new shift for regions in their own concerns to have room to implement what is more pressing. For instance, peace and security in Africa is vastly different from that of the Caribbean or Pacific.”

New Mexico author recalls boyhood in new book

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Newsdesk
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New Mexico author recalls boyhood in new book
Beth Nieman
 |  Footnotes

“New Mexico author Gary Paulsen’s new book, “Gone to the Woods,” is the story in novel form of Paulsen’s own boyhood. He opens with a long journey north he undertakes alone as a boy of five. Wearing a tag pinned to his jacket in Chicago by his hard-drinking mother, he rides a train filled with war-wounded WW II soldiers heading home.

His mother has sent him without food, but here and there someone shares something. He’s so small he gets stuck in the toilet, unable to get out until another passenger needs it and helps him. As the train travels through dense woods past a lake, he sees a wonderful bear looking at the train, and it helps him pass the long hours making up stories about the bear and its life next to the train track. (The opposing forces of danger and beauty in nature are a recurring theme in Paulsen’s writing.)

Finally, young Gary’s journey ends somewhere in northern Minnesota, finishing as abruptly as it began. The train conductor tells him to wait on the platform for someone to pick him up.

Just wait.

As the train leaves, a cranky rural mailman comes for him. After a long, bumpy ride, this man, too, tells him the trip is over, and he will have to hike a track through the woods the rest of the way. “Or don’t. You can wait here until they come to check the mail, but they don’t come every day. You might have to spend the night.” It doesn’t seem good to stay by himself, so he hikes into the woods as the mailman’s rickety car rattles away down the road. The story acquires a fairy-tale feel at this point—will he meet a big, bad wolf or a pack of robbers?

After confronting an unfriendly flock of geese and a large dog along the way, suddenly he sees a person—a woman wearing overalls and a straw hat. “Why, Lord, little peanut, where on earth did you come from?” She hugs him! It’s his aunt Edy, his mother’s sister.

Uncle Sig (short for Sigurd) and Aunt Edy welcome him to their farm and even provide an attic bedroom just for him—his very first bedroom. (He tries to forget the times he hid under the kitchen table in the single room apartment where he lived with his mother.) Young Gary blossoms and learns how to fish, how to tend a garden, how to gather eggs and morels, and how to help with the cows, pigs, hens, geese, and horses. Each day brings new experiences and he comes to love the northern woods and the farm; he knows he is where he belongs. This idyllic section of the book is a sharp contrast to what is about to come.

One day his mother comes to get him—with a new “uncle” in tow–and life takes a bad turn as he now lives with not one but two alcoholic adults. He runs away multiple times. Going into the woods remains one of his favorite refuges, but he also discovers that the public library is a safe place to be, and begins healing through reading and, eventually, writing. Readers will also have a brief glimpse at his Army service and reflections on his writing career.

Paulsen’s first-person narrative is so firmly grounded in places and senses readers will feel as if they are living through his experiences, too. Paulsen, now in his 80s, is the author of many award-winning books for middle grade and teen readers, which you can borrow at Carlsbad Public Library.

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