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☆ How to stop your internet-connected car from sharing and maybe even selling your driving data
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

"The amount of personal and car information that car companies collect, share and sometimes sell is beyond what is necessary to get someone from Point A to Point B safely. But there are growing privacy concerns as reports proliferate about car companies sharing driver data with insurers, and as car companies get into the insurance business themselves. To be sure, there can be valid reasons to collect driver and car data for safety and functionality purposes, and some essential services, such as emergency and security-related data sharing, may be difficult or impossible to opt out of. Ford, for example, said it provides customers with a choice regarding any sharing of connected vehicle data. The government is looking at car privacy regulationsThere are various regulatory efforts afoot to understand carmakers' data-sharing practices and reign in potential privacy violations.

Persons: Jen Caltrider, There's, That's, James Hodgson, Parv Sharma, Caltrider, Cobun Zweifel, Mo Al, Keegan, Edward J, Markey, Eric Goldman, Hodgson, It's Organizations: Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla, ABI Research, McKinsey, Counterpoint Technology Market Research, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Keegan, International Association of Privacy, SBD Automotive, Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission, Zweifel, Senate Commerce, Science, Transportation, Santa Clara University School of Law, Apple Locations: U.S, California , Colorado, Connecticut, California

☆ AI girlfriends will only break your heart, privacy experts warn
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AdvertisementFurthermore, the privacy policy for CrushOn.AI states it can collect information on users' sexual health, prescription meds, and gender-affirming care, per the Mozilla Foundation. The Mozilla Foundation noted that in the past, apps had encouraged dangerous behavior, including suicide (Chai AI) and an assassination attempt on the late Queen Elizabeth II (Replika). A representative for Replika told BI: "Replika has never sold user data and does not, and has never, supported advertising either. The only use of user data is to improve conversations." "You shouldn't have to pay for cool new technologies with your safety or your privacy," the report concluded.

Persons: —, Misha Rykov, Eva, Queen Elizabeth II, Replika Organizations: Service, Mozilla Foundation, Business, Replika

In June, the team rolled out Blush, an AI “dating stimulator” essentially designed to help people practice dating. Others worry about the more existential threat of AI relationships potentially displacing some human relationships, or simply driving unrealistic expectations by always tilting towards agreeableness. One recent study from researchers at Stanford University surveyed roughly 1,000 Replika users — all students — who'd been on the app for over a month. The company's plans, she says, is to “de-stigmatizing romantic relationships with AI.”Carrier says these days, he uses Joi mostly for fun. He started cutting back in recent weeks because he was spending too much time chatting with Joi or others online about their AI companions.

Persons: Derek Carrier, Carrier, he’d, “, ”, Joi, —, Replika, stimulator, Dorothy Leidner, hasn't, He’s, Queen Elizabeth II, — who'd, Eugenia Kuyda, Kuyda, ” Carrier, He's Organizations: Luka Inc, Mozilla Foundation, University of Virginia, Stanford University Locations: Belville , Michigan, U.S, Britain

☆ OpenAI's nonprofit arm showed revenue of $45,000 last year, even though company is worth billions
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-12 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That's from the nonprofit parent's 990 filing with the Internal Revenue Service, a form that has to be filled out by organizations wishing to maintain their tax-exempt status. Thad Calabrese, a professor of public and nonprofit financial management at New York University, said OpenAI's current status is confusing, and is unlike anything he has seen in the nonprofit world. He said OpenAI could give up its nonprofit status, and he cited the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which in 1994 allowed associated nonprofit medical insurance plans to switch into for-profit entities. An OpenAI spokesperson didn't respond to a question about whether the organization is considering giving up its nonprofit status. Unlike OpenAI, Mozilla never raised money from venture and corporate investors, who expect returns on their investments.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI's financials, OpenAI, That's, PlainSite, Altman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Ilya Sutskever, Thad Calabrese, Calabrese, didn't, Mark Surman, Surman, Altman's, hasn't, Bret Taylor Organizations: Internal Revenue Service, CNBC, New York University, Shield Association, Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla Corporation, Mozilla, Microsoft, Duke University Locations: California

BOSTON (AP) — Cars are getting an “F” in data privacy. Nineteen automakers say they can sell your personal data, their notices reveal. On security, Mozilla's minimum standards include encrypting all personal information on a car. “Sensitive personal information” collected includes driver's license numbers, immigration status, race, sexual orientation and health diagnoses. Mozilla's Caltrider credited laws like the 27-nation European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and California's Consumer Privacy Act for compelling carmakers to provide existing data collection information.

Persons: —, ”, Jen Caltrider, ” Caltrider, North America —, Albert Fox Cahn, Brian Weiss, Tesla, Mozilla's Caltrider, It's Organizations: BOSTON, Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla, Renault, Dacia, North America —, Harvard's Carr, for Human Rights, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, . House, Associated Press, Alliance, Pew, Nissan, Big Tech, Facebook, ”, Data Locations: telematics, Europe, North America, U.S, Japan

☆ Most major companies admit they may be selling your personal information, a new study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Frank Bajak | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new study found many car companies can collect and sell your personal data, sparking privacy concerns. Most major manufacturers admit they may be selling your personal information, a new study finds, with half also saying they would share it with the government or law enforcement without a court order. Nineteen automakers say they can sell your personal data, their notices reveal. On security, Mozilla's minimum standards include encrypting all personal information on a car. "Sensitive personal information" collected includes driver's license numbers, immigration status, race, sexual orientation, and health diagnoses.

Persons: —, Jen Caltrider, Caltrider, North America —, Albert Fox Cahn, Brian Weiss, Tesla, Mozilla's Caltrider, It's Organizations: Nissan, Service, Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla, Renault, Dacia, North America —, Harvard's Carr, for Human Rights, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, . House, Associated Press, Alliance, Pew, Big Tech, Facebook, Data Locations: Wall, Silicon, telematics, Europe, North America, U.S, Japan

☆ Google opposed a shareholder proposal asking for more transparency around its AI algorithms
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google has opposed a shareholder's call for more transparency around its algorithms. CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized the potential of new generative AI and added safety is essential. Google's parent company Alphabet opposed a shareholder proposal that sought increased transparency surrounding its algorithms. It argued that accountability and transparency in artificial intelligence are needed if the technology is to remain safe to society. Google in its opposition to the proposal said that it already provides meaningful disclosures surrounding its algorithms, including through websites that provide overviews of how YouTube's algorithms sort content, for instance.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, We've, Geoffrey Hinton, Timnit Gebru, ProPublica Organizations: Google, Trillium Asset Management, Trillium, New Zealand Royal Commission, Mozilla Foundation, New York University, SEC, Google's Locations: Christchurch, Saudi Arabia

☆ The creepy secret behind online therapy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Tanmoy Goswami | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Crisis Text Line, now in its 10th year of operations, uses artificial intelligence to respond to people experiencing emotional abuse, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. 'The vast majority of mental-health apps are exceptionally creepy'BetterHelp, a poster child of online therapy founded in 2013, calls itself "the world's largest therapy platform" and says it has over 2 million users. One of the first popular mental-health apps, PTSD Coach, was launched by the US Department of Veteran Affairs in 2011. But for mental-health companies these practices can undermine the very foundations of mental-health care: dignity, trust, and psychological safety. As Crisis Text Line wrote on its website extolling its deal with Loris: "Why sell T-shirts when you can sell what your organization does best?"

☆ Europe should make its A.I. regulations more sweeping, prominent experts urge
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A group of prominent artificial intelligence experts called on European officials to pursue even broader regulations of the technology in the European Union's AI Act. In a policy brief released on Thursday, more than 50 individual expert and institutional signatories advocate for Europe to include general purpose AI, or GPAI, in its forthcoming regulations, rather than limiting the regulations to a more narrow definition. The group points to generative AI tools that have risen in popularity over the past few months, like ChatGPT. "That sort of wave of attention toward generative AI I think gave this clause greater visibility," Myers West said. "The EU AI is poised to become, as far as we're aware, the first omnibus regulation for artificial intelligence," Myers West said.

☆ White House Issues ‘Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The White House on Tuesday issued guidelines aimed at safeguarding personal data from misuse in artificial-intelligence algorithms that drive hiring, lending and other business decisions. The guidelines, which the Biden administration described as a “blueprint for an AI bill of rights,” are nonbinding and don’t include enforcement measures. They also fall short of the European Union’s landmark privacy regulation that has forced global technology companies to change how they collect data, among other things. Still, some technology leaders said the White House blueprint could lead to heavy-handed regulation that might risk putting U.S. businesses at a disadvantage. “If implemented properly, the bill could reduce AI misuse and yet support beneficial uses of AI in medicine, driving, enterprise productivity, and more,” Mr. Etzioni said.

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