Greetings all, and I hope ye are keeping well.
Straight to the facial recognition naughty step this week. In other weeks, WIRED’s story on the facial recognition tool sold to ICE probably would have claimed top step, or this Guardian piece on ICE’s use of facial rec more generally. But. Not. This. Week. No, this week, top step has to go the UK government’s decision to use a facial recognition tool linked to the genocide in Gaza. The fact that this tool was apparently involved in decisions to detain – in light of the reality of what that detention entailed – just makes the government’s decision totally incomprehensible. Well done lads.
Honourable mention to the Home Sec who announced plans for a very significant expansion to police use of facial recognition, in the middle of a public consultation on facial recognition. She makes no apology.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the hearings on the Met’s use of facial recognition at the High Court this week – the BBC has a story (more below) – but am looking forward to going through the skeleton arguments (belatedly)(what a geek). Thank you.
I’ll leave you this week with Billy Bragg’s – City of Heroes, a new song that he wrote in light of the horror that is the US at the moment. It’s really quite good.
Its definitely significantly better than The Boss’ attempt. Which i’m not linking to.
Because its pants.
I mean fair play for doing something. But the difference between the two tracks is immense. Honourable mention goes to ‘Damascus’ from Gorillaz.
The Guardian, South Korea’s ‘world-first’ AI laws face pushback amid bid to become leading tech power
WIRED, Here’s the Company That Sold DHS ICE’s Notorious Face Recognition App
WIRED, He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive
WIRED, ICE Asks Companies About ‘Ad Tech and Big Data’ Tools It Could Use in Investigations
Lawfare, How to Handle “The Adolescence of Technology” Like Adults (get divorced?)
Computer Weekly, Spanish Court Acquits Suspects Denied Access to Raw Sky ECC Intercepts (not strictly AI, but surveillance related)
Reuters, UK Announces Meta Backed AI Team to Upgrade Public Services
Free Movement, Briefing: AI and immigration law – what guidance is there for lawyers?
Al Jazeera, UK police to use AI facial recognition tech linked to Israel’s war on Gaza
The Hill, White House labels altered photo of arrested Minnesota protester a ‘meme’ (echoes of, ‘its only a joke’)
The Hill, EU investigating X over sexualized Grok AI images
The Hill, Pope Leo warns of ‘overly affectionate’ AI chatbots (no chatbots before marriage)
NY Times, Esther Perel on Why A.I. Intimacy Feels Safe but Isn’t Real (an Esther-Pope collab on the horizon?)
The HIll, Sam Altman says ‘what’s happening with ICE is going too far’: Reports (Thanks for that intervention Sam)
Algorithm Watch, Large language models as attributes of statehood
Rest of World, Iran’s internet blackout may become permanent, with access for elites only
EFF, Search Engines, AI, And The Long Fight Over Fair Use
Business Insider, BlackRock CEO says capitalism isn’t spreading the wealth — and AI might not either (stop the press!)
Business & Human Rights, UK: Government accepts its approval of Buckinghamshire data centre should be quashed over lack of environmental assessment (ugh! Red tape!)
Rest of World, Death of an Indian tech worker
Rest of World, War and internet shutdowns destroy the tech economy
BBC, High Court told police live facial recognition needs limits
BBC, Mahmood unveils plans to reform ‘broken’ policing in England and Wales
Privacy International, Dual-use tech: the Shield AI example
BBC, Shabana Mahmood defends rollout of facial recognition to all police forces
The Register, High Court to grill London cops over live facial recognition creep
AP, AP photographer uses infrared technology to show how it is used as a surveillance tool
WIRED, ICE Is Using Palantir’s AI Tools to Sort Through Tips
WIRED, Google’s New Chrome ‘Auto Browse’ Agent Attempts to Roam the Web Without You (WIRED are great arent they?)
The Register, Cops put Microsoft Copilot in holding cell after controversial hallucination (this was in the newsletter last week, but good headline)
Washington Post, Trump’s use of AI images pushes new boundaries, further eroding public trust, experts say
The Guardian, AI-generated British schoolgirl becomes far-right social media meme
Just Security, Artificial Guilt? A Practitioner’s Guide to Criminal Liability in the Age of GenAI